You’ve spent the whole conference trying to get close to that potential business source, and you’re finally going to sit together at a banquet table. Or maybe a meal at a fancy restaurant is part of the interview process at the new firm you’re trying to join. Are you attending a formal-dress event thrown by your firm? Don’t blow it when you finally get to lunch or dinner. Proper table etiquette is part of good manners and can enhance or detract from your professional image.

The Most Common Mistake

Here’s the rule: solids on the left, liquids on the right. If you drink from the glass on your left, the person on your left may no longer have a usable glass because the glass to their left was properly used by the diner to their left. You may have started a chain reaction that leaves people swapping goblets across the table to try to correct the problem. All of your drinking glasses, water and wine, are on your right.

Your bread plate is on your left. If there is a circulating bread basket, take a piece from the basket when it comes to you if you like, and place it on the bread plate on your left. Going the other way creates the same domino effect as with the water glass mis-pick. Tear rather than slice a roll to add butter. When the butter comes your way, use your knife (you might find a butter knife resting on your bread plate) or the butter knife provided to put a pat on your bread plate. Do not use your knife or the communal knife to spread butter directly from the communal butter dish.

Extra or Not Enough Flatware?

The classic rule is to use flatware by working your way in from the outside. But what are those extra utensils at the top of the plate? If you see an extra spoon and fork at the top instead of the sides, use those for the dessert course.

Once you have used a piece of flatware, it does not go back on the table. This can sometimes be difficult because banquets don’t always provide enough pieces. For example, if you only have one knife and used it for your salad, ask the server to please bring another knife when the server removes the plate for the first course. If the server is bringing the main course at the same time, you may be able to hang on to your knife. This is not an ideal choice, but it does avoid your meal going cold while you wait for your knife — or worse, everyone who still has an unused knife letting their meal go cold because they don’t want to start when you cannot.

A Minty Bonus

That pretty mint sprig on your dessert plate actually has a purpose. Rub the back of your spoon or fork across the mint leaf a few times. When you use your utensil to take a dollop of your crème brulee or ice cream or cream pie, you will taste the mint as part of the dessert as the chef intended. This hack is so little known, you might score points by sharing it with your table mates.

Do Mom Proud

Most of us didn’t have childhoods with meals accompanied by an array of silverware or a plate for every purpose. Today, short-cut eating is common, and considerations of table etiquette seem irrelevant to the microwave burrito you eat at your desk. Whether Mom taught you these rules, or you are learning them along the way, you can emphasize your professionalism in social settings with the etiquette appropriate to the occasion.

Illustration ©iStockPhoto.com

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Imagine if your email system could look like this at the end of your day (presuming your inbox is empty):

This is more likely to happen if email lands in the right folder without you having to triage it from your inbox. Dealing with each message in the order it was received in your inbox can lead to context switching — a major drag on productivity. The time spent doing triage can instead be used to handle business email.

To minimize email triage time, build these five email habits:

1. Set Up Folders in a Logical Manner

Having folders scattered all over means you mix contexts. And that makes you less able to target the messages that matter. Here’s how I set up my work email folders (and document folders, for that matter):

2. Put “Tags” in Email Subject Lines

Include the matter name or number in the subject line of each email you send. Use this habit for things outside client matters, too. You’ll understand why this is important when you read the next habit.

3. Create Rules to Automate the Filing of Incoming Messages

Rules are automatic actions your email program performs when triggered by criteria or conditions you have specified for incoming or outgoing messages. Email rules can be based on many criteria. Here’s a list from Mac Mail. The options in Microsoft Outlook and other email software are much the same.

Here’s the Mac Mail list of actions the software can take when a message meets defined criteria. Again, other email systems feature similar lists.

All these options might make email rule creation seem daunting. It isn’t. Here’s the type of rule I suggest you set up:

If Subject Line contains “Project 1” move message to folder “Project 1.”

That’s it.

This rule works reliably well since few people bother to change subject lines during email correspondence. On the few occasions that correspondents do change the subject line and remove the “trigger text,” the email lands in your inbox. Get automatic filing back on track by changing the subject line when you reply.

By the way, each email rule needs a name. In this case, name the rule “Project 1.”

4. Create Rules for Other Types of Emails

In the same way that you want to direct business or client email to your business or client folders, you can have your email software file newsletters, family correspondence, news about networking events and other types of messages as they come in. This won’t happen all at once, of course. You’ll need to continually train this auto-file feature. If you stick with it, though, you’ll spend less time on email triage and more time focusing on your priorities.

5. Run Email Rules on Your Sent Items Folder

Messages you write can matter just as much as those you receive. That’s why you may want to file relevant messages you’ve sent into the right folders.

Once you’ve created rules, there’s an easy way to have them take effect on sent items. Go to the Sent items folder, select all messages, right-click (or Control-click), and run your email rules. If you haven’t visited your sent items folders in a few years (or ever) and they’ve piled up, sit back and let the process chug along. Once it’s done, your email will be much more organized.

Prevent Inbox Busywork

These email automation habits are powerful ways to prevent inbox busywork. As you work with rules, you can explore other ways they can automate tasks you commonly perform. But what matters is that you create the rules you need as soon as the need arises.

Do you have any favorite email automation tips? Please share them in the comments below.

Related: Declutter Your Inbox – Tips from the Pros

Illustration ©iStockPhoto.com

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Most of us have a generally good grasp of English usage and punctuation. The problem is that some usage and punctuation errors are so subtle and pervasive that we are tricked into thinking they are correct. Additionally, language use is constantly evolving, and thanks to the internet, it changes faster than ever.

Throw in wrinkles such as how to express numbers and dates, when to italicize, or how to quote regulations and you have a proofreader’s migraine in the making.

That’s why you need a style guide and usage standards.

Keeping Track of Your Style

I recommend the annually updated “Associated Press Stylebook,” supplemented with your own internal usage cheat sheet.

Available in multiple print and electronic formats, the AP Stylebook is the leading style for many non-journalistic publishers, including corporate marketing and public relations departments. Its grammar rules are simple, clear and concise. I prefer using the spiral-bound edition, available for $22.95 here. The paperback is less expensive but more cumbersome for daily use.

Just as Merriam-Webster adds new words each year, AP updates its guidelines as well. For example, in March it updated the use of ‘“they” as a singular, gender-neutral pronoun in some cases. Just yesterday, the 2017 edition launched with new guidance on the usage of “fake news” and “cyberattack,” in addition to a new entry on addictions and drug-related terms. These are vital helps in writing respectfully and rationally about topics in which definitions are often dynamic, rather than static.

Plus, adopting AP style will end what can be interminable arguments over whether “internet” is capitalized (it’s not) and whether “website” is one word (it is). Avoiding fights among word nerds saves time, and according to The Onion, lives. (See “4 Copy Editors Killed In Ongoing AP Style, Chicago Manual Gang Violence.”)

Admittedly, adopting AP style won’t end all debates. Though the Oxford comma, also known as the serial comma, is mandatory in certain legal documents, AP style calls for it to be used only when absolutely necessary to avoid confusion. You’ll need to make the call for your own practice.

That’s where internal usage and style guides come in.

Creating Your Style Guide “Cheat Sheet”

I suggest compiling a short list of exceptions to AP style and keeping it next to your AP Stylebook. Also, create an A to Z list of commonly used proper nouns germane to your practice, such as the proper names of courts or state agencies you deal with frequently.

Make sure all the people in your office, as well as any outside writers, editors or proofreaders you hire, have the same materials. Be sure everyone is working from the same edition of the AP Stylebook, too. As noted earlier, there are changes every year, some of which are important usage updates, such as dropping the term “illegal immigrant” (actions, not people, are illegal). Updates also include slang that has entered common usage and is now deemed acceptable.

“But I Spellchecked That …”

Beware that your spellchecker and AP style won’t always agree. Microsoft still believes “internet” should be capitalized and will prompt you to change it. Just add a note to your internal usage guide as to which standard you want to adopt and when to ignore your spellchecker. Or purchase AP’s Styleguard for Word, which integrates with Word to proof for AP style.

NOTE: Usage in this piece may vary from AP style, per Attorney At Work’s own style guide. No matter where you come down on the Oxford comma, comments from fellow word nerds are most welcome.

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Recently Attorney at Work caught up with three innovative lawyers — all speakers at this spring’s Lawyernomics conference, hosted by Avvo — for their thoughts on what it means to run a law practice like a business, the biggest bet they’ve placed on themselves, and what challenges solo and small firm lawyers face in the next five years. Plus, a few favorite apps.

Here’s advice on moving your practice forward (and on moving pianos) from Vanessa Vasquez de Lara, Ozan Varol and Jennifer Brandt.

Vanessa Vasquez de Lara

Founder and owner, Vasquez de Lara Law Group
@vvasquezesq
www.familylawprotection.com

1. What’s the biggest bet you’ve ever placed on yourself or your business?
My biggest bet was probably my move into my current office at the beginning of December. I was out of space at my last office, so I decided to take a leap and rent a space that was three times bigger and sublease to have more flexibility in my growth. Although I basically quadrupled my rent, it has been a fantastic opportunity and our firm is doing so much better for it.

2. What one thing would you tell lawyers to start implementing in their law practices tomorrow? So many lawyers act like employees instead of business owners. A law practice is, ultimately, in the business of making money. By not making sure that the management of the firm and the business organization is there, you really limit the growth and success of the firm. Taking courses that assist with learning the business — including management and marketing concepts — is what I would say to do immediately.

3. Favorite technology that small and solo law firms can benefit from? I strongly recommend practice management or case management software. You almost don’t know what you’re missing until you start using this kind of software. Personally, I use Clio … its ability to sync with so many other programs like LawPay and Gmail made it a game-changer for me with regards to billing, tracking time, money and staff.

