Home Office Lawyer

A Great Estate Planning Lawyer Resource for the Taking

Quite frankly, I think she is a little crazy but that's good for you and me. Let me explain...

Over the past couple of weeks, Alexis Martin Neely, an estate planning attorney from Redondo Beach, CA has been giving away tools that have helped her build a million dollar a year practice in just three short years.

For example, she has already posted the following materials on her blog that any lawyer can download right now for free:

==> Her amazing fee schedule that lets the client choose their own plan, so they are actually closing the sale themselves!She paid $10,000 to have this created and then lost thousands of dollars through the process of testing and tweaking it. It is now as perfect as it will ever be and is exactly what she's currently using in her own practice.

==> Her Law Firm Budgeting Financial Model with easy to manipulate variables that will let you know exactly how much you should be spending in more than 30 different categories and easily forecast your monthly and annual profits

==> Her Custom Client Work Tracking Tool that holds your team accountable to the entire client process so you never drop another ball or miss another deadline.

Alexis, tells me this is just the beginning and between now and May 7th, she'll be giving away a total of $22,539.00 worth of her moneymaking, practice building tools and systems including:

==> Her Complete Client Engagement script laid out in a one-on-one confidential coaching session you'd otherwise never have the chance to hear.

==> Copies of actual marketing materials she uses to keep her appointment book filled with initial consultations.

==> a diagram of the exacts steps and procedures she takes to service a client from the minute they are engaged, to putting them on a lifetime membership program. Basically, she is giving you her entire client service system.

Then, on May 7, she's going to conduct a live, no cost, "Law Business Revolution" simulcast event.

During this event, you'll learn about her signature, neighborhood exclusive,"Personal Family Lawyer" program and have the opportunity to apply for membership.

But, regardless of whether you're interested in joining her "Personal Family Lawyer" program,(the truth is your area might already be taken by another attorney), the free gifts she's giving away will help you increase your profits, help more clients and be the lawyer you've aways wanted to be.

Getting all the "goodies" is super easy. Just go to Law Business Secrets. There's nothing for you to buy. The tools and systems really are yours for the taking.

Alexis told me that all of the free stuff is only available until May 7th. To get instant access to all of the valuable materials she's already given away and to make sure you don't miss the practice building gifts that are coming, go to her site right now.

Law Business Secrets

Upcoming NACBA Elections - Ask the Candidates!!

Jay Fleischman over at Bankruptcy Practice Pro ask that I post the below post on Home Office Lawyer.

For all you bankruptcy attorneys out there, please go to this LINK. Important about the upcoming NACBA elections.

Be The Lawyer You've Always Wanted to Be

I'm writing to introduce you to someone who has the potential to change your life and your business.

You may already know Alexis Martin Neely, but if you don't this is the time to meet her because she's so fed up hearing about failed estate plans,lawyers working themselves to death just to barely get by, never being able to jump off the marketing merry go round and constanly reinventing the wheel that I think it's driven her insane.

In her quest to "revolutionize" the broken business model she's giving away systems, tools, strategies, special reports and mp3s that would cost you thousands of dollars to purchase.

Why is Alexis doing this? Because she has a two-fold mission:

1. To help you be the lawyer you've always wanted to be by buildinga law business (not a practice) that makes a real difference

AND

2. To change the way Americans think about lawyers.

I too was skeptical when I hear about Alexis, but after thoroughly researching her and her message, I concluded that she is the "real deal."

To fulfill her mission and help you as much as possible, Alexis launched the "Law Business Revolution" yesterday, Thursday April 3, 2008.

Over the next few weeks she is going to give you a slew of valuable gifts. These are NOT designed to sell you
anything. She is giving you these gifts to help you. Period.

Then, on May 7, 2008, Alexis is going to be conducting a live, no cost, "Law Business Revolution" simulcast event. (More details coming in the next few weeks.)

Now, Alexis is an Estate Planning Attorney, and her Personal Family Lawyer program is for EP lawyers OR for non-estate planning attorneys who want to add very lucrative estate planning to their roster of client services

BUT, and read this carefully...

Regardless of whether you want to join her Personal Family Lawyer movement, she really does want to help you. THAT is the reason she's giving you all the materials and all of the are applicable to ANY law practice, estate planning or not.

To register to get all the gifts, go to:

Law Business Secrets

Solo Practice University™

Susan Cartier Liebel who publishes one of the best blogs on the web about solo practice, Build a Solo Practice, LLC has introduced what appears to be a new source for "building a solo practice."

While there are no details of the new Solo Practice University on the site. There is a RSS feed subscription you can sign up for. Just drop your email in the box provided and you will be among the first to find out about the new curriculum.

