The 80/20 Principle

When starting a new firm, what types of things are important to get right in the beginning to scale later? That's the question I was asked recently by a new lawyer. The answer is applicable or at least helpful to any lawyer thinking about how to improve their practice. Show Notes Advice to a New Lawyer - blog post that inspired this episode Vision & Traction - blog post about the importance of creating a solid vision for your law practice Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business, book by Gino Wickman (a powerful, actionable guide for lawyers who want to get a grip on how to better run their practices) My Email Marketing Course ConvertKit Email Service General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors SweetProcess is a great way to document your important workflows. Doing so will help make your practice run more smoothly, and require less involvement on your part to keep things running smoothly. The best way to understand how SweetProcess will help streamline your firm is to start using it. The company offers a 14-day free trial, but as a loyal listener of this podcast, you can try it for 28-days free of charge. And you don’t even have to enter a credit card to get started. Just navigate to SweetProcess.com/ernie to start your 28-day free trial today. And thanks to the other sponsor of this podcast… Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you’re actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there’s one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at just $140 a month for calls or chats. And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a free trial now (and learn more) at www.smith.ai.  EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at EmeraldCity Pro.  

Historically, the flat fee was the only "ethical fee" for lawyers. Now, it's more often the most sensible type of fee—both for clients and lawyers. The question is: what kind of flat fees are most successful and profitable for lawyers?  In this episode, Kristin Tyler shares insights gleaned from her own practice and from helping other lawyers understand the ins and outs of flat fee billing (and eight other alternative billing methods). Show Notes How to Flat Fee Bill As a Lawyer, Kristin Tyler's blog article (discussed in depth during this episode) Outsourced Lawyer Work: Episode 69 of LFA Podcast (Kristin Tyler discusses LawClerk Legal project-based services) Subscription Outsourcing of Legal Work: Episode 136 of LFA Podcast (with Kristin Tyler discusses LawClerk Legal subscription services) The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, by Atul Gawande Asana (online project management service) Being a Mom While Creating Law Practice: Episode 164 of the podcast (with Kim Felton) 2021 Virtual Small Firm Bootcamp (where attorney Andrew Legrand explained how he implemented subscription-based billing for his business law practice) Kristin Tyler's email address: ktyler@lawclerk.legal Kristin's Twitter address: https://twitter.com/KristinTyler General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors SweetProcess is a great way to document your important workflows. Doing so will help make your practice run more smoothly, and require less involvement on your part to keep things running smoothly. The best way to understand how SweetProcess will help streamline your firm is to start using it. The company offers a 14-day free trial, but as a loyal listener of this podcast, you can try it for 28-days free of charge. And you don’t even have to enter a credit card to get started. Just navigate to SweetProcess.com/ernie to start your 28-day free trial today. And thanks to the other sponsor of this podcast… Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you’re actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there’s one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at just $140 a month for calls or chats. And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a free trial now (and learn more) at www.smith.ai.  EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at EmeraldCity Pro.  

Kim Felton had her first child in law school, then figured out how to be a lawyer and build an online Immigration practice, using technology as much as possible. In this episode, she shares her challenges and how she met them using exceptional wile and grit, and by discovering how best to leverage the power of technology. Show Notes Innovation Litigation (Kim's website) Onward Immigration (Kim's other website) A Better Way: How Motherhood Changed My Perspective Of The Legal Field & What I’m Doing To Change It (Kim's article about how "resourcefulness under pressure" led to her starting a virtual law firm that was both successful and enjoyable) Boundless Immigration Law website LawClerk Legal (virtual freelance help from other lawyers) Outsourced Legal Work (episode 69 of the podcast, with Kristin Tyler) Subscription Outsourcing of Legal Work (episode 136 of the podcast, with Kristin Tyler) Zapier (cloud automation service) Asana (online project management service) Trello (kanban project management tool) Basecamp (popular project management service) Click up (project management service Kim tried and still uses) Lawcus (law-specific project management service Kim tried) Time Blindness - people with ADD who lack the ability to track the passing of time Client-Centered Law Firm, by Jack Newton Madman, Architect, Carpenter, Judge - (writing process explained by Bryan Garner) Point Made#: How to Write Like the Nation's Top Advocates, by Ross Guberman (excellent book on legal writing) Ross Guberman (another writing instructor) Client Rock (enables online consultations to be booked, generate, send, and e-sign fee agreements, and get paid using a LawPay account.) General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors SweetProcess is a great way to document your important workflows. Doing so will help make your practice run more smoothly, and require less involvement on your part to keep things running smoothly. The best way to understand how SweetProcess will help streamline your firm is to start using it. The company offers a 14-day free trial, but as a loyal listener of this podcast, you can try it for 28-days free of charge. And you don’t even have to enter a credit card to get started. Just navigate to SweetProcess.com/ernie to start your 28-day free trial today. And thanks to the other sponsor of this podcast… Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you’re actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there’s one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at just $140 a month for calls or chats. And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a free trial now (and learn more) at www.smith.ai.  EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at EmeraldCity Pro.  