4. What do you see as the biggest challenge facing lawyers in the next five years?
The ability of clients to second-guess their attorney based on what they find on the internet. It used to be that attorneys and their advice were sacrosanct. Now there is so much information out there that clients think they know better, and then try to convince you their position is correct based on the information they found on Google.

5. What three apps do you use every day? For law practice purposes: Clio, MileIQ and Gmail. For non-legal purposes: Facebook and Waze.

Vanessa’s topic at Lawyernomics 2017 was “Work to Live, Don’t Live to Work: Designing Your Firm With Intention.”

Ozan Varol

Law professor and productivity coach for overwhelmed attorneys 
@ProfessorVarol
www.ozanvarol.com

1. What’s the biggest bet you’ve ever placed on yourself or your business?
When I started my “Effective Lawyer” coaching business, I pledged to spend zero dollars on marketing or advertising. There are no salespeople on my team. I don’t do “cold leads.” I have no publisher or agent working with me. Instead, I rely exclusively on referrals. Before spending any money on my services, clients set up a free 15-minute call with me to make sure that we’re a right fit and that I can deliver a positive return on their investment. Although all of this takes a lot of time on my part, I end up with much happier clients, which is my primary goal.

2. What one thing would you tell lawyers to start implementing in their law practices tomorrow? Stop moving your pianos. Here’s what I mean: Frank Sinatra’s tour schedule brought a new definition to the term “crazy.” Yet he managed to maintain his sanity and put out work that stood the test of time. He had one simple trick: He didn’t move his own pianos. He focused on his one unique ability: Singing. Everything else, he left to others.

Could Sinatra have become truly great if he were moving his own pianos, handling the lighting and staging, and hustling to sell his concert tickets? No. He focused on the essentials so he could bring out the best of himself.

Most lawyers move their own pianos. They’re so busy handling the minutiae of day-to-day life that they don’t have time to focus on the essentials and figure out the song that only they can play.

If something can be done 80 percent as well by someone else, delegate it. I use a virtual assistant on a daily basis, and I couldn’t be happier.

3. Favorite technology that small and solo law firms can benefit from? Zapier. It’s a really versatile software that works with hundreds of applications and allows you to set up “set it and forget it” automation systems. I’ve used Zapier to save small and solo law firms 20-plus hours per month.

4. What do you see as the biggest challenge facing lawyers in the next five years?
Ours is a culture of instant gratification. Clients want instantaneous access to their lawyers and immediate responses to their questions. As a result, lawyers are finding it exceedingly difficult to focus on getting work done and building their business. Keeping clients happy while finding undistracted time to focus on the essentials is a challenge that will continue to increase in difficulty in the next five years. Thankfully, there are steps you can take to minimize these distractions.

5. What three apps do you use every day?

Trello for project management. It’s free, and in my view, it’s the best system out there for managing personal and business tasks.

Evernote. This is my external brain. It’s searchable, tagable and it can read handwriting and business cards. Everything is in one place, so things are off your mind until you need them.

Google Inbox. Google Inbox is the new version of Gmail. Here’s a free video tutorial I put together that shows how I use Google Inbox to get more done.

Ozan’s topic at Lawyernomics 2017 was “Get Your Life Back: A Playbook for a Happier, Healthier and More Effective You.”

Jennifer A. Brandt

Co-Chair, Family Law Department, Cozen O’Connor
@JenABrandt
www.cozen.com

1. What’s the biggest bet you’ve ever placed on yourself or your business? 
The biggest bet I put on myself was to develop my own book of business and not wait for someone else to give me work. This was a winning bet — otherwise, I would not have the practice I have today.

2. What one thing would you tell lawyers to start implementing in their law practices tomorrow? They must figure out a way to market that is authentic. If they force themselves to use a marketing technique that may work for someone else then chances are they will not stick with it.

3. Favorite technology that small and solo law firms can benefit from? I am in a big firm, but we were all able to choose our individual computer setups — including being able to choose a ThinkPad that we can travel with, use to work at home, and take to client meetings. Having this ability makes life so much easier.

4. What do you see as the biggest challenge facing lawyers in the next five years? Development of online legal services will increase competition for traditional legal services — and cause traditional lawyers to reconsider how they bill for services, since many online legal services charge by the task rather than by the hour.

5. What three apps do you use every day? Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Jennifer’s topic at Lawyernomics 2017 was “Betting on Your Brand.”

Image ©iStockPhoto.com; speaker photos courtesy of Avvo Lawyernomics.

The idea of a “tribe” is powerful. Who would not feel connected in a group of people tied together by common values, traditions or goals? Tribes have two distinct yet equally important roles to play in your law practice — particularly if you are a solo practitioner. First, connecting with the right tribe can help you bring in more clients. Second, a tribe of colleagues who share knowledge and provide much-needed support not only makes you a better lawyer, it can provide ethics safeguards.

Tribes as Audience

Marketing master Seth Godin’s best-selling book, “Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us,” focuses on leading, connecting and creating movements. (His TED talk on the subject is here.) One concept that applies directly to business development is the idea that your potential client base is a tribe. If your base has a shared value, a shared problem, or a specific shared demographic that brings them together as a group — as a tribe — you can focus your marketing to address that commonality.

For example, if your firm sues makers of performance-enhancement products for athletes on the grounds that the products are bogus and do not work, your marketing campaign’s target audience will be fitness enthusiasts. If you want to tighten the focus, you could pursue runners as your target audience. The tribe to which those potential clients belong will be even more specific — say, long-distance runners participating in multiple races each year.

Identifying your potential clients’ tribe can significantly enhance your marketing. Now you can hone your message and focus your content marketing directly on the tribe’s concerns. And you can publish that content in a forum most likely to be viewed by the tribe. Most importantly, if your message connects with a couple of members of the tribe, your content will spread throughout the tribe’s internal network — and you will tap into social media and other connections already in place among the tribe’s members.

So, get up close and personal with your ideal client and identify their tribe. Then revisit your marketing strategy to figure out how to break into that tribe. With any luck, you’ll already have an “in” — perhaps the passion or purpose that brings you to serve that tribe already opens the door to their network. For example, perhaps you chose to bring claims on behalf of duped runners because it happened to you — and you are already part of a social network with runners who may become clients.

Find a Tribe of Colleagues

The other way tribes play a role in solo law practice is in cultivating a network of colleagues. Find a tribe of other lawyers who do what you do. If such a tribe has not been formed, then form it yourself. Bringing lawyers together in the same area of law is exceptionally valuable if members are willing to help each other. (This can be a sticking point in starting a new tribe, which makes it very worthwhile to first seek out an existing tribe where the members already share information and assistance.)

Ideally, your tribe of colleagues will be of a reasonably significant size but not unwieldy — perhaps about 50 lawyers.

Tribe members should be of varying levels of experience so that discussions are more likely to be useful to everyone. If all tribe members are too experienced, discussions will be over the heads of novice members attempting to join. If the group is too green, however, the members won’t actually be able to help each other.

To be effective, tribe members must be in regular communication with each other. The best way today is through an online tool such as Slack, Google Hangouts or even an email listserv.

Lastly, the tribe absolutely must be willing to share. Just as most senior lawyers are willing to mentor junior ones if asked, most experienced lawyers are willing to answer the questions of those less experienced in their area of law.

When you become a member of a tribe of colleagues, your ethics and malpractice risk is bound to go down. After all, if you are part of a well-functioning tribe, it can be like sitting down the hall from a knowledgeable senior partner and multiple higher-level associates, all willing to talk to you.

When you find this tribe of colleagues, be sure to become an active participant and use the collective shared knowledge of the group. Pay attention to discussions, even if they do not involve you, and listen and read carefully when your questions are answered.

Be Not Alone

Finding ways to be connected has become more of a focus for legal professionals as the world turns digital and more work is done remotely. It is extra critical as a solo lawyer to get out beyond yourself and connect with a group of like-minded colleagues. You are bound to be a better lawyer by learning from others in your field.

Remember that your potential clients are not alone, either. Tapping into their tribes can do wonders for your business.

Illustration ©iStockPhoto.com

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Today your potential clients are online — researching firms, looking for legal advice, reading reviews, and making decisions long before they actually talk with a lawyer. It’s critical for you to be there, too, creating opportunities to open up a dialog.

Here’s the catch, though — to have a dialog, you have to have something relevant to talk about. It may seem obvious, but you want to focus on creating interesting content that provides value while highlighting your specific subject matter expertise. By demonstrating your knowledge in a focused and useful way, you establish yourself as a thought leader.

You need to have relevant content available online so that when prospects search for information that touches on your specific area of expertise, they’ll be more likely to find you. Whether published articles, guest blog posts, webinars, podcasts, online forums or social media posts, when your experience shows through in your content, it becomes the foundation for effective marketing through thought leadership. This is a highly effective strategy for increasing visibility and accelerating market influence so that you can accomplish goals such building brand strength or generating new business.

The Impact of “Visible Experts” and Thought Leadership Marketing

Marketing through thought leadership not only benefits individual lawyers, it benefits their firms as well. Hinge surveyed over 1,000 professional services providers and 130 “visible experts” to understand the impact thought leadership marketing had on their firms. The results, published in the e-book “The Visible Expert,” showed that firms and organizations that utilize thought leadership marketing reap five major benefits.

1. Faster Growth

Thought leaders’ single biggest impact is their ability to drive firm growth. Highly visible thought leadership attracts clients who want or need greater expertise. The leads are more qualified and easier to generate. Prospects close more quickly, with less effort. 

