Practice Design & Management

Face it: a lot of lawyers don't really have a clue about running a business. Sure, there are the ones with the joint MBA degrees or those of us who majored in Business in undergrad. But the real day to day issues like marketing, accounting, management, etc. are pretty much a foreign language.

I'm sworn to secrecy forever but you would be shocked to know how many lawyers have confessed to me that they are absolutely lost in managing their practices. They don't know if they need a business license or what to do about employee withholding. A few years ago, a partner in a prominent business law firm confessed that he and his partners didn't have an operating agreement.

Instead of facing that, most of us do what we do so well: hide our ignorance from everyone else, pretend we have it all handled, try to have our business look like everyone else's so no one suspects.

With our insecurity about business operations, we are afraid to try something new so when lawyers do try something new, we're paying attention!

This section is about new business models, marketing holistic and collaborative practices, practice issues like the billable hour and office design.

It is about how to be an entrepreneur and conscious business person who is confident and knows what is going on so well that you can lead the way for others.