Making your work visible is vital for knowledge workers (like lawyers), and the best way of doing that is by using a Kanban Board. Task managers just can't cut it. In this episode, Ernie talks with John Grant a consultant who helps fellow lawyers fix their legal workflows using Kanban Boards to help them manage tasks more effectively and collaborate better. Show Notes Agile Attorney (John Grant's website) The Voice of The Client (John's podcast where he interviews lawyer clients) Thinking Fast & Slow, Daniel Kahneman Making Work Visible: Exposing Time Theft to Optimize Work & Flow, by Dominica DeGrandis (John's book recommendation) The Rise & Fall of GTD (Cal Newport's article in the New Yorker) Lean Software Development (Wikipedia article) Agile Software Development (Wikipedia article) Scrum Software Development (Wikipedia article) Knowledge Workers (Wikipedia definition) How to Think Better And Profit More (Ernie's blog post) Feedback loops (Wikipedia definition) Kanban (Wikipedia definition) Trello (Kanban board tool used by Ernie, which he recommends) KanbanZone (Kanban board tool that John recommends) WIP: a task started by not yet finished (Wikipedia definition) Start less to finish more (a key principle of the Agile work method) Optimism Bias (Wikipedia definition) Why All Your Projects Are Late And What to Do About It (Freakonomics podcast) Less Doing: Ari Meisel's website (productivity guru that Ernie follows and recommends) "Honest reckoning with capacity" (John's advice for not succumbing to optimism bias) "Brutal assessment of priority" (John's related advice) General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors SweetProcess is a great way to document your important workflows. Doing so will help make your practice run more smoothly, and require less involvement on your part to keep things running smoothly. The best way to understand how SweetProcess will help streamline your firm is to start using it. The company offers a 14-day free trial, but as a loyal listener of this podcast, you can try it for 28-days free of charge. And you don’t even have to enter a credit card to get started. Just navigate to SweetProcess.com/ernie to start your 28-day free trial today. And thanks to the other sponsor of this podcast… Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you’re actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there’s one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at just $140 a month for calls or chats. And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a free trial now (and learn more) at www.smith.ai.  EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at EmeraldCity Pro.  

You are a brand. The only question is whether you want to understand it and improve so your reputation is enhanced? Or do you prefer to leave things to chance? If you prefer the former, then reading Mike Kim's new book "You Are The Brand," is your starting point. In this episode Mike shares some of the key lessons from his book, but in a way that relates to lawyers with solo or small firm practices. Show Notes You Are The Brand, by Mike Kim General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors SweetProcess is a great way to document your important workflows. Doing so will help make your practice run more smoothly, and require less involvement on your part to keep things running smoothly. The best way to understand how SweetProcess will help streamline your firm is to start using it. The company offers a 14-day free trial, but as a loyal listener of this podcast, you can try it for 28-days free of charge. And you don’t even have to enter a credit card to get started. Just navigate to SweetProcess.com/ernie to start your 28-day free trial today. And thanks to the other sponsor of this podcast… Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you’re actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there’s one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at just $140 a month for calls or chats. And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a free trial now (and learn more) at www.smith.ai.  EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at EmeraldCity Pro.  