2. Higher Billing Rates

There is a direct relationship between the visibility of a subject matter expert’s thought leadership and their billing rate. According to Hinge’s research, visible experts of every level command premium rates, starting at over 200 percent of the baseline $100 hourly rate. The greater the expertise and visibility of the expert — represented in the chart below as Levels 1 through 5 — the greater the billing rate.

Relative Hourly Rates Buyers Will Pay, by Visible Expert Level (“The Visible Expert,” p. 42, published by Hinge Research Institute)

3. A Stronger Brand

If you can combine thought leadership with greater visibility, your brand will become significantly stronger. That brand not only drives growth and profitability, it also results in a more valuable firm. And when you make thought leadership one of your primary marketing strategies, you create a strong differentiator (specialized expertise) and strategic focus.

4. Top Talent

The best people want to work with industry leaders. Thought leadership is a great way to demonstrate the quality of your firm and attract employees who themselves want to become thought leaders. In a time when top talent is in high demand, thought leadership is a potent recruiting tool.

5. The Best Opportunities

Subject matter experts not only attract the best new clients and the most talented people, they also yield the best strategic partners and business relationships. When other organizations look to an industry for potential partners, they look first for thought leaders — leading brands tend to want to work with other leading brands. High-visibility experts report that they have their pick of teaming relationships, marketing partnerships and other strategic business opportunities.

Thought Leadership Marketing Makes It Easier to Get and Stay Ahead

Thought leadership marketing is a powerful law firm marketing tool. It can be fun and rewarding, too. It’s all about being the expert who brings a fresh, insightful perspective to a common problem, or who anticipates emerging trends. Often, a thought leader’s perspective is at odds with conventional wisdom — even controversial. But a successful thought leader can turn that new insight into tomorrow’s best practice.

Lee W. Frederiksen, Ph.D., is Managing Partner at Hinge, a leading branding and marketing firm for the professional services. Hinge conducts groundbreaking research into high-growth firms and offers a complete suite of services for firms that want to become more visible and grow. Follow him @LeeFrederiksen. ‏

Illustration ©iStockPhoto.com

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A client appreciation dinner is a beautiful thing. There’s food and wine and balloons and maybe a small token of appreciation. Somebody makes a speech that mentions “paradigm shift” 31 times and everyone falls asleep. Sometime between the main course and the cheesecake, the phones come out.

Then, one by one, the whole room checks out … and you think to yourself, maybe there’s a better way.

There is. Client appreciation dinners have a plan built right into the title: Show some appreciation. Dinner is nice. A private room in a super fancy restaurant is even nicer, but you can still level up.

Take Some Tips from Pop-ups

Pop-ups are impromptu restaurants designed to showcase the talents of their progenitor. Whether it’s a local chef showing off some skills or a mixologist throwing down with the spirits, they have one goal in common: to entertain the guests so well they really, really want to come back.

The same tricks that make a great pop-up great will make your event a spectacular success.

In full disclosure, this author has managed nearly two dozen pop-ups in Chicago. (“Eating Vincent Price” was a luxurious dinner party developed from the rare cookbook authored by the famous actor. “The Oxford English Dictionary” was an irregular cocktail party featuring emerging Chicago novelists.)

Location, Location, Location

A swanky restaurant is definitely a good idea, but you can level up by moving it to that restaurant’s private party room. More than likely, they’ll have a package deal that comes with a bartender and servers so your dinner morphs into a party immediately.

A stand-alone room is an even better choice. Look for creative spaces with kitchens and the ability to serve booze (although if they can’t, a caterer or a private chef often travels with a temporary license for one-time events). Such spaces pull the dinner out of the same old, presenting something unique — and by default, assigning the same descriptor to your business.

• Where to find them. Private event spaces are multiuse. The same charm and decor of a great wedding reception room make a great pop-up.
• Budget tips. Startup galleries and creative spaces are always ready for a booking. Google “creative space,” “rent gallery” or “artist loft.” And don’t discount Airbnb’s usefulness. Many of those properties offer party decks, balcony dinner spaces and truly unique locations.

Client Dinner Private Chef Bonanza

Hire a private chef for your client dinner. It sounds extravagant — and it probably will be. But if your chef nails it, your clients will be forever wowed.

Chicago’s Aram Reed has cooked for the Chicago Bulls, Chelsea Handler and Anthony Bourdain. His advice for finding a chef is perfunctory but spot on: Check out their website, click through to their social media streams. See how they’ve been working so far for other clients. More importantly, says Reed: “Has this chef been professionally trained? This isn’t Uber, not everyone that owns an apron can now be a chef.”

• Where to find them. Search for personal or private chefs in your metro area. Ask your favorite chef. If she doesn’t have a side hustle as a personal chef, she’ll recommend someone who does.
• What to look for. Glowing reviews. Pictures of well-plated food. Emblems and certificates from culinary schools.
• Budget tips. When you ask your favorite chef for a recommendation, be clear about your budget. She probably knows chefs who work at various price points, including a new guy who’s just trying to make a name for himself.

Mix It Up with a Mixologist

A mixologist is not a bartender, though most mixologists tend bar. A mixologist is to making drinks what Guy Fieri is to making sandwiches. A good mixologist will interview you about your client and event, talk to you about your budget, be clear about costs, and let you know what staff they’ll bring. They’ll send you a list of drinks to choose from or maybe create custom cocktails that you can name to add fun to your dinner.

If your client doesn’t drink or has staff who don’t consume alcohol, a mixologist can create sodas, punches or juices that are just as awesome as their boozy drinks.

• Where to find them. You can Google “mixologists” in your area. However, Lauren Parton says there’s a better way. “Just ask your favorite barkeep, or if you just know a good bar where the drinks are cool, buy a drink and ask.” Your bartender might run a side business as a personal mixologist, or will know someone who’s a perfect fit.
• What to look for. If you’re sitting at their bar, ask for a killer drink. A great mixologist will ask you a few questions to develop a taste profile, then whip together something amazing.
• Budget tips. Just pay for two custom drinks and maybe one non-alcoholic beverage. Then pad the bar with beer and wine.

Take Pictures or It Didn’t Happen

Instead of an inexpensive table gift, how about incredible pictures of the evening sent right to your client’s inbox? Hiring a photographer is a simple, affordable way to commemorate the event — and take away priceless marketing collateral for yourself.

A wedding photographer might be a good bet here since candid shots in somewhat random situations are their bread and butter. But they aren’t framing for publication or for use in a brochure. So, you are better off with a commercial event photographer. They shoot concerts, conferences and everything else.

Lorenzo Tassone shoots in Chicago. He emphasizes the importance of pictures for marketing a business and building relationships: “I can’t even begin to explain how important photography is to biz these days. From simple headshots to social media to client outreach. Photos tell a story that oftentimes gets lost in words. That is why event photography is so important, and why having social media tie-ins (like designated hashtags) is critical.”

Your photographer is not there to take a group picture for the newsletter — and that’s not what you’re paying him for. You’re paying for their vision — the weird gift a skilled photographer has for being able to recognize and capture a priceless moment.

• Where to find them. Instagram. Try searching #explorechicago or #explorenyc. Google “event photographer” with your city or ZIP code. If you see work you love from other events you’ve attended, find out whose work it is.
• What to look for. Awesome pictures. They should really knock you out. You should know instantly if you like their style. Look for someone whose work speaks to your client, to your client’s business, and to the vibe you’re looking for at the dinner.
• Budget tip. A fun way to loop social media sharing into the party is to have a social photo booth. You can rent a real one, but it’s just as easy and budget-friendly to use an existing blackboard or whiteboard as a background for selfies. Guests can grab a piece of chalk or a dry-erase marker and have a blast with speech bubbles and hashtags. Get the story started in the right direction by including your preferred hashtag before guests arrive.

The Point? Bringing It All Together

Once you have the event plan and people in place, don’t leave your client contact out of the loop. Bring them in early. Let them know what you’re planning. Put them on a call with you and the private chef and let them talk about a menu. Same with the mixologist. This builds excitement for the event, but it also makes your client more vested in the process and deepens the relationship.

Besides, whether a dinner or sporting event, you don’t want to risk planning something that could make the client uncomfortable.

Some hard-earned lessons in pop-uppery have been obtained through the tried-and-true method of failingly spectacularly. A few closing reminders:

• Have a checklist for every step of the event, especially for the day of. (I’ll never forget running out to get napkins for 165 guests while the kitchen was plating the amuse bouche. My heart’s still racing.) Include the manufactured moments you think are worthy.
• Treat your VIP guests like they matter. Introduce the VIPs to your chef and your mixologist. Introduce your photographer, too, and say, “I want to see a lot of pictures of these folks.” It doesn’t hurt to have a few publicity shots lined up. Remember, if your client is OK with it, you can use some of the photos on your website and printed marketing materials.
• Always remember you’re the host. Just like the owner of an exclusive restaurant, you’re the face of the event. Keep your eye on the room. Don’t let yourself morph into a guest and lose focus. Get out into the room and shake hands. Introduce people. If you see someone hanging by themselves, go talk to them and make introductions. Don’t leave anyone hanging.
• Not every fire is yours to put out. Something will go wrong (see napkins, above), but that doesn’t mean you have to solve every problem. If there’s an issue with the food, that’s the chef’s job. You’re not just paying for the food, you’re paying for their years of experience in the weeds.

The most important benefit of better client dinners is the intangibles. Your client and their employees will talk about this dinner for weeks after. Every time they do, they’ll mention your name and they’ll sing your praises.

