Post by Gustavo Rocha, lawyer and consultant in management, IT and quality for law firms. He’s the author of Gestão.Adv.br (content in Portuguese only):

“Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” John F. Kennedy

This quote summons something fundamental in the present world: Where should I aim my ideas and energy at? More often than not we come up with brilliant ideas, wonderful goals that don´t leave the planning stage or even get to be written down.

Why is that? Though we have the labour force need, have the will and guts,  the know how for all to work out at times we forget to ask the way and we are left with no objective direction at all.

For instance, buying new facilities for our business headquarters. This is an input of great value appreciation for our practice. How can this be achieved with no financial planning that embodies a secure way to that end?

It sounds simple, not for most, though. Anyone can have dreams, growth goals and figure out the way to reach them. “Figure out” being key, here.

Here are three tips, towards that end:

1- Write down
2- Turn PDCA over
3- Be practical

Putting your goals into paper so you can always remember: prioritize and timing. If not there’s always the chance that parts of the planning and follow up are lost, etc.

PDCA - plan, do, check and act is an excellent way to put a plan into motion.

Be practical: sounds easy but it isn’t. Theory and practice have to be in sync on all that concerns the project, in order to be so. A holistic approach is needed i.e. a full comprehension of all risks, values and odds involved.

To conclude:

Searching the horizon is the first step. Getting there is up exclusively to which steps you set yourself to take…

Post by Nuno B.M. Lumbrales, lawyer, partner at Lumbrales & Associados and LawRD user:

The development of non legal skills, i.e. management, strategy and leadership, has been subject of an ever growing interest in law firms, regarding their senior partners.

Such a trend implies investments on professional training in those areas and others alike.

The matter of leadership, particularly, raises important and complex issues, unlike those concerning management, for it has a life of its own, manifesting itself and coming into being, many times in a spontaneous manner, whenever the company structure or some of its elements make way for any voids of power and initiative.

All organizations have some sort of “official structural grid” which defines functions, competences and hierarchy within them.

However, when the officially designated leaders do not act effectively, more often than not, when initiative and procedure leadership are concerned, these are taken by elements less empowered, hierarchy wise, but naturally more keen to take such decisions.

This gap between “official and real” structures striving within companies, in medium or long term,  will  result in counter-productivity.

From all the issues that will breed from that situation, the difficulty in legitimizing merit within the organization, stands out. Adding to it, is the increase awkwardness in coping with the different agendas, objectives and priorities (even preferences) of these two co-existing leaderships.

All the mentioned factors and circumstances are hurdles and setbacks in any company’s performance and productivity.

That is why all companies, namely law firms, ought to ensure that their leaders have all the necessary conditions to in fact exercise their competences, under the penalty of, not doing so, squandering their resources (i.e. time) trying to solve and sort inside conflicts, otherwise avoidable.

Post by Gustavo Rocha, lawyer and consultant in management, IT and quality for law firms. He’s the author of Gestão.Adv.br (content in Portuguese only):

“Before starting any changes, leaders must reaffirm goals and organization purposes” (Kaplan).

This statement aims at three key factors for companies:

1. Goals
2. Purposes
3. Changes

Let us run these items through in detail.

Goals: What are your firm’s goals? To be on the top within five years? To have the best team in two? To provide an excellent quality service? Words…words… Having goals does not mean having nice words written nor for people to pursue unattainable goals without any planning at all. Goals have to be within reach in short, medium and large terms. Real and palpable ones. Forget impossible numbers to be met within unreasonable time. Have a reality check.

Set your goals to stand a little further than what it is expectable, so that extra bit may act as an incentive.

How can any leader redefine any goals for their company if these are not clear enough within the company itself?

Purposes: What are your firm purposes? Growth? Sustainability? Making money? Purposes/goals can not be taken for results!

Purposes are the final reason for which companies strive.Its ideal. More than mere cold words, they are feelings and objective realizations.

With no purpose any enterprise is doomed to fail.

Changes: When goals are reachable and a company’s purposes are solid, all that it takes is for a leader to point a way: “It is very easy to command free man, just show them the path towards duty” (Marechal Osório).

If we want that changes do succeed we’ll have to fine tune our goals, to appreciate our purposes and base changing on deep roots and truth, reason and sentiment in complete sync.

