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Originally Posted On: https://rightlawyers.com/3-ideas-turned-right-lawyers-into-better-lawyers/
Experimenting (or tinkering as one of our paralegal says) has always been a core philosophy at Right Lawyers. We are open to trying, changing, or modifying anything at the firm to see if it makes things better for the clients, our staff, or the bottom line. So much so, the same paralegal refers to me as the “King of Change”. Here are three ideas we tried in 2022 which stuck.
Focus “On” Not “In” the Business – Knowing case, rules of procedure, and other lawyering skills is what makes a successful lawyer, right? Not always. We all know lawyers whose success is a more from marketing or business skills than lawyering skills. ICF Master Certified Coach, Wendy Preyssler, calls this “working on the business” and “not in the business”. This concept was released on the world of professional services in a book called The Emyth Attorney. It’s a quick read explaining how professionals should learn to run their business (working on) as much as they learn to lawyer (working in). This is true whether you are a partner or an associate. Associates should act and think like a partner or firm owner. We adopted these simple principles and saw big changes.
Communication – All lawyers have been in the situation where they need to call a client but don’t want to use their cell phone. We run the cost benefit analysis of handling a client issue or retaining a new client but now giving our client our cell number. That’s not a problem with 3CX. 3CX is by far the most advanced virtual phone system we have ever tried. It crushes Vonage or Ring Central. The software is easy to use and easy to install. Best of all it can be used on your desktop, laptop, and phone seamlessly. I especially like how it transcribes and emails me my voicemails immediately.
Scheduling Appointments – One of my pet peeves is wasting time emailing other attorneys to schedule a case conference or meeting. I send an email. They email me back. They call me and get a voicemail. I call them back and get a voicemail. It’s horrible!! It takes more time to schedule the meeting than to have the meeting. Then one day I scheduled a haircut online. My barber (shout out to Henry’s on Fort Apache) uses Calendly. The software connects your Outlook or Google Calendar to a web page. Anybody who has this webpage can schedule an appointment on your calendar. You get to control how long the appointments are and set rules for when appointments are allowed. I send the webpage link in an email to other attorneys. One email and the appointment is scheduled. Love it. It’s been such a time saver we are now experimenting with it for new consults.
That’s a wrap on our 2022. Hope your year was as successful. And I hope your 2023 will be even more so.