More Tips for Mastering Social Situations

• Avoiding Dining Table Faux Pas by Teddy Snyder
• How to Work the Room at Networking Events by Sally Schmidt
• How to Not Talk Politics and Survive by Bull Garlington
• Have We Met? Mastering the Meet-and-Greet by Mike O’Horo
• Big Ideas for Small Talk 

Illustration ©iStockPhoto.com

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Blog posts, podcasts and videos aren’t the only options for sharing content on your law firm’s website and social media platforms. Infographics offer an easy way for readers to review — and quickly grasp — visualized data. They are an engaging way to educate clients and prospects and share your knowledge. Quick examples:

• An Illinois law firm uses infographics to share legal facts about bicycle accidents.
• A California firm uses an infographic to suggest how to give good testimony.

Infographics are easy to share through email, on your website or through social media. To get the most out of infographics, though, you’ll need to follow a few best practices.

Use an Infographic Creator App

You could pay a graphic designer or visual data expert to create your infographics, but there are apps that allow you to create infographics less expensively and with minimal design skills. Infographic creator apps such as Piktochart and Venngage are a good place to start.

Pick the Best Format

Before you go through the trouble of creating an infographic, ask yourself if this is the best way to share this particular data. Not every piece of data is best shared in an infographic. Would your content present better in a chart or even in the text of a blog? Generally speaking, any content that is complemented by images and a story-style format will probably benefit from being presented in an infographic.

Tell the Story

Infographics must have a very clear and focused message. For example, if you’re creating an infographic about the rise in bankruptcy filings, you might include data on past bankruptcy filings, present bankruptcy filings, and predictions about future bankruptcy filings. That’s a clear beginning, middle and end.

The same storytelling style can be used to visually convey how a client progresses through the legal system for their case — all illustrated with clip art or other graphics, of course.

Check Your Facts

Do your research and cross-check any data you find. Nothing will be more annoying to your audience than reading an infographic with inaccurate information — and it can be harmful to your reputation. You should also list and include links to your sources — for your reference and the reference of the reader.

Stay Focused

No matter how much interesting data you uncover, don’t share data that doesn’t reinforce the main theme and story of your infographic. For example, when you’re creating an infographic about the rise in bankruptcy filings, don’t include stats on celebrity bankruptcy filings just because you find it interesting. All data must be directly relevant to the infographic.

Know Your Audience

If you’re designing for other lawyers, information should be presented in a way they will understand and respect. The same rule applies to clients. If you’re designing an infographic for clients, the data should be easy to understand: No legalese.

Brand Your Infographic

Be sure to include a link to your firm’s website on the infographic so that readers know your law firm created it. Consider designing your infographic using your logo and colors so that it aligns with your overall brand and personality.

Make It Shareable

Your infographic should include social media buttons, along with an ability to text or email the infographic to a friend. The more readers share your infographic, the more exposure your law firm will get — especially if the infographic gets any type of significant attention online.

Add Variety to Your Content Marketing

To keep your audience engaged, you can’t just share the same types of media continuously. Sometimes you have to mix things up. Experiment with infographics and see how they enhance your marketing.

Lynn Luong is Digital Marketing Manager for Smokeball, a case management software that increases productivity and efficiency for solo attorneys and small law firms. Lynn has over eight years of experience in marketing with a focus on digital, by developing successful strategies and managing many areas of marketing. Follow her @LynnLuong.

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Most professionals have a complicated relationship with public speaking — particularly if it is a good business development opportunity. On the one hand, you’re pretty sure you want this gig. It could be the start of something good for your practice. On the other, it can be darn intimidating to stand up in front of a crowd knowing they expect you to be the expert. Talk about pressure!

Start Out on the Right Foot with These Five Questions

It will help you manage your anxiety and do an extraordinary speaking job if you get lots of information up-front. The best time to get the lowdown is before you agree to speak. In fact, based on what you learn, you may choose not to say yes. Here are five key questions to ask right out of the chute, before you say you’re all in.

1. How many people are expected to attend? Depending on your practice focus and topic, you may want as many people as possible present (can you say keynote?) or an intimate number that allows you to connect in a personal way. High-net-worth tax planning? You probably want an exclusive session with a small group of hand-picked participants. Employment law defense practice? I’d hope for a large group of human resources executives to help you continue to build your contacts … which leads to the second question.

2. Will you share the final attendee list and their contact information with me? This is a biggie in terms of new business generation. A speech is merely a speech until you leverage your participation by adding everyone’s name to your contact list and sharing new information and materials with them over time. Maybe next time you will be the program organizer and you’ll send an invitation to those on the list you want to target. In fact, this can be so important, you may want to negotiate for it if it isn’t immediately offered — perhaps a lower speaking fee?

3. Do you plan to ask for feedback on speaker performance and may I receive a copy of the summary? The best way to become an impressive speaker is by speaking, speaking, speaking — and getting actionable feedback. With emphasis on “actionable.”  It won’t help to learn the crowd thinks you are a 3.5 on a 1 to 5 scale unless there is specific information associated with it. Effective conference organizers will ask participants to share comments and specifics in addition to circling numbers on a scale. It is valuable to you to learn you need to do a better job of projecting your voice to the back of the room and repeating the questions people ask before responding to them.

4. Do you require written materials in advance? At the very least, this will help you gauge how much effort will be necessary to excel in this instance. Some programs will require something akin to a scientific paper (10 to 25 pages with footnotes) months in advance, while others merely hope you will bring something to hand out on the day of the event. Of course, it is always best to put something into the hands of your audience. Ideally, written materials will not merely repeat your speech but will provide additional useful information. Also, your name, firm name, contact information, website URL and social media handles will be featured nicely on every page!

5. What do you anticipate will be the hottest question about this topic in the minds of the audience? It never hurts to get a little help focusing your program. Asked this way, you are likely to get some big-picture answers, but that’s what you want. “How can I protect my small business against personal injury risk?” “Can I prevent an employee from stealing trade secrets when she leaves for another job?” “Will passing on money to my grandchildren before I die protect against them paying massive taxes on it?” This way you will be able to craft your own focused answers.

BONUS: A Handful of More Questions to Ask

Where will this take place? What will the room be like? Will I be on a panel or on my own? How much time will I have to speak? Will you compensate me for my time? Cover expenses? Tell me about the best speaker this group has ever had.

More Speaking Tips from Attorney at Work

• Pro Tips for Creating Masterful Presentations — Tips from Simon Chester, Reid Trautz, Jim Calloway, Heidi Alexander and Nora Regis
• Convert Post-Speaking Conversations into Real Demand by Mike O’Horo
• Slide Presentations 101 for Lawyers by Catherine Sanders Reach
• Making Speaking Gigs Pay Off by Merrilyn Astin Tarlton
• I Hate Public Speaking! Is It Worth the Effort? Ask the LMA Experts
• Perfecting Your Presentation Skills by Marsha Hunter
• Stop Rough-Drafting and Learn to Speak with Precision by Marsha Hunter
• Why a TED Talk Is Like a Chicago Hot Dog by Theda C. Snyder
• How to Master Your Fear of Speaking by Mary Ellen Sullivan
• The Trap of Vertical Speaking Notes by Brian K. Johnson

Illustration ©iStockPhoto.com

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Blockchains — a sort of digital ledger best known for powering the bitcoin digital currency — have been getting a lot of attention from lawyers for their potential to change how people transact. Specifically, there are a number of software projects aimed at applying blockchains to create self-executing “smart contracts” (or at least trying to).

Lawyers often deal with how people transact, so it’s probably a good idea for lawyers to understand blockchains.

Understanding blockchains is hard, though, especially when approaching them from a legal standpoint without looking under the hood from a technology standpoint. Here are some of the best resources for understanding blockchains from outside of law.

Digging In: The Bitcoin Connection

A top resource for understanding blockchains is “Bitcoin for the Befuddled” by Conrad Barski and Chris Wilmer. Why read a book about bitcoin to understand blockchains? Bitcoin is the first and best-known implementation of a blockchain, and bitcoins and blockchains are essentially inseparable: To possess bitcoins means to possess the credentials to tell the bitcoin blockchain that your bitcoins should go down and someone else’s bitcoins should go up by the same amount. Using bitcoins as a real-life example of a blockchain makes understanding blockchains much easier.

Another excellent resource is CoinDesk, especially its guides on blockchains (all written by Nolan Bauerle, who studied digital currencies while doing research for the Canadian Senate Banking Committee).

These resources focus less on legal or regulatory matters and more on how blockchains work (and also less on breathless predictions of the impending blockchain revolution and more on real life).

In particular, these resources differ from descriptions of blockchains often found in legal publications on two important claims.

Running Down Two Claims: Irreversible and Unhackable

One claim is that when you save data to “the blockchain,” it’s permanent, unchangeable, irreversible. This claim often appears in discussions about bitcoin transactions stored on the bitcoin blockchain, and in the bitcoin context, irreversibility is absolutely essential. (Digital currencies wouldn’t work if you could go to the store, spend your digital currency, take away your newly purchased stuff, and then use “Undo” to get your money back.) But the claim is sometimes presented in a way that makes it seem like the bitcoin blockchain is the only blockchain, or like all blockchains necessarily work the way the bitcoin blockchain does.

Unless you really mean “every kind of blockchain and other distributed/decentralized/peer-to-peer (crypto) ledger generally now and forever,” it’s probably not a good idea to talk about “the blockchain” in the abstract — no more than it is a good idea to talk about “the social networking website” in the abstract. There’s Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter and more. And while these are all social networking websites, they each work a bit differently.

A more technical analogy is “the version control system.” Software developers use version control systems to manage changes to source code over time. Git, one of the most widely used version control systems, is similar to a blockchain: Both Git and blockchains use a Merkle tree (or something similar) to save and verify changes to data. In addition to Git, there’s Subversion, Mercurial and more. And just as social networking websites offer different features, so do version control systems: Git allows you to modify past data (but you have to be careful); Subversion doesn’t really allow this.