Knowing the quality of the information Susan provides on her blog, I did not hesitate to sign up for the Solo Practice University. And neither should you.

I would encourage all of the readers of the Home Office Lawyer to go to this LINK and sign up.

Introducing a New Web Based Case Management for Solo and Small Law Firms

Like many of you, I have been frustrated with the lack of law office specific case management software for the solo and small law firm. Oh, sure there is software out there. And some of it is great. And you have to mortgage the house and first born to afford it. Now there is an alternative. And let me tell you this. I have tried this new legal software and it is quite wonderful.

Most solos and small firms have embraced the use of web based technology the last few years. By taking advantage of this trend, Rocket Matter has developed a web-based practice management software. It is accessible from anywhere with Internet access. You can use it on a Mac, PC, iPhone, or even a Linux machine. You can log on and bill time from the office, home, or on the road.

The crew at Rocket Matter designed it to be as simple to use as possible. Your calendar, contact manager, matter manager, and time and billing software is rolled into one integrated, enjoyable product. You can generate invoices for all your billable matters with a single click of the mouse.

Their "Bill as you Work"™ technology captures your billable time as you go about your day. There is no need to total up hours at the end of the billing cycle or to figure out where your time went.

Getting started is easy. You don’t have to buy servers. You don’t have to pay someone to install Rocket Matter. You don’t even have to buy licenses. You only pay for the number of users you want, and that’s it. Best of all, you can save the likely $8000 you’d have to pay for a traditional practice management setup.

With Rocket Matter, you can sleep well, knowing you have daily backups and security managed for you automatically. And since Rocket Matter's servers are in a redundant, premier data center, you have an instant disaster-recovery plan.

I encourage all of you to explore this great new product further. Sign up for an exclusive invitation and view a preview of the product at RocketMatter. Subscribe to their Product Updates to follow Rocket Matter developments.

More Discussion of Fixed Fees

Ben Stevens provides more discussion of fixed fees in family law cases.

Ben points out that he uses two methods to help prevent problems with this arrangement.

1. I am very, very selective in choosing which clients I agree to represent.' I estimate that I reject approximately one-half of the potential cases that I could accept.' I only agree to represent those clients that meet the following criteria:' (a) the client's goals in the case are reasonable; (b) the client is willing to help my office work on his/her case; and (c) the client is someone that I truly want to help.' There are other more subtle criteria that I subconsciously apply, and I will admit that a lot of it is done by 'gut feeling'.' However, after doing this for so long and handling so many cases, my gut feeling is right the vast majority of the time.
   
2. In most family law matters, I usually break the case down into different phases, at which portions of the fixed fee will be due and payable.' This can be done in different manners, such as by time or by status of the case, but the point is that if a case gets resolved during any particular phase, there are no additional attorney's fees due.' This scenario gives the client incentive to help resolve the case sooner rather than later if a reasonable resolution is possible, but at the same time, the client is protected and knows his total cost if it is not.' Having all of this information available to the client up front helps him/her better assess any settlement offers and the case in general as it progresses.

As I have stated in response to Ben’s series on this. I have been using a flat fee structure for three years now. And I would agree with Ben, you have to be selective on the type of clients you work with for this to work. Problem clients, and we know who they are, will not work with this arrangement. And quite frankly, I would rather not work with them either.

Kill the Cockroaches!!

Two post that you have to read today are, The Cockroach of the Legal Profession - The Billable Hour, by Susan Cartier Liebel and The first thing we do, let’s kill the cockroaches. The second one from Michael Sherman of Lawyer Profit Systems.

Pricing Guide for Solo & Small Firms

Michael Sherman at Lawyer Profit Systems has a new post called “A Pricing Guide for Solo & Small Firm Lawyers.”

You can download a free pdf copy of Pricing for Maximum Profit from the Resources section of this blog. The eBook discusses value pricing as I do it in my own family law practice, as well as practical steps you can take to command premium fees in your own solo or small firm law practice.

This looks like a great resource to answer some of those questions out there about billing.

Go Paper - ‘Less’

Susan Cartier Liebel recently asked me to do another guest post for her wonderful blog, Build a Solo Practice, LLC. Well I could not refuse such a gracious request. So, go to Susan’s blog and read You Want to Be Competitive? Go Paper - ‘Less’.

While you are there, post any comments you might have. And check out all the other great stuff Susan has on her blog. And if you don't have it in your RSS reader, you should.

Use all of your business card

This is a great idea from Jim Calloway.

From Jim Calloway's Law Practice Tips Blog, do see What's On The Back Of Your Business Card?