Clients are the lifeblood of your business, but they can also be frustrating and annoying. You must manage clients very well if you want a happy law practice. The simplest, most important business goal you can have is to optimize for happy clients. But you must understand what that actually means in practice. I learned a lot about what this means as a waiter at a prestigious New Orleans restaurant. The principles for effectively managing your law clients are the same as those for managing any kind of high-end customer. General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors SweetProcess is a great way to document your important workflows. Doing so will help make your practice run more smoothly, and require less involvement on your part to keep things running smoothly. The best way to understand how SweetProcess will help streamline your firm is to start using it. The company offers a 14-day free trial, but as a loyal listener of this podcast, you can try it for 28-days free of charge. And you don’t even have to enter a credit card to get started. Just navigate to SweetProcess.com/ernie to start your 28-day free trial today. And thanks to the other sponsor of this podcast… Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you’re actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there’s one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at just $140 a month for calls or chats. And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a free trial now (and learn more) at www.smith.ai.  EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at EmeraldCity Pro.  

If you want to make steady, powerful improvements to your law business, in a way that's super effective and surprisingly easy, you should leverage the principle of "Kaizen." It's a Japanese business philosophy of continuously improving operations in small incremental steps. But it's also a powerful tool for solo and small law firm owners in the modern tech-driven world Show Notes Atomic Habits, book by James Clear Loom video comparing SweetProcess to Process St. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, book Steven Covey Evernote - digital dumping ground TextExpander - text automation tool Notion - online wiki/database tool Obsidian - new PKM tool (Mac or PC) General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors SweetProcess is a great way to document your important workflows. Doing so will help make your practice run more smoothly, and require less involvement on your part to keep things running smoothly. The best way to understand how SweetProcess will help streamline your firm is to start using it. The company offers a 14-day free trial, but as a loyal listener of this podcast, you can try it for 28-days free of charge. And you don’t even have to enter a credit card to get started. Just navigate to SweetProcess.com/ernie to start your 28-day free trial today. And thanks to the other sponsor of this podcast… Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you’re actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there’s one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at just $140 a month for calls or chats. And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a free trial now (and learn more) at www.smith.ai.  EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at EmeraldCity Pro.  

PKM is a new term, but an important one for all knowledge workers (i.e. lawyers and others who think for a living and solve problems by thinking). Here are some basics of PKM, which will probably seem alien to many lawyers. But it's worth making the effort to grasp the power of PKM. Show Notes Nick Milo's PKM story (article published on Medium) Nick Milo's YouTube channel What is PKM (Nick MIlo's YouTube explanation) Focused podcast episode 122 (where Nick Milo's appeared and discussed PKM) Wikipedia definition of personal knowledge management Information Anxiety 2, by Richard Saul Wurman Continuum of Understanding, by Richard Shedroff (progression from data to information to knowledge to wisdom) The Great Mental Models, by Farnam Street (Shane Parrish runs Farnham Street) How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading, Mortimer Adler Bookworm podcast: episode 42 (How To Read a Book) Trello (kanban board style project management tool) SweetProcess (process documentation tool) Process St. (another process documenting tool) 1Password (best password management tool) Drafts (fast capture tool for iPhone users) Evernote (not so fast capture tool that many people still use) Apple Notes (fast capture tool for iPhone users) Otter.ai (convenient and semi-fast capture via voice transcription) Kill your darlings (writing advice that applies to ideas as well) Obsidian (a new PKM tool that is being rapidly adopted by high-level knowledge workers) Amazon Kindle Notes (your book highlights are accessible online and in various Kindle apps) Michael Hyatt (respected business leader and business coach) Tim Ferriss (well-known author of The Four Hour Workweek, and VC investor.) My Systems Workshop General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors SweetProcess is a great way to document your important workflows. Doing so will help make your practice run more smoothly, and require less involvement on your part to keep things running smoothly. The best way to understand how SweetProcess will help streamline your firm is to start using it. The company offers a 14-day free trial, but as a loyal listener of this podcast, you can try it for 28-days free of charge. And you don’t even have to enter a credit card to get started. Just navigate to SweetProcess.com/ernie to start your 28-day free trial today. And thanks to the other sponsor of this podcast… Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you’re actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there’s one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at just $140 a month for calls or chats. And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a free trial now (and learn more) at www.smith.ai.  EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at EmeraldCity Pro.  