So: Is Data Saved to “the Blockchain” Permanent?

For blockchains generally, the answer seems to be, “It depends.” Besides bitcoin, there are a number of software projects with their own blockchains (Ethereum, Symbiont, many others, and more seemingly monthly). It’s practically impossible to put together an overview of all the blockchains under active development (CoinDesk’s Smart Contracts Report makes a brave attempt), but it wouldn’t surprise me if a few of these blockchains had mechanisms for modifying past data. (Git, which uses essentially the same data structure as a blockchain, allows modification of past data, so it’s not like it can’t be done.)

There’s also interest in private blockchains.

Part of what makes data in the bitcoin blockchain (essentially) permanent is that the bitcoin blockchain is stored on many computers that aren’t controlled by a single party — there’s no central repository of data that you can change and call it a day. But if a blockchain is private, and you control the computers that store the blockchain data, and you decide you want to rewrite history, who’s to stop you? A March 2017 Harvard Business Review article on blockchain security characterizes the ability to reverse transactions — that is, rewrite history — as a benefit of private blockchains (at least in certain contexts).

For the bitcoin blockchain in particular, the answer is probably, “Yes, for all practical purposes” (but not a straightforward “Yes”).

In bitcoin’s early stages (August 2010 — the first bitcoin block was saved to the bitcoin blockchain in January 2009), someone exploited a bitcoin bug (similar to what caused Gandhi to go around nuking everyone in the first Civilization computer game) to create billions more bitcoins than were ever intended to exist. As dire as that sounds, this event actually ranks dead last in CoinDesk’s The 9 Biggest Screwups in Bitcoin History.

The bitcoin developers’ solution (in addition to fixing the bug) was a rollback of the bitcoin blockchain: remove the bazillion bitcoin transaction and all the transactions after it. All of that permanent, irreversible bitcoin transaction data in the blockchain? Gone. (Good thing, too.)

But that was in 2010. For a number of reasons (not the least of which is that the bitcoin blockchain is stored on so many more computers today that arriving at a consensus on a rollback would be very difficult), another rollback is very unlikely today – but very unlikely isn’t the same as impossible.

A second claim is that “the blockchain” cannot be or has never been hacked. 

At some level, the claim that a blockchain has never been hacked is just semantics. For example, if you cause a bazillion spurious bitcoins to be added to the bitcoin blockchain by exploiting a bug in bitcoin code, but not blockchain code (like someone did in August 2010), I guess it’s more accurate to say that you hacked bitcoin and not the blockchain, but what difference does it make?

In any event, CoinDesk publishes plenty of articles on memorably named digital currency hacks that involve exploiting attributes of blockchains: 51 percent attacks, time warp attacks, eclipse attacks and more.

Benjamin Whetsell is the co-founder of Paper Software. He is admitted to the bars of New York and Washington, D.C. Previously, he was an associate at Fried Frank in New York City, where he worked on financings, mergers, and fund structures for clients such as Bank of America and Goldman Sachs. He holds a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan Business School and a J.D. from Columbia Law School. Follow him @benwhetsell and @papersoftware.

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“Get to the Point” has previously preached that specificity enhances credibility. In fact, I’m working on a cross-stitch with this aphorism to place on the office wall. Using an unsupported superlative flouts this rule.

Ugly, Uglier, Ugliest

A superlative is used to express the highest degree of a quality. “Magnificent”, “outstanding” and “unrivaled” are superlatives. And typically so are words ending in “est.” You know, words like “healthiest” and “best.”

On December 4, 2015, Dr. Harold Bornstein signed off on a letter stating, “If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.” On January 12, 2017, President Obama called Joe Biden “the best vice president America has ever had.”

Late-night comic Stephen Colbert joked, “In your face, Franklin Pierce vice president William Rufus DeVane King.” And, hey, what about Teddy Roosevelt (refuting both superlative statements)?

The real tip-off to a problem with superlative pronouncements like these is the word “ever.” Perhaps a scientist or historian or expert witness can sometimes state that something is the most fill-in-the-blank that ever existed. Those occasions are rare. Generally, careful communicators hedge their bets when describing extreme conditions — and avoid conclusions there is no way to substantiate. That an unrecorded historic condition could be definitively compared with anything else is unlikely.

Are You a Careful Communicator?

“A lawyer must also act with … zeal in advocacy upon the client’s behalf,” says the comment to ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.3. But too much zeal can raise the eyebrows of a judge or jury.

Oh, yes, you know that witness was the most egregious liar ever. The plaintiff’s injuries were the worst ever sustained in an accident of this sort. The defendant’s actions showed the highest level of care ever exhibited.

Wait a minute — ever?

Pretty, Prettier, Prettiest

The lawyer’s job is to persuade. Conservative statements that accurately reflect the evidence without exaggeration are most likely to earn the respect of the person receiving your communication. Be cautious about extreme praise or condemnation, and avoid “ever” and “never” unless the claim can be objectively verified.

Catch up on past “Get to the Point” columns here.

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Do you have $500?

Good. You’re the proud owner of a new law firm! (Seriously, congratulations.)

Thanks mostly to the spate of technology advances made possible by cloud services, it is cheaper to practice law than ever before, because lawyers can virtualize much of what they do. That means if you’re willing to bootstrap the living heck out of your law practice, you can get in for next to nothing, including marketing expenses.

I’m going to assume you have a computer or tablet already, as well as a smartphone (maybe). You also likely have some physical area where you can work, like a home office, or your couch. What you probably don’t have is a scanner. Fortunately, you can buy a Fujitsu ScanSnap that comes with a free copy of Nuance Power PDF. 

Now you’re paperless, and you have the baseline requirements for running a modern law firm.

Of course, if that’s the direction you’re going to take, you’ll be limited to free software, which there is a lot of, even if most of it has not insignificant drawbacks. It turns out vendors that don’t charge for their services have less-robust products. Go figure.

So, You Can Start a Law Firm for Less Than $500

The question is whether you want to. Because, if you start a law firm for $500, it ain’t going to be a super professional one. You’ll have an aol.com email account, you won’t have a website and you might be sitting on a crate when clients show up at your house.

But let’s be realistic: .00001 percent of lawyers are actually going to start a law firm for under $500.

Phat Stacks: OK, This Is How Much It Really Costs to Start a Law Firm

Have you ever seen those images of different-size rocks stacked on top of each other online? Man, people love those. In most cases, rock stacks represent tranquility ( … unless you’re a seagull, in which case I suspect they make your life very, very difficult).

Less calming is thinking about stacking expenses, tier by tier, on top of that basic start-up cost of $500.

Was it intriguing to think that you might be able to start a law firm for $500? Yes. Was it a pipe dream? Also, yes.

So, let’s get down to brass tacks: What else will you want to pay for, and how much will it cost? We can organize your start-up costs into these broad categories:

• Technology
• Risk Allocation
• Marketing
• Administrative

To get to an actual, realistic first-year cost figure for starting a firm, let’s think back to those rocks. Each time you add an expense item based on the four categories above, you’re adding another rock to your tower. By the time you’re done, maybe you have a well-balanced rockpile with a nice little seashell on top, like in “Moana.”

Or, maybe you’re weeping next to a scattered pile of pebbles, and wondering where your next meal is coming from.

Eleven Tiers for Your New Law Firm Budget

Stick to my suggestions for the 11 tiers described below, to keep your opening budget on the straight and narrow.

Since the 11 different expense categories each merits their own writeups, we’ve created a separate download for them. You can save it. Read it at your leisure. Review the tiers one by one. Make notes. Check my math. Draw pictures of mustachioed firetrucks over what I’ve written. All manner of shenanigans are allowed — nay, encouraged!

Click here to download the guide and get started on a new law firm budget, or get cracking on revising your existing one.

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James Jones Jr. bumped up against a problem most new lawyers face when he first hung his shingle: where to find clients. That later led to a big idea. After practicing law for a decade, Jones and co-founder Kristina Jones launched Court Buddy in 2015. Their platform uses instant-matching technology to provide a la carte legal services at flat rates to consumers and small businesses. Once matched with a pre-screened attorney, consumers can instant message, video chat and make secured payments using the platform.

Court Buddy won the 2017 American Bar Association Brown Select Award for Legal Access, as well as an inaugural American Entrepreneurship Award in 2016. In February, the company received seed funding from early-stage investor 500 Startups and was selected for its Silicon Valley accelerator. This summer, the company will close on its next round of fundraising.

Productivity Habits

What’s your best productivity habit? I listen to a good audiobook. That gets the creative juices flowing. (Right now, I’m listening to three: “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t,” “Play Bigger” and “The Power of Broke.”)

I usually have a document open called “Ideas” where I write down different ideas I come up with during the day.

When do you wake up? 6:30 a.m.

What’s the first thing you do after waking up? I go into my daughter’s room and kiss her, then put on an audiobook and start getting ready for the day.

How do you handle email? I’m pretty obsessed with email. I think it’s a bad habit. If something pops up, I take a quick look at it.

What’s the one habit you wish you could kick? I wish I didn’t jump every time I saw an email pop up.

What do you let slide? Menial tasks that I can do later. If it doesn’t involve big thinking, I usually set it aside.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you. That makes you better. And choose your friends and associates wisely.

What’s your nightly routine? I read my daughter bedtime stories, then once she’s asleep, I look at things on my to-do list that I didn’t get to during the day. I consider what I can do in the couple of hours I have before shutting down for the day. l read news articles and maybe a book or two.

What time do you go to sleep? I try to go to bed around midnight. If I can get five to six hours of sleep, I can function. By the way, I don’t drink coffee, energy drinks or any of that stuff.