Post by Gustavo Rocha, lawyer and consultant in management, IT and quality for law firms. He’s the author of Gestão.Adv.br (content in Portuguese only):

Would you need 25h days to do all that you have to do? Lots of law professionals do. They put in 12, 14 hour days and still they get the feeling it’s not enough. The work keeps piling up. How come?

Just before you answer to that, read this: “Do we need more time? Or do we need to be more disciplined with the time we have?” – Kerry Johnson.

There’s only 24 hours in a day and that’s it. By law, we have 8h work days. We need time to work, time eat, time to sleep, time to be with our families, leisure time … you get the picture, we just need time. How can we juggle the time we have with all the our demands and needs? Three tips:

1. Prioritize
2. Delegate
3. Reserve time for yourself

Prioritize: This probably the hardest one for many of law professionals. Sorting priorities is hell when everything looks like it is due for ten minutes ago. Yet, a calmer look into it will let see that some are more urgent than others. In law practice, deadlines are always a priority for lawyers. Otávio Estaque, a Brazilian lawyer has this saying: “In this country, only lawyers are bound by deadlines”; still deadlines have priorities up until the 11th hour. Otherwise there more urgent priorities.

Try to set tasks into two groups: Strategic and Operative.

Strategic: contacting a client, new project, strategic alliance meeting, staff meeting, etc.

Operative: setting deadlines, calling suppliers and so on.

Strategic tasks always take the lead. But, you might wonder:” What if I miss a staff meeting already scheduled?” Of course you should not fail meeting any tasks set before hand. Nor should you pass any new business opportunities. If you are overloaded by operative tasks try the next step…

Delegate tasks and charges: This is a big burden on lots of managers, for they love to centralize saying they can’t loose control.

Centralizing is not the same as controlling.

One centralizes when you don’t trust anyone or you don´t want anyone else to do operative tasks. By delegating you are free for the strategic. Check if the operative tasks are realized, though. There isn’t much of a future if you centralize data, tasks and responsibilities on yourself.Be a team professional and profit from all the talent you’ve got working at your firm.

Delegate operative tasks. Give responsibility positions, so your firm may thrive on individual talents and not just keeping all to yourself.

Reserve time for yourself: many find this selfish or impossible to achieve given the busy lives they lead.

Take some time off, even if it is just half an hour a day for yourself. Give yourself a treat… and to your family. The firm will appreciate having a much fitter, more lucid and more market driven  employee.

Time for yourself is key. By doing that you are opening to new possibilities, to broaden your net of contacts and to bring new clients in.

To conclude, you only 24 hours in a day. It is up to you how to spend them. Make an intelligent choice, use your time wisely and you’ll gain on productivity and fulfilment. Being realized at your work is not enough. You should feel happy outside your job as well. The secret is inside of you, not outside. Think. Rationalize. Prioritize. Be yourself. This will lead to your professional success and your firm’s.

Post by Jared Correia. Jared is the law practice management advisor with the Massachusetts Law Officer Management Assistance Program, providing free and confidential law practice management consulting to Massachusetts attorneys.  True to certain veiled promises, he makes his thoughts on law practice management available generally online, most notably through the LOMAP Blog and his Twitter account.

As a law practice advisor for Massachusetts’ Law Office Management Assistance Program, I am afforded a ringside seat for the viewing of trends in the legal field, through, what has become, my informal, detached study of modern lawyers’ habits.  One of the trends that I have noticed, over the time that I have spent in my current capacity, is that most of the attorneys with whom I consult are desirous of finding appropriate new technologies, that can: (1) unlock previously undiscovered efficiencies within their practice; and, (2) save them money. Given these qualifying motivations, it is, perhaps, unsurprising that many of the attorneys with whom I meet are ready, and most willing, to begin to incorporate SaaS solutions into their practices, to the extent that they have not already done so.

