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Are You Unbalanced?
No matter how it is measured - by the billable hour or some other method - time is perhaps the most valuable commodity in a law practice. Lawyers have time management software, Outlook calendars, personal digital assistants and many other technological tools to help them manage time, but too often it seems an impossible task.
Averaging six billable hours a day seems like a lot, yet multiply it times five days times 50 weeks it provides only 1,500 hours per year. That's well below what most firms target for their associates. Raise the target to eight hours of billable time a day and you get to 2,000 hours a year, which is close to what most firms expect. Yet how can lawyers get that many billable hours per day and do business development - not to mention do pro bono work, take training, eat lunch and spend time with their families? One often hears the phrase "work-life balance." This is an issue that varies lawyer by lawyer. In the short term there is really no such day to day phenomenon as balance - at any given moment the lawyer is doing just one thing, either working or engaging in personal pursuits. The broader perspective is how much cumulative time you devote to each, and what you value more.
Last year the Eversheds international law firm surveyed its clients as well as lawyers at other firms, and got some interesting responses on this issue. Of those surveyed more than half of the partners in large law firms, and their clients, did not think that flexible work-time schedules would be a viable solution to work-life balance issues, especially in transactional areas. Yet, it is an issue that remains on top of the table and must be dealt with in order to satisfy the needs of the now sometimes four generations of lawyers working in the same office environment. Today a given law firm can have Millennials, (under age 26), GenXers (aged 27-41), Baby Boomers (42-60) and Veterans (age 61 and older), each group with their own needs and attitudes. As more older lawyers try to hang on in the belief that they cannot afford to retire, law firm conflicts between generations may well worsen.
There is as yet no clear universal solution. I suspect that the real answer must be left to one-on-one negotiation between the law firm and the individual lawyer who needs the flexibility. The law firm that fails to address any such request in a manner satisfactory to the requestor will lose that talented individual, and perhaps jeopardize the client relationship that the lawyer had established.
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By Edward Poll
(5.5"x8.5", 60 pages, soft cover, ISBN 978-0-9654948-5-4, Published by LawBiz® Management, Co., 2006)
This is an easy thirty-minute read for any busy lawyer on the go. You'll learn Ed's A to Z basics for managing and running a successful law business without getting into too many nitty-gritty details, numbers, and long examples.
From managing your cash flow and collections process to weighing the ROI of your technology purchases, this 20-page Special Report will give you the essentials on how to make more profitable decisions concerning every part of your law business. You'll also see the hidden costs hurting your bottom line (for example, did you know that you waste $80,000 of billable time every year on email?). Case studies bring the valuable information in this book to life, making it a fun, fast read that will change your business overnight.
Click here to purchase this book for only $29.00
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Personal Commentary
This is the month to review, revise where needed, and regenerate for the coming year, a year with uncertainty but promise.
Check out www.lawbizblog.com for a new photo contest (see photo below),
and join us in the discussion for 2010 at www.lawbizforum.com.
Best wishes,
Ed Poll
lawbiz.com
lawbizblog.com
www.LawBizForum.com
800-837-5880
Please use the URL below to link to this issue:
www.lawbiz.com/nlimages/tip-12-15-09.html
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What Readers Are Saying...
"I think this book is a must read for any attorney who wants to achieve personal financial success in the practice of law. Many lawyers who are highly capable attorneys are not equipped to be financially successful but this book is a significant tool to change that. The book provides a foundation for further study of the business competencies a successful lawyer needs."
-RW, Minnesota
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