Court Buddy: A Deeper Dive

How did you get the idea for Court Buddy? When I first opened my practice, I had no clue how to get clients. I did what I thought made the most sense: I started going to lunch with other attorneys. I started with colleagues who went to law school with me. I asked what they did, and I realized it was a guessing game — even they didn’t know, and they had been out on their own for a couple of years. They were trying to figure it out, too.

In law school, we weren’t taught the business of law, or how to market our services. We were taught how to get a job and work at a law firm.

What differentiates Court Buddy from the competition? We use instant-matching technology to provide a la carte legal services at flat rates to consumers. Users choose the rates they’re willing to pay. Court Buddy competitors have a bidding system. A consumer submits an inquiry and 20 attorneys respond with quotes. Attorneys get into a bidding war. That doesn’t make sense. If consumers can’t choose the rate they want to pay, and attorneys have to bid against each other, consumers may be confused.

What business problem are you solving? Consumer users of our platform are middle-income wage earners. The average middle-class American makes $25 an hour. They can’t go to a traditional law firm and cough up a $10,000 retainer for their case. They want certainty, predictability and transparency when spending on legal services, just like they have predictability and transparency when it comes to a mortgage payment or when they budget for a vacation.

On the lawyer side, our users are solo attorneys and small law firms. They don’t have a big marketing budget but they do have marketing needs. They need to get clients.

What are your revenue sources? Lawyers pay either a monthly membership or per client, a pay-per-match membership. Once clients engage an attorney, they can submit payments for each task the attorney performs through our secure payment portal. There is a transaction fee for that. And when they make their payments, they see itemized bills. They see what services cost. Our focus is on transparency.

We recently received a seed investment of $150,000 from 500 Startups, and we’re working out of their San Francisco offices. We’re part of their accelerator program and have been actively fundraising.

What’s it like being part of an accelerator program? To make a food analogy, it is like being at a buffet where you get to choose what you want to eat. 500 Startups provides a buffet of marketing, selling, rapid scaling, and best practices and fundraising tips from industry leaders from companies such as Google and PayPal. You simply choose what you want based on your company’s needs. You literally learn how to grow your business in four months. And you get an investor in your company and access to a global network of other investors and entrepreneurs, which is the icing on the cake.

What have you had to change along the way in response to customer feedback? We launched the web-based platform in 2015. In 2016, we then launched the secure payment portal, CB Direct Pay, and the mobile app version of Court Buddy, a messaging, videoconferencing and phone call app called Court Buddy Chat.

Even though lawyers are highly regulated, some consumers expressed concern about paying an attorney they had never met in person. CB Direct Pay enables consumers to have protected funds they can transfer to the attorneys when work is completed.

On the flip side, lawyers wanted a better, faster way to communicate with clients. Court Buddy Chat lets them do that.

What do you hope your technology will grow to in the future? We are U.S.-based. Our system matches consumers with solo and small firm attorneys in 36 states right now. We intend to expand to all 50 states and outside the U.S. Ideally, we’d like this to be everywhere on the planet. If people get to Mars, then we want to be on Mars, too.

Best tip for starting a legal tech company? Make sure you really want to do it. There will be tons of hard work and many sleepless nights. It’s not easy. It has to be something that’s near and dear to you.

To learn more, visit the Court Buddy website here, and find them on Twitter @courtbuddyinc.

Read more about startup masterminds here.

Illustration ©iStockPhoto.com, photo courtesy of James Jones Jr.

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It’s difficult to attend any legal conference these days without hearing about technology and change, but it’s refreshing to discuss these topics with people who actually do the work. Recently, I moderated a panel for an ARK (Applied Research & Knowledge) conference, “The New Spectrum of Legal Services,” in Chicago. Our focus was the evolving role and pressures on legal operations and in-house counsel. Panelists covered technology adoption, partnerships with law firms and information technology departments, plus their future strategic priorities.

Biggest Pressures on Legal Departments

So, what are the biggest pressures faced by in-house legal departments? Here are five key issues the panelists identified.

1. More with less. Three of every four dollars spent on legal services is corporate money per industry data cited by presenters. And the global business mantra of cutting budgets while demanding more has hit in-house departments across all industries. Technology is often viewed as the solution. However, a culture that embraces change, including in its processes, is required to make headway with efficiency.

2. Cybersecurity risks. These days it’s not if your company will be breached, but when. Of course, a breach can be defined differently by each company but the need for a plan and mitigation strategy is critical — and growing with the “‘internet of things” explosion.

3. The overwhelming amount of data. This refers to more than just data for e-discovery or legal holds. Overall data and knowledge management has become a pain point for most companies due to sheer volume. If official systems are not implemented, there can be rogue systems or shadow IT that contribute to inefficiency and, in some cases, chaos.

4. Technology implementation. These massive undertakings require cross-department coordination plus project and change management skills. In response, more companies are creating legal operations functions and hiring non-lawyers who are skilled in procurement and systems implementation. 

5. Role as business advisor. The general counsel is part of the management team, responsible for strategic initiatives as well as key metrics. The complexity of the role has expanded with technology advances and cybersecurity threats, but increased measuring, monitoring and reporting has put new pressure on GCs — even in private companies.

For law firms, these challenges present tremendous opportunities to partner with clients to solve problems together using technology and other new approaches — even when that may mean less revenue. For example, one panelist described how their employment law firm created a self-help portal for the company’s employees, which ultimately reduced the spend with that firm but locked them in as the company’s only employment firm.

How Law Firms Can Step Up

A follow-up panel focused on client-driven change, and how law firms can rise to the challenge. Panelists shared tips for developing stronger relationships with clients. Some key pointers:

• Create a robust cybersecurity program at your firm — it can be a competitive advantage.
• Conduct regular client surveys or business reviews and act on the results.
• Ensure that your team has strong project management skills, not just enabling technology. (See No. 4.)
• Consider developing a program or separate business venture that helps clients with technology solutions, like Bryan Cave’s BCXponent, Dentons’ Nextlaw Labs or Davis Wright Tremaine’s DeNovo.
• For inspiration, look outside the law and consider technology products implemented in other professions.

Today, it’s about building relationships and creating partnerships rather than tossing an RFP response over a wall and hoping for the best. Challenge your law firm to bring more creative solutions to the table.

#onwards

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I’ve finally figured out why so many lawyers want to know, “But how do I ask for the work?” It’s because the picture they have in their minds is a pretty darn scary one.

It’s something like this: You and a former colleague are sitting together over coffee or lunch. You share stories about your kids’ accomplishments and talk about your summer vacations — then you blurt out, “So … got any work you can give to me?”

Yeah, that sounds awkward to me, too. Because if that’s the way it plays out, your friend is now staring down into his latte and thinking one (or all) of the following:

• “Wow, I thought this was just a friendly catch-up coffee. This is about work?”
• “Work? What does she mean ‘work’? I need some post holes dug at home, but I don’t think that’s what she’s saying.”
• “Is she looking for a new job?”
• “Is her law practice on the skids? She sounds desperate!”
• “Oh man, I’ve gotta go!”

Most lawyers are smart enough to know that, in this scenario, there is no magical construction of words that will spark a response like, “Sure, walk with me to my office and I’ll give you a contract to draft.” As nice as that would be.

Be Simply Irresistible

Let me suggest a few simple ways to avoid the cold ask — and get the work (the right kind of work) anyway.

• Get a little bit famous for a precise kind of legal work. If you’ve read my columns or my book, you know I’m all about going after the kind of work that really floats your boat. (Why spend time and effort on any other kind?) So figure out what that is and focus on becoming known for doing exactly that — with the people who pay lawyers to do exactly that. Know how to describe what it is and do it often. But that’s just the beginning.
• Let your firm’s marketing strategy drive your platform. By the time you show up in someone’s office, the mention of your firm’s name should have paved the way for you. Your marketing people should have built a reputation for your firm that links with something particular. (“Oh yeah, this woman is with Done & Done LLC! I hear they are fast, aggressive and eager.”) And you should have done your part in getting your contact’s name on every fitting firm list and participating in every appropriate event.
• Invest time in building relationships. You already know this, but I’ll say it again: It takes time to build relationships with a mutual understanding of each other and each other’s work. Relationships built on caring about each other. Be conscious, always, of helping the people you meet to build their businesses and they will help you. Do your research to learn about them and about their work. Make frequent contact. Make introductions. Make things work for them. Make each other’s success something you are doing together.
• Replace “What can you do for me?” with “How can I help you? We’ve all read those law firm websites, brochures and lawyer biographies that are all about “us” or “me.” You know: “I went to the best schools, I know the best people, I have been given lots of awards.” Most clients don’t care about that. In fact, they assume it. What they do care about is what you can do for them. So, in your written and spoken words, focus on that: creating solutions to their problems.

Sure, you’ll find you still have to ask for business in one manner or another, but now they’ll already know why it’s in their best interest to hire you.

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Many lawyers dictate their thoughts into a recording device, then send the recording to an assistant for transcription. This is a great time-saver for the lawyer. But the human transcriptionist today is gradually giving way to computer versions.

When I say “gradually,” I mean that digital transcription doesn’t work well in all situations yet. Consider these uses for transcription (they’re listed from easiest to most difficult for computers to understand):

• Creating letters or emails
• Drafting full documents
• Transcribing interviews and other meetings

When you use a digital transcription, you may avoid the cost and delay of sending a recording to a transcriptionist, but you assume the tasks of correcting the digital tool’s mistakes (there will be mistakes in anything but the simplest messages) and properly formatting anything that goes into a formal document.

Modern Dictation Options

Gone are the days of transcribing cassettes, whether micro or regular size. Competitively priced digital voice recorders have been available for over a decade. Their lack of moving parts and production of sound files that can quickly be sent to transcriptionists the world over make them superior dictation tools.