SaaS systems essentially (and, I won’t belabor this point, because if you’re a regular reader of LawRD’s “Your Law Firm in Progress” blog, you likely already know what SaaS systems are, and what they do) move the traditional software program from residence on your computer/system to residence on the web, accessible through a secure portal by you (and invited collaborators), following a set of security checkdowns.  SaaS systems, especially SaaS systems with practice management features, like the LawRD: Reports on Demand program, answer for the above-referenced requirements respecting efficiency and cost.  Online practice management systems are, in my experience, more accessible, easier to learn, more intuitive to use and faster in operation than those systems that continue to reside on your own computer systems. Given that certain systems, like LawRD’s, offer practice management components, for the better leveraging of client matter and contact management and for time and billing (among a number of useful features), the efficiency upgrade will be obvious in terms of adding a practice management system where, perhaps, none existed before; and, generally, the ease of use/intuitiveness, and speed additional to such programs, means that you’ll be working faster, and more efficiently, not harder.  Of course, one of the obvious reasons for the speed advance achieved with the use of SaaS systems is the fact that such programs are removed from your own computer system, and are not competing directly for space, memory and processing speed with the other applications that you have already downloaded to your machine; this also means that you’ve got fewer costs related to desktop/system support moving forward, and that the remainder of your traditional software systems will work faster, as well (competition having been removed), making you more efficient, saving you more money.  The cost savings of a move to SaaS are also inherent in the pricing models of most of these systems versus the pricing models of traditional software programs.  Generally, with traditional software systems, you’re paying a significant initial rate, plus for program updates, usually each year. With an SaaS system, you’re paying a fairly reasonable monthly rate (rather than a significant up-front cost), with updates taking place automatically, and behind the scenes, and without additional charge. The cost savings can become large-scale, depending upon the SaaS system you select, and depending upon the size (in terms of accessing employees) and needs of your firm; and, the additional efficiencies achieved through the immediate application of important updates and upgrades, without your spending any time to apply same, can also become significant.

If you want to learn more about SaaS, check out the “The Use of SaaS in the Legal Field” episode of my podcast.  With respect to the vetting of SaaS providers, and some of the security questions related to the utilization, by lawyers, of SaaS systems, look over my blog post respecting a North Carolina Bar Association proposed ethics opinion that attempts to provide some clarification in that space.  And, of course, you should continue to follow LawRD’s “Your Law Firm in Progress” blog, for product-related updates, and information relative to SaaS.

When deciding on the purchase of SaaS products in the legal space, you might consider LawRD’s flagship “Reports on Demand” program; you should also consider, as well, (LawRD parent company) muchBeta’s other useful SaaS product offerings: Teepin and Yoomit.

Post by Gustavo Rocha, lawyer and consultant in management, IT and quality for law firms. He’s the author of Gestão.Adv.br (content in Portuguese only):

Social networks are the media of the present. Articles, reports, no matter where, its all that’s talked about. Analogies are drawn between social networks, labour market, legal practice marketing and new means of communication throughout society at large.

The question underlying here is: are we ready? Maybe we are. Maybe we’re not.

In order to be prepared for social networks means more than just having your practice on those networks and updating it from time to time.

It means to interact within the networks.
It means to to keep up with what  is being debated and to intervene.
It means to dedicate time and subjects to those networks.

Is this what you do or do you just update your firm’s profile? Updating is a must but not enough. Making your practice known by your interaction, reflexions and perspectives on day-yo-day issues is important.

That’s right! Day-to-day issues.

There’s plenty of empty people out there on the networks, others are just looking for some notoriety, while others just want personal gain, that is for sure.

But, is that all there is? Surely not! More and more companies are recurring to social networks in order to reach out to their targets, to their market share.

One more time: just updating doesn´t cut it.

You must interact and listen to your clients.
You have to monitor all criticism without confrontation or arguing.
Are you up for it? Are you ready?

If you are, congrats. If you’re not, you’d better think this through. Social networks are ushering the future and your business depends on it…

Post by Nuno B.M. Lumbrales, lawyer, partner at Lumbrales & Associados and LawRD user:

Recently a lot has been said on legal practice marketing i.e. the best strategies and procedures for lawyers to make their activities and services widely known.

The deontological rules that govern such practice, though they may vary from country to country, are usually prohibitive or restrictive, to say the least, publicity wise, though.

In fact, given its social responsibility and special trust issues, that any legal service contract implies, be it contentious or not,  this is not a mere commercial activity  for it obeys to specific regulations meant to ensure much tighter ethical standards than those applied to most common commercial practices.

