One common anti-pattern I run into in working with lawyers and law practices is people who are constantly looking for little efficiencies to try to improve particular parts of their practice or their legal workflow. But sometimes, finding those short-term efficiencies, even if they work in the short term, can actually cut against the long-term productivity or the overall flow of work through your practice.To save time during client onboarding, you might feel inclined to start filling in the blanks yourself. However, cutting corners during initial client consultations is never truly efficient. While it may save time in the moment, this approach often leads to unintentional client disengagement and presents ... (Keep reading)
The Agile Attorney Blog
As professionals, it's easy to jump to conclusions about what clients need based on our experience and the patterns we see emerging. But in making these assumptions, are we missing a critical opportunity to truly connect with them by not taking the time to understand their individual motivations and worries?When a client reaches out to you for help, you probably have a pretty good idea of the typical risks or challenges someone in their situation faces. It's tempting to launch right into explaining how you're going to solve their problem. But by first asking open-ended questions and really listening to their specific concerns, you allow the client to gain clarity ... (Keep reading)
As law practice owners, we can gain valuable insights by looking outside of the legal industry. Today, I'm excited to bring you an interview with Michael Clarke. Michael is the co-owner of the financial advisory firm Protection Point Advisors and co-author of the book A Firm Worth Building: Running a Better Professional Business.Michael Clarke takes a balanced approach to business growth that law practices everywhere learn from. He's here to help you understand what the customer is really looking for when hiring a services professional, and he also shares how to use what he calls success manuals written specifically for clients in your own business.Tune in this week to explore ... (Keep reading)
Are you a struggling solo attorney trying to get more clients in the door? Before you turn to an expensive technology solution, it's important to take a step back and fully understand the nature of the problem you're trying to solve in your law practice. I'm all for utilizing tech, but it's dangerous to imbue technology with too many magical properties. So, what can you do instead to come up with better, more sustainable solutions to your business problems?As a process-oriented coach and consultant, I'm a big fan of working on people, processes, and tools… in that specific order. While investing in the right technology can certainly help streamline your ... (Keep reading)
Do you feel like you're stuck on the hamster wheel of your law practice, constantly working on being more productive as an individual, but never getting ahead? It's time to explore how shifting your mindset from individual excellence to team excellence can help you break free and build a thriving, sustainable firm.Our guest today is Justie Nicol, a criminal defense attorney turned law firm owner who has successfully made the transition from excellent individual performer to leader and enabler of her team. Justie shares her journey of building a fully remote, people-first practice that prioritizes culture, communication, and work-life balance.Tune in this week to discover Justie's secrets for creating a ... (Keep reading)
One of the biggest challenges in any organization is engaging your entire team around process improvement or operational changes to the way people work. I recently received a listener question on this topic, and I'm doing my best to give you a comprehensive answer on today's episode.Engaging your team around process improvement is a vital part of successfully implementing changes in the way you work in your law practice. When everyone is on the same page, working toward the same goals while you empower each member of your team to demonstrate leadership in their field of expertise, process improvement becomes an easier proposition, no matter the size of your firm.Tune ... (Keep reading)
Are you struggling to keep up with your law practice workload, like there's never enough time to get everything done? You may be operating at or over your practice's ideal effective capacity, meaning just one or two small tasks added to your team's workload could potentially grind everything to a halt.When your practice is running over capacity, it can lead to worse outcomes for your clients, an unsustainable pace for you and your team, and important "on the business" work falling through the cracks. But by being intentional about managing your workload and building in some slack, you can deliver higher quality work in a more balanced way. Tune in ... (Keep reading)
A common piece of conventional wisdom around how law firms prioritize their work is that they should organize everything around deadlines and due dates. While deadline-driven prioritization does have a place, it's my experience that there's a better technique that law firms should be adopting as their default prioritization method: first-in first-out (FIFO).This is just one of the valuable lessons we can learn from other industries. Just about every grocery store, warehouse, and manufacturing business uses a first-in-first-out policy. So, how could FIFO transform the way we do knowledge work in the legal profession?Tune in this week to discover the advantages of a first-in first-out policy in your law firm. ... (Keep reading)
One of the six core foundational principles of the Kanban Method (and Agile and Lean methodology overall) is: Start with what you do now. It's a powerful concept in change management, and it's about understanding the status quo. Start with what you do now might sound simple, but this is a powerful concept that's easy to overlook or want to skip past in the process of improvement work.Why is start with what you do now crucial for creating meaningful and durable change in your law practice? This principle helps you understand your current processes and the people involved in them, recognizing why you are where you are, so you can ... (Keep reading)
Today, I'm delighted to introduce you to my friend and collaborator, Melissa Shanahan, founder of Velocity Work and host of The Law Firm Owner Podcast. She teaches her clients a planning and accountability method she calls Monday Map/Friday Wrap. This method highlights some vital parts of the Agile practices of weekly planning and weekly review meetings.We have an in-depth discussion about strategic planning and law-firm efficiency. But we're also diving into the importance of finding the right kind of support to help you navigate the challenges of running a law firm and managing a legal team.Monday Map/Friday Wrap is about creating micro-feedback loops within the context of a larger strategic ... (Keep reading)
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