Dictation and Transcription Using Mobile Devices

The use of dictation tools has, traditionally, implied the services of a human transcriptionist. However, many of today’s options cut out the need for a transcriptionist. These options go beyond specialized software like Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

Perhaps the most obvious alternative is the speech-to-text capability that ships with many modern smartphones. When vendors package the tool in something you’re already buying, it makes sense to try it out. Various third-party apps are also available via your device’s app store.

These tools are business-ready. Accuracy, which can fluctuate depending on the quality of the internet connection, is usually so good that it properly captures most, if not all, of what people want to say. These tools may trip over things like unusual person or place names and words in other languages, but senders can correct these mistakes before a message is sent. Cleanup is usually quick, if it’s even necessary, on short messages. (Note: I never forego revision of lengthy pieces of writing.)

Voice-to-text speeds depend on your Internet connection — at least for smartphone-based tools. They usually “package” a recording of what you said, send it to a server farm to unpack, interpret and write it on your screen.

One of my favorite features is the ability to switch languages on a mobile device. I speak four languages, so I have my touchscreen devices set up to toggle between keyboards for all four. I recognize the keyboard based on how the space bar is labeled. (In English, it’s “space,” in Spanish, it’s “espacio,” in French it’s “espace” and in Italian it’s “spazio,” and so on.)

Once the keyboard is set to a given language, the speech-to-text “ear” listens for words in that language (and understandably, misspells words spoken in other languages). This saves me a lot of time.

Dictation and Transcription Using Computers

Computer operating systems also offer speech-to-text technology. In other words, by simply buying a new computer equipped with a microphone, you can dictate to your computer without spending extra money on specialized software.

Experimentation using my aging MacBook Pro reveals a machine that matches the performance of my mobile devices. Windows 10 offers speech recognition as well. In both cases, these OS-based options are packaged with tools that let you interact with your computer using voice commands. If you have ever told your car to dial one of your contacts, you understand how this tool works on your computer. Now you just need to learn the many simple, natural commands you can use.

Shortcomings of Modern Transcription Systems

Digital transcription tools work well when there’s only one voice to transcribe. These same tools fail when recordings involve two or more voices. Results can be as bad as when each person speaks a different language. Different accents may as well be different languages. Have people speak “over” one another, and the software will miss whatever is said. This is when a human ear makes a difference.

Last year, I tried Trint, a newish entrant to the machine transcription marketplace. I uploaded files containing interviews and, without getting into detail, the results were laughably bad. I was also told that recordings of Skype calls were particularly problematic.

Trint offers a free trial, and it may have improved in the year since I tried it. (You can read my review here.)

Tip: Read It Back to Improve Your Writing

If you’re not sure about your piece of writing, have your computer dictate your work back to you. This handy feature also ships with today’s computers. The tool might not pronounce every word properly in English. (For instance, the word “content” sounds different depending on its meaning, and the Mac only knows one pronunciation.) That said, “listening” to your writing may help you catch issues you wouldn’t “hear” otherwise.

The Short and Long of It

Using technologies embedded in modern operating systems, you can forego transcription in favor of real-time voice dictation should you just want your own words quickly transformed into text. Transcription of meetings and other events is a tougher technological nut to crack.

If you have found a digital transcription tool that effectively handles such recordings, let us know in the comments below.

You might also like “Best Note-taking and Dictation Apps and Tactics“

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Law firms are busy places, and sometimes the smaller operations are even more chaotic than their large firm counterparts. It’s important to keep that behind the scenes, though. Your clients should see only a well-oiled machine — beginning the moment they first make contact with the firm.

Often, the first interactions will involve your support staff. Theirs are the first faces a client sees when she walks through the door, the first greetings on the phone, and they are sometimes involved in pre-screening, too. So, it’s crucial that each of your support team members understands the message you want to send to the public and conveys it when dealing with clients, whether in person, on the phone or by email.

Client Intake Calls: Getting It Right

Our firm represents clients in personal injury matters. Many prospective clients find us online and make initial contact through our online contact form, but we also have clients who reach out by phone or email. I’ve written before about general law firm phone etiquette. However, when it comes to intake calls specifically, here are a couple of things to impress on anyone who answers the phones at your office:

• Be sensitive to the caller and their reason for contacting you. Remember, the day someone needs to retain legal counsel is probably not that person’s best day. In my practice, the person could be calling because he’s just been in a car accident, is having medical complications, or has lost a loved one. I remind staff that although they deal with injured clients every day, to the person on the phone this is a huge life event. 
• Manage expectations. The staff who are on the front lines of taking phone calls or answering email inquiries need to have a realistic view of the time frame in which you will respond to the client. A prospective client who is told that he will get a return call by the end of the week will often wait for the call during that time frame. If a prospective client is told he’ll get a call back by the close of business and the call doesn’t come, he will have moved on to another firm by the end of the week.

Who Does Intake Screening in Your Practice?

If you’re a solo practitioner with one secretary or receptionist, it’s probably you. But if you are in a group with a few lawyers, paralegals and support staff, the pre-screen task could go to someone else. If you have a trusted paralegal or support team member who can do a telephone pre-screen, especially when the contact comes from email or an online form, it can save you a lot of time.

You will want to determine a strict intake protocol. Prepare a list of your standard intake questions and coach the person chosen on to how to ask them.

Note: The benefit to doing this by phone is that when the client arrives for the first in-person meeting, he can meet directly with the lawyer who will be taking the case. For you, the benefit is that you will have already been briefed as to what the case and client are about before you participate in that first meeting.   

Using a Virtual Receptionist for Client Intake Calls

More law firms are embracing the virtual receptionist concept for day-to-day calls and inbound prospective client calls. While these services can definitely be cost-effective, you need to be sure it will be able to deliver the customer service experience that you would want a client to get from a receptionist in your office.

There are lots of variations in how to employ a virtual receptionist service, including what level of live or automated phone answering you wish to use. It could involve an automated menu-based system that transfers calls based on the caller’s input prompts, but there can also be live operators to interact with callers (like an answering service). ConsumerAffairs has a good breakdown of features to consider for virtual receptionist services.

Lawyer-Client Communications: Setting Expectations

As we talk about “pre-screening” and “intake,” what does that mean, exactly? While each firm and lawyer might handle the client onboarding process differently, certain components of the process should be consistent. The two main aspects of client intake involve the client’s communication with you (the nature of their case, what their desired outcome is) and your communication with the client.

What do you need to communicate to the client during those initial interactions?

1. Your firm’s general business and legal philosophy
2. How, when and how much the client will be billed, including a clear explanation of your fee structure
3. Expectations for the attorney-client relationship
4. An ongoing communications structure

It is especially important to set expectations for ongoing communication. If you generally communicate by email versus by telephone, the client should know that. If the client is averse to email (especially if he is elderly or disabled), explain what your usual time frame is for returning calls. It’s always better to prepare a client up-front for what to expect because he will be frustrated if calls and emails are not being returned when he thinks they should be.

Also, let prospective clients know when they will be dealing with you directly and when a paralegal, associate or support team member will be handling certain aspects of the case.

The key to client intake is having a streamlined process that allows you to efficiently screen to make sure that the cases are within your area of practice, and that there is potential for a good working relationship between you and the client. Whether you win or lose the case, the ongoing objective is to manage your client’s expectations and nurture the attorney-client relationship.

When clients understand up-front what is expected of them and what they can expect from you, you can move forward effectively.

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It’s almost a certainty that, at some point, every lawyer will have an unhappy client. In his seminal research on loyalty, business strategist Frederick Reichheld concluded that simply satisfying clients is not enough to retain them. Research showed that depending on the industry, between 65 and 85 percent of customers or clients who defected said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the company they abandoned.

They left because they didn’t like the experience.

This is perfectly demonstrated by a client feedback interview I conducted a few years back. My client, the law firm, had delivered a major victory for its client — much greater than anyone expected. Yet that client no longer sent business to the firm. Why? According to the in-house lawyer, “I didn’t like working with them. They were arrogant and non-collaborative.”

I was recently reminded of the proper (or, should I say, improper) way of handling an upset client after I waited 25 minutes past my scheduled haircut appointment time. In my situation, getting a decent haircut wasn’t going to be enough to make me happy with the stylist; the experience was negative. The same holds true for your clients. Maybe they’re angry that you didn’t call back. Maybe they’re annoyed that they had to wait for 15 minutes in the lobby. Maybe they’re disappointed that their bill was twice what they expected.

Whatever the situation, here are some thoughts on how both of you can get through the issue with your relationship intact.

Steps for Diffusing the Situation

Depending on the issue, clients’ reactions could range from mild displeasure to outright anger. Try these tips for dealing with someone who is upset.

Don’t get defensive. Stay calm and let clients vent a bit about the problem. Hopefully, they will not be rude or abusive — that’s another issue — but it’s best if they can let off a little steam. Nod your head. Make good eye contact. Don’t cross your arms. Paraphrase or confirm what they’ve said.

Apologize. The first words out of your mouth should be some form of “I’m sorry.” If you are in the wrong, say “I’m sorry.” However, even if you didn’t do anything wrong per se, you can still be sorry that the client is upset. “I’m sorry you had that experience” or “I’m sorry you are disappointed with our services” are versions that may be appropriate. By the way, “I take responsibility” or “Thank you for telling me” are not equivalent to “I’m sorry.”

Drill down to identify the real issue. For me, it was a lack of communication: No one at the stylist’s bothered to fill me in on the delay. Ask questions and be an active listener to get to the root of the problem. Did that large bill make them look bad to their superiors? Would they have appreciated a heads-up about the deposition being canceled?

Jointly problem-solve to identify a reasonable solution. What does the client hope will happen next? Be open to ideas for resolving the complaint. If clients are dissatisfied with your responsiveness, will you promise a certain turnaround time on calls or emails? If clients are unhappy with your ongoing communications, will you develop a more formal status reporting mechanism?

Don’t promise what you can’t deliver. If you are not the billing partner, for example, you might not be able to agree to reduce the invoice without approval. However, you can tell the client your next step is to inquire what can be done.

Follow up. Be dogged in making sure whatever is promised gets delivered, and as quickly as possible. The speed with which you deal with a problem makes a difference in how clients perceive your dedication to them. If the ball is in someone else’s court, make sure they do what they are supposed to do. And then follow up with clients to thank them for bringing the issue to your attention and to ensure they are satisfied with the solution.

While it may not feel like it, a client who complains is a good thing. It not only gives you a chance to fix the issue, it can actually build loyalty by demonstrating your commitment. How you handle the problem can be a defining moment in your client relationship.

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There are particular personality traits that make us good lawyers. For example, most lawyers are professional pessimists, able to spot the possible catastrophes in a transaction and anticipate a wide range of problems in any scenario. Most of us are also urgent, efficient, intense and results-oriented. And we learn to regulate our emotions to be effective.

Sounds great, right? Maybe. But while these traits make you a good lawyer, they do not make for a happy life. What to do? I spoke with Tal Fagin, a former M&A attorney and a certified life coach, about the importance of “leaving your lawyer at work,” so you can have a better personal life and more meaningful relationships.

Here are her top five strategies for turning off your inner attorney.

1. Don’t Cross-Examine Your Friends and Family

We lawyers want things to be right. In a great litigation practice, lawyers engage in cross-examination — intense questioning used to challenge and correct. At work, and often in the other aspects of our lives, we try to do things correctly and we expect others to follow. We speak precisely and expect that others will, too. “Say what you mean, and mean what you say!” But in your personal relationships, you really don’t need to point out every little thing that is not precisely accurate. In fact, this tendency to correct is quite unwelcomed by others. It might be better just to gloss over things sometimes for the sake of harmony.

Instead of focusing on the details, look at the big picture and ask yourself: Would you rather be right in this particular situation or loved in this relationship? As Ruth Bader Ginsburg said about personal relationships: “Every now and then, it helps to be a little deaf.”

2. It’s OK to Be Wrong

Lawyers are in the business of being smart and knowledgeable. Clients expect it, and oftentimes it is unacceptable to be wrong. It can be difficult to remember that your friends and family don’t have this same expectation. You don’t need to be an expert in everything, all the time. This can be a particularly problematic personality trait to leave at work because lawyers can be very attached to their identities as smart and expert. But beware: Always being the expert can lead to disconnection and loneliness. Others simply admire you from afar but never feel able to connect with you because you lack vulnerability.

Instead of trying to prove to your friends (or worse, your spouse) how smart you are, let others speak, ask them questions, and learn from them. Like a good deposition, information gathering is important; and in personal relationships, it is crucial to effective communication. Leave your expert image at work so your personal relationships with friends and loved ones can improve.

3. Temper Pessimism and Risk-Averseness

Lawyers are trained to focus on the worst-case scenario. Pessimism is a helpful character trait because it enables us to anticipate problems. This kind of pessimism is important to prudent legal advice — it helps us advise clients on how to avoid these potentialities or defend against them. This is precisely the skill that clients expect their attorney to possess, and they pay well for it. But this “professional pessimism” doesn’t serve us well in our personal lives. On the contrary, pessimism and risk-averseness significantly limit our potential. Both traits make us loathe failure, which can make us afraid even to try. Without branching out in our personal lives, we can’t experience anything new or grow as a person. We live on the surface of our lives, without ever “digging in.”

Recognize that the lawyer in you will almost always shut down any activity or idea that is deemed risky. Determine not to listen to that lawyer sometimes. Make it your goal to enjoy your life, not simply survive it.

4. Take a Leap of Faith Sometimes!

Lawyers like evidence. We rely on precedent. Our clients expect us to review the law, the facts and the evidence, and provide guidance on potential outcomes. Although this is a tried-and-true way to make decisions at work, it may not be the best way to make decisions in your personal life. Truthfully, the lawyer’s logical, mind-centric “super-analysis” is unnecessary in many areas of your personal life. Getting out of your head and into your body can be just what you need to make better decisions and start enjoying your life more. Your mind will tell you all sorts of things, but your body never lies.

The next time you are faced with a decision in your personal life, focus on how your body feels when you consider your options. For a change, listen to your body instead of your head. As Robin Sharma says, “The mind is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master.” So, leave the evidence collection for your arguments, negotiations and legal briefs, and take a leap of faith sometimes.

5. Don’t Narrow Your Perception

When representing clients, lawyers often narrow their focus to find only facts that support their client’s position. This works well when advocating for your client in negotiations and litigation. Unfortunately, narrowing your lens in your personal life can alienate you and cause you to miss many things going on around you. This doesn’t help you, and it certainly does not help your personal relationships. When you narrow your perception, everything becomes an opportunity to collect evidence to support your version of the story. Instead, open your eyes to others’ perspectives, especially when you are having difficulty with someone else’s personality traits, and be objective.

The personality traits that make you a great lawyer are useful sometimes, in some situations, outside of the office. There is much more to you, however, than the person who shows up to work each day. Be more.

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Athletes often discuss the fact that each time they advance to the next level the game “speeds up.” The leap from high school to college ball is a significant one. Players are bigger, faster and stronger, and the game moves at a more rapid pace. College to pro is even more drastic, as things move at dizzying speeds.

You’ve Just Turned Pro

While there were smart, insightful people in your law school class, you’re now participating on a professional playing field at an entirely different level. The rules are tougher and the stakes are higher. You can’t just worry about yourself anymore — your clients and your colleagues are counting on you.

For Most, the Transition from Student to Lawyer Is Overwhelming

At times you’ll feel like you don’t belong. But have faith: You’ve felt great discomfort before, and you overcame it. And you can again.

Just to be safe, let’s review.

You’ll soon hear, if you haven’t already, that voice in your head — the one that tells you that you’re not good enough. It typically creeps in as soon as you step out of your comfort zone and whispers warnings that you don’t belong. That you don’t deserve it. That you’re a fraud.

The voice cuts you down, and it builds others up. It tells you that your peers are smarter, better and more talented — that they have it all figured out. If you listen to the voice, you end up staying safely within your comfort zone and never move forward. Fear is paralyzing.

Psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes attribute this type of fear to “The Impostor Syndrome.” They describe it as a feeling of “phoniness in people who believe they are not intelligent, capable or creative despite evidence of high achievement.” They “live in fear of being ‘found out’ or exposed as frauds.”

Author Neil Gaiman explained that the impostor syndrome is a common affliction on the way up any career ladder: “The first problem of any kind of even limited success is the unshakable conviction that you are getting away with something, and that any moment now they will discover you.”

If you’ve ever stepped in front of a podium to address an audience or been promoted to a job that you’re not sure you can handle, then you’ve likely felt like an impostor. Every time I write an article (and certainly after I wrote my first book), I’m forced to push back doubts about why anyone would be interested in reading what I have to say. And the feeling of inadequacy or incompetence doesn’t just affect people in a professional setting — virtually all first-time parents wonder why in the world hospitals allow them to go home with a newborn child.

Self-Doubt Can Be a Constant State of Mind If You Let It

Young lawyers who are crippled by this syndrome operate from a dangerous place — one of uncertainty and timidity. They don’t trust their judgment or intuition. They hedge and hide. In some cases, they ask too many questions in an effort to inoculate themselves from consequences. In others, they ask too few out of fear of exposing their ignorance. In the worst cases, they hide their mistakes, thereby compounding them.

Here’s what young lawyers should do instead:

1. Understand That We Are All Impostors

This is the most important step in overcoming the impostor syndrome. No one knows what they’re doing most of the time. For people who routinely step out of their comfort zones, uncertainty is a constant. As screenwriter William Goldman said, “Nobody knows anything.”

So peer down the halls of your office. Look into the eyes of your colleagues. Talk to people. Almost everyone feels like an impostor to some extent. If you can come to grips with the fact that those around you are feeling the same sense of anxiety that you are, then pushing through the fear becomes easier. Instead of succumbing to self-doubt, embrace it. Successful people all “fake it ‘til they make it” to some extent, so just keeping moving forward.

2. Remember That Being Wrong Doesn’t Make You a Fraud

You’ll screw up and you’ll get yelled at. You won’t screw up and you’ll get yelled at. Such is life at a law firm. You must have thick skin.

If you accept that mistakes — an embarrassing typo, an errant email, a misinterpreted opinion — are inevitable, you’ll be better prepared for what to do in the immediate aftermath. Some people can let a mistake, and the criticism that may result from it, roll off their backs and move on. But for some, mistakes lead to longer-term harmful consequences. They become paralyzed by fear of making another one. They let their mistakes define them.

Remember: Making a mistake doesn’t make you a fraud in the eyes of others. That only happens if you hide under your desk and shirk from responsibility in the aftermath of the mistake. When you make a mistake, deal with it head on.

3. Have a Long-Term Perspective

Understand that you are not who you will be. You are in the first season of your career. You are changing and evolving. No one expects you to be an expert lawyer this early on — except possibly yourself. In other words, you may feel like an impostor, but no one else thinks of you as one. You are growing into something and someone different. You are getting better every day. In two years, you’ll look back and be amazed at how far you’ve come. Have patience, but at the same time work like hell to be the best version of yourself in this season of your legal career.

Read Jay Harrington’s “Path to a Successful Legal Career” for young associates here.

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