Unfortunately, most lawyers don't know how to write persuasively, and their marketing copy is boring. And surprisingly, many marketing folks (who supposedly are experts in persuasive ad writing and marketing writing) also do a really poor job. So don't feel bad if you struggle to write persuasively. It's not something you were ever taught to do, certainly not in law school. In this episode, you'll discover the best strategies, tactics, and tools for creating more persuasive briefs and marketing copy that will help you attract better clients (and refer other great clients). Below are some helpful resources to improve your persuasive writing and marketing. Show Notes Conversion.ai (helps you write marketing copy that sounds natural and persuasive) Grammarly (pure grammar/syntax checker) Hemingway app (free editing suggestion tool) Madman, Architect, Carpenter, Judge - Useful framework for the whole writing process Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert Ciadini Thinking Fast & Slow, Daniel Kahneman Never Split the Difference Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It, Chris Voss Digital Marketing for Dummies , Ryan Deiss & Russ Henneberry Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen, Don Miller You Are The Brand: The 8-Step Blueprint to Showcase Your Unique Expertise and Build a Highly Profitable, Personally Fulfilling Business, Mike Kim Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t: Why That Is And What You Can Do About It, Steven Pressfield Writing That Works: How to Communicate Effectively in Business, Kenneth Roman & Joel Raphaelson Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer, Roy Peter Clark Ernest Hemingway on Writing, by Larry Phillips   General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors SweetProcess is a great way to document your important workflows. Doing so will help make your practice run more smoothly, and require less involvement on your part to keep things running smoothly. The best way to understand how SweetProcess will help streamline your firm is to start using it. The company offers a 14-day free trial, but as a loyal listener of this podcast, you can try it for 28-days free of charge. And you don’t even have to enter a credit card to get started. Just navigate to SweetProcess.com/ernie to start your 28-day free trial today. And thanks to the other sponsor of this podcast… Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you’re actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there’s one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at just $140 a month for calls or chats. And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a free trial now (and learn more) at www.smith.ai.  EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at EmeraldCity Pro.    

Discover how he approached the creation of his solo practice, and which tools and resources he has found most useful in the process. Show Notes Episode Transcript (via Otter.ai) Team Desk (database software) ScanSnap iX1600 scanner Paperless Lawyering course (that Bin took to learn to become paperless) Zoho CRM TextExpander (amazing keyboard macro software) SweetProcess(process documentation software) Law Firm Systems Workshop The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, by Atul Gawande General Resources The 80/20 Principle (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle (an online community for law firm owners) Thanks to Our Sponsors SweetProcess is a great way to document your important workflows. Doing so will help make your practice run more smoothly, and require less involvement on your part to keep things running smoothly. The best way to understand how SweetProcess will help streamline your firm is to start using it. The company offers a 14-day free trial, but as a loyal listener of this podcast, you can try it for 28-days free of charge. And you don’t even have to enter a credit card to get started. Just navigate to SweetProcess.com/ernie to start your 28-day free trial today. And thanks to the other sponsor of this podcast… Smith.ai is an amazing virtual receptionist service that specializes in working with solo and small law firms. When you hire Smith.ai you’re actually hiring well-trained, friendly receptionists who can respond to callers in English or Spanish. If there’s one great outsourcing opportunity for your practice, this is it. Let Smith.ai have your back while you stay focused on your work, knowing that your clients and prospects are being taken care of. Plans start at just $140 a month for calls or chats. And they have a special offer for podcast listeners where you can get an extra $100 discount with promo code ERNIE100. Sign up for a free trial now (and learn more) at www.smith.ai.  EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at EmeraldCity Pro.