Legal Talk Network - Law News and Legal Topics

Is the secret to your law firm’s success a triangle?Guest Christopher T. Anderson is a law practice management consultant (and host of the Legal Talk Network’s Un-Billable Hour). Anderson shares the “triangle” of a successful law firm: Acquiring clients; Producing the results you promised; and Achieving and Measuring the impact and success of your firm.Anderson’s unique take on law firm management is built on thinking of law as a real business first. Why are you doing what you do?Acquiring new clients means building on referrals, creating relationships, and paid marketing. Know and tell your story.Producing results translates to setting client expectations (and meeting them), and doing your best work. Establish a “North Star” for every case.And then there’s achieving and measuring the results for your business stakeholders. Where do you want to be? What separates good law firms from great ones? A law firm is a business, it’s OK to admit that.Got questions or ideas about solo and small practices? Drop us a line at NewSolo@legaltalknetwork.comTopics: Building a law firm is building a business. Don’t forget that! There are three “sides” to building a firm: attracting clients, satisfying clients, and achieving business success. Every part of your legal career is intentional, it’s not luck. Know what you are trying to achieve. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What can you expect when trying for a spot at one of the much coveted summer associateships? DeMario Thornton talks with Craig Savitzky of Law360 about the insights gleaned from the 2022 Summer Associates Survey. This two-part survey looks at law students’ approaches to the application and interview processes and then revisits students after their associateships to assess their program experiences.Craig Savitzky is a senior data analyst at Law360. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lawyers spend a lot of time gathering data and creating content in the course of legal practice, and losing that data could prove disastrous or even catastrophic to their firm and clients. Molly Ranns and JoAnn Hathaway talk with John Simek to learn about the types of backups all attorneys need for preserving and recovering information. They discuss the many scenarios lawyers should be prepared for and John outlines best practices for the different types of data lawyers handle on a daily basis.John W. Simek is vice president of the digital forensics, managed information technology and cybersecurity firm Sensei Enterprises. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the last episode of our The Life of a Lawyer Start to Finish series, we discussed Retirement with Ida Abbott. In this episode, we move on to the final rung of the ladder: The Aging Lawyer: Exiting Gracefully.  Host Craig Williams is joined by Tish Vincent, LMSW, Esq., Chair of the ABA Commission on Lawyers Assistance Programs, as they spotlight the aging lawyer. Craig & Tish discuss senior lawyers, possible warning signs of cognitive decline to look out for if a co-worker is suffering, how to approach, and where to go for help if you or a colleague are experiencing warning signs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You’re no longer in start-up mode for your firm. You’ve grown and stretched and you’re ready to level up. So what’s next? In this episode, Stephanie talks with Karen Graves, Lawyerist’s newest Lab coach, about how to navigate your business’s teenage phase. Karen explains this phase and how to find support for your firm. She details how to reconnect to your genius, renew your identity as a leader, and learn to let go. If today’s podcast resonates with you and you haven’t read The Small Firm Roadmap yet, get the first chapter right now for free!Thanks to Posh Virtual Receptionists, Berkshire Receptionists, & Lawyerist Lab for sponsoring this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our annual Year in Review episode, Lee Rawles speaks to her ABA Journal colleagues Blair Chavis, Julianne Hill and Stephanie Francis Ward to find out how they spent their downtime in 2022.We cover the usual lineup of our favorite books, movies and TV shows, but each participant also provides more niche content. Hill, who recently joined the Journal full-time after freelancing for the magazine, has a background in film, and she shares her favorite documentary projects she watched in 2022. Chavis, a dedicated home cook, shares her favorite recipe sources for making meals with her partner. Ward, the host of the Journal's Asked & Answered podcast, has podcast picks for those who like a little gossip and spice to their stories. And Rawles, who has been on a mystery kick, shares the series of audiobooks she's been listening to for the past few months.Do you have own favorites, or suggestions for what the Modern Law Library should be reading in 2023? Email them to us at books@abajournal.com, and you may hear them featured in a future episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

But they caught me with some contemporaneous third-party emails?We discuss the crackerjack investigation the Supreme Court performed into allegations that Justice Sam Alito has a history of leaking decisions. After a religious leader confessed to lobbying efforts that included leaks from Alito concerning key decisions, Alito told the Court "it wasn't me" and, remarkably, they just accepted that and called it a day. Speaking of decisions, the Eleventh Circuit finally put a stop to Judge Aileen Cannon's string of zany decisions in the Trump seized documents case. Also, a former Biglaw partner thrust herself in the spotlight to bemoan her firm for enforcing the bare minimum of anti-harassment policies and a pair of law schools controversially announces a merger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What price should we put on a life lost? Whether it’s a father, mother, or child, jurors need guidance, context, and motivation when deciding damages. John Simon and Tim Cronin offer several examples of powerful ways to present damages in wrongful death cases and share Tim Cronin’s moving closing argument in a recent case regarding the tragic death of a five-year-old girl. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Office parties. Co-worker gifts. Corporate giving. Hosting events. When do you possibly find time for making holiday feasts, visiting family, and preparing for that upcoming trial? The holidays can be a blur unless you get in the spirit of “get to” instead of “have to.” Join this jolly pre-holiday episode for hints on staff gift-giving, attitude adjustment, and making time to recharge for the new year. Happy Holidaze! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For lawyers looking to expand and grow their law practice, their first thought may be to broaden their marketing efforts and client base. Offer more services to more people and your practice is bound to grow, right? Wrong. You can’t be all things to all people. Intead, lawyers should dig deeper, narrow their focus, work to develop their relationships, grow their expertise, and establish their niche. In this episode of 'Litigation Radio', host Dave Scriven-Young sits down with litigation attorney, Matthew Zorn, to discuss how building a niche practice is one of the best ways to develop a profitable law practice and better serve your clients. (Matthew Zorn is a partner at the firm Yetter Coleman LLP, where he represents plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of commercial litigation matters with an emphasis on IP, patent and regulatory litigation). --------------------------------------------------------------------------Quick Tip from the ABA Litigation Section: Indemnification and its Interplay with Insurance Provisions and Third Party ContractsInsurance provisions are some of the most important provisions in third party contracts. In this "Quick Tips" segment from the ABA Litigation Section, Latosah Ellis shares one of the easiest ways to avoid litigation and effectively manage contractual risk. Hint, it involves continually reviewing and improving your third party contract language, including the alignment of insurance policy terms with contractual obligations.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices