The Greatest American Lawyer has a neat discussion going over at his blog on this topic. Below is my comment. Suggest you click the link above though to get the full perspective.
The "History" of the billable hour might be of some interest and
help attorneys to understand why it seems that billing clients
by-the-hour when we are supposed to be their advocate & trusted
advisor seems like such a square peg in a round hole.
In point of fact, for more than a thousands years lawyers did NOT
bill by the hour. Instead it was always value based billing. Then in
the 1960's the insurance companies came along and hired efficiency
experts to reign-in their legal expenses. . .
If you're interested in learning "the rest of the story", send me an
email to rjon@howtomakeitrain.com and I'll send the you the whole thing
back in an email. Complete with some pretty interesting citations.
Fascinating stuff. Really puts everything into perspective I think.
But for me, the worst thing about the billable hour is that it takes
all the fun out of the practice of law and causes lawyers to make LESS
money than they otherwise could with a properly-designed value/flat-fee
billing system. (Remember, before I was the Rainmaker I was a Practice
Management Advisor with The Florida Bar's Law Office Management
Assistance Service.)
A fellow-coach recently sent out a request for advice she could share with one of her clients about how to toot his own horn without sounding like a jerk. Yes, we coaches do have our own "insiders group" which is really neat when you get into a conversation with a coach who specializes in lawyers, another auto mechanic shops and the third bakery owners.
Believe it or not practically every industry has superstars who credit much of their success to a coach. Even coaches have coaches, even me. The way I figure it, what could be better than investing in myself? Anyway, the following was my contribution to a fellow coach. Thought I would share this little "RJonism" just in case your carpet-cleaner suddenly starts telling you about a proud moment in his or her business.
(As an aside, it surprised me to learn recently there are more than a few millionaire-carpet-cleaners. But just like in any other industry I suppose, the majority don't do nearly as well even though they could)
Here's my tip. .
.
We've all heard the old saying that "It's not bragging if it's true".
Notwithstanding old sayings though, we've also had that same awkward,
self-conscious and conflicted feeling upon finding ourselves in a
position to advance our interests but not quite knowing how to "brag"
about ourselves without coming across like a jerk. If only someone
would come along and do our bragging for us! The solution many of my
Rainmaking clients and I have used with much success is to be very
honest and straightforward about what we are doing, and a little
self-deprecating humor doesn't hurt either. For example. . . "You know
it's always awkward to have to toot my own horn but something I am very
proud of is [fill in your relevant facts here]".
The keys to making
this work are
1.) Be brief. Once you have shared your facts shut-up
and cede the floor to someone else;
2.) Be relevant. Sharing a fact or
anecdote about yourself that contributes to the general direction of
the conversation is much less likely to be held against you than
bragging about something off-topic; and
3.) Be always prepared to brag twice
as much about someone else in the group as yourself. If you have a
reputation for speaking positively about others people will cut you alot of
slack when the time comes to speak positively about yourself.
As an exercise let's see how many of you can send me an email that begins with For example. . . "You know
it's always awkward to have to toot my own horn but something I am very
proud of is [fill in your relevant facts here]". Please be sure to write Bragging in the subject line so I can sort them all together and pick from the best. my email is rjon@howtomakeitrain.com
Here's how it all started. . . A few months ago a Member of the Gold coaching program asked me to help him evaluate the effectiveness of his website and recommend improvements to his portfolio of banner ads. A few days later I received a call from a lawyer I know about the same subject.
Curtis is licensed in Florida, Pennsylvania and Delaware, he was an influential partner a in a 100+ lawyer firm.
Anyway, Curtis called to tell me he had launched a new venture called whocanisue.com to educate prospective clients and then show these potential consumers of legal services a bunch of lawyer banner ads to choose from. And he wanted me to help educate his lawyer-members-advertisers about how to recognize, appreciate and not settle for less than a world-class banner ad to display on the wcis website.
Over the Thanksgiving break Curtis prevailed upon me to organize a webinar on how to spot a good banner ad vs. what most lawyers settle for. At first I was reluctant because I wasn't convinced there would be enough demand. But when Curtis said whocanisue would sponsor the event, I floated the idea around to subscribers and Members of the various coaching programs to gague interest. And to make a long story short we're now just about booked-to-capacity on the webinar with reservations.
BUT I HAVE A QUESTION I could use some help with as I adapt the proven criteria from my "Three P's For Evaluating A Good Lawyer Advertisement" to online banner ads and for a webinar setting. So if you are one of the next 17 lawyers to speak-up and send me an email to rjon@howtomakeitrain.com with your response to my question below, I'll reserve one of these last remaining FREE spots for you. (We only have 20 lines left, and I need three for me, Curtis as our sponsor, and a guest).
So here's my question: What are your top three questions, areas of confusion or frustration when it comes to banner advertising for your law practice?
Hello Gang,
I'm going to begin recruiting a very specialized coaching group next week for a (hopeful) launch in January 2009. And I need your help!
Here's the deal. . . I'm looking for no more than a dozen lawyers who are SERIOUS about opening their own law firm during Q2 2009. We're going to organize a series of very intensive coaching sessions that will practically GUARANTEE you open a profitable law firm in 90 days or less.
When I was a Practice Management Advisor with The Florida Bar's Law Office Management Assistance Service (LOMAS) I helped probably 200 lawyers open their own law firms, and I probably talked another 200 out of the idea. So I like to think I know a little bit about how to do this without making all the mistakes I made when I myself went solo.
And best of all, the price. . . FREE! FREE! FREE!
So, if you're serious about opening your own law firm in 90 days or less send me an email to rjon@howtomakeitrain.com and I'll reply with an application. And gang, feel free to pass this along to anyone you know who might be a good candidate. I would have KILLED for an opportunity like this when I first went out on my own!
RJON