On the other hand, the market itself, namely companies, demands for law practice to be modernized, more “commercial” as to take procedures as companies do, thus prompting standards that bring companies and lawyers closer.

As marketing and publicity are concerned, many who are unaware of the deontological regulations of the legal practice, find it strange that they’re not approached by lawyers as they constantly are by other service providers, what doesn’t bother them at all.

Publicity boundaries, or certain publicity restrictions, are quite justifiable for the legal practice considering the afore reasons. Some countries have total restriction to such publicity, thus being in need of some flexibility, though.

A tale by Gustavo Rocha (lawyer and consultant in management, IT and quality for law firms. He’s the author of Gestão.Adv.br - content in Portuguese only), based upon real events from his clients before hiring services:

Once upon a time there was a lawyer. He read and heard about the changes the legal practice was going through, IT and all, still he thought that his business was going pretty well as it was and so he kept it.

Time went by and his office procedures were the same as always.

Relentless, there came upon his door the technology snags.

At first the lawyer tried to appeal the Supreme Court by writing. No way. Faxing, not allowed. The appeal only could be submitted electronically, which requires a digital certificate. Not knowing at all bout any of this, our lawyer only found about it at 4 PM on the last day for the appeal to be presented…  their was no way he could ever get a digital certificate on time. So, once upon a time there was an appeal deadline…

After this setback, he contacted his Bar Association and got the most needed digital certificate. “That solves it” and back to his office he went. There, he gave it to an intern: “Here you go. Now it is all up to you”, he said, confortably from behind his marble top desk…

While stuck in a traffic jam, another reality struck him: the car he was driving, his hardly earned car, that had cost him many sleepless nights, was now in someone else’s hands. He, of all people, had given his digital certificate and password to an intern, who had just transfered part of the lawyer estate to a sleazeball…

Once upon a time, there was the estate…

The lawyer took legal action against that and got his belongings back. Then, he got himself a new digital certificate and decided that him and him alone would use it…

Still he was not free from arm.

As a law professional, he had overlooked his office management, its procedures systematization on matters and the bussiness itself. That meant that he was tied up by electronic procedures and digital certification… Then he took the decision of hiring the services of consulting agency for updating procedures, implementing IT, legal marketing, etc… they need 12 months for the whole deal, though. “That’s an absurd! 12 months?? I can do it myself in 12 months! Less than that.” Poor devil… 12 months came and went and not much was changed…

Moral of this tale: Once upon a time, there was a lawyer…

Do not allow your business to sink this low. There is a way out if you have will enough, perseverence, love for what you do and hard work, lots of it. If you think you can not do it on your own, look for help from someone who is an expert on that field.

Don’t let yourself be stuck on “once upon a time, there was a lawyer”…

IT and management do really make the difference.

Post by Gustavo Rocha, lawyer and consultant in management, IT and quality for law firms. He’s the author of Gestão.Adv.br (content in Portuguese only):

I’d like to share with you all a situation that I was in recently, not just because it is hilarious, as well as a good example of planning (or the lack of it):

Every time I have to visit a certain client of mine, I park my car in a parking lot near by and there it stays for the entire day, every week.

One of these weeks, after leaving the client, I got to the parking lot at 5.40 PM and found no one there. The reception booth was empty. I clapped (the parking lot is next to its owner’s home), honked a few times, waited for nearly 30 minutes and still nobody showed up. I drove away without paying for the parking.

The following week I arrived at that parking lot around 9 AM and nobody was there, again. Open but no one at the reception booth.

When I got back at 11.30 AM the parking owner was there. After having paid for the previous week worth of parking, I asked him how come no one was there.

His answer: ” You see, the reception worker is away on vacation and since there’s no replacement I myself open and close the parking, though during the day only the security cameras control the cars in and out. Many of those I don’t collect the parking fees ’cause I can’t control it.”

Moral of the story: not planning ahead can change the way a company is viewed overnight (I never had any complaint regarding the parking lot up until then).

How often does this happen in companies? Not planning ahead employees vacations, just ‘fixing things’ along with someone unfit for the job.

It is paramount that companies understand every employee’s function, so that substitutions can be adequate and companies do not loose identity.

A client that quits you service for it being a bad one, won’t be back and will bring along and spread that stain on your company’s image.

Make planning a part of your company’s DNA. Now and always.