RJon Robins

A Unique Perspective: Billable Hours vs. Jello Shots in Law Firms

Here’s a practical lesson in value based and flat-fee billing for small law firms. Because if you study your law firm management history it becomes very clear that law firms were never MEANT to bill by the hour.

Feeding billable hours to a law firm is like feeding jello shots to a mule. The mule will get sick and sloppy.

Every single time, without exception when our Members replace hourly billables with value and flat fees their small law firms become more profitable and client service improves. Plus the lawyers and staff are happier too.

Find out if/when we have any openings at : www.HowToMANAGEaSmallLawFirm.com/enroll.html

How Law Practice Management Software is Different from Outlook

Note from RJon:  As you may know we recently re-released a very popular program entitled: “How To Start A Successful Law Firm In 90 Days or less.”  This is a topic that comes-up often and Dan Berlin does a great job explaining it. . .

How Law Practice Management Software is Different
from Outlook

By Dan Berlin

The best way to think about the difference between
Outlook and practice management software is the old expression, “Jack of
all trades, and master of none”.

Microsoft designs Outlook to be
general enough that absolutely anyone can use it. Most likely your
doctor, your child’s principal and the owner of your favorite restaurant
all use Outlook. It is the jack of all trades.

Conversely, legal
practice management software focuses on one trade – attorneys. You will
find every feature of the software designed for law firms. The
difference can save you time, make it easier to organize your practice
and help you capture more of your billable time. Here are some
differences between the two… (click here to see the original article)

Law firm marketing tactics vs. strategy

Most small law firms are so focused on marketing tactics they don’t even know what strategy they’re working on. Tactics alone will kill you.

Now I realize that most lawyers – no matter how great of a lawyer you are – most of us received exactly ZERO exposure to this important concept (law firm marketing) back in law school.  And most CLE programs if they even cover marketing tend to just toss-out a few well-intentioned tactics.

But trying to insert a good tactic into an already-functioning law firm is alot like tossing a wrench into the gearbox.  At best, if you’re going slow it will grind you to a halt.  At worst, if you’re already moving and have some momentum it can kill you.

I’ve seen alot of small law firms break-down before they even get going and more than a few crash & burn faster than the owners’ imagined possible from very profitable to laying people off in a hurry all because of this law practice marketing mistake.  Which incidentally, is also a law practice management mistake too since law practice marketing is part of law firm management.

An example of a strategy is to create  a 50-80% referral-based practice.

Examples of some of the tactics you might deploy as part of that strategy might be the new client intake
procedures, current client communication systems, closed file client retention
& referral steps as well as following certain checklists and office scripts
which ensure consistency and free you and your staff up to be more creative.

This by the way is an excerpt from a free report I recently wrote entitled

How To
Predictably

Grow Your Small Law Firm

25-35% This Year

While Enjoying More
Control, More Free
Time,

Better Cases & More
Net Profits

Only problem is I SERIOUSLY underestimated demand.  So I
ran-out in like two days.  So now I’m sending another order to the
printer for a couple hundred extra copies.  If you want one too you have
to go to this order form to let me know so I don’t run out again: https://www.howtomanageasmalllawfirm.com/freereport.html

 

Ran out of free reports. Sending new order to printer. Let me know if you want one.

So if you follow me much you know I recently offered a free report entitled

 

How To Predictably

Grow Your Small Law Firm

25-35% This Year

While Enjoying More Control, More Free
Time,

Better Cases & More Net Profits

Only problem is I SERIOUSLY underestimated demand.  So I ran-out in like two days.  So now I’m sending another order to the printer for a couple hundred extra copies.  If you want one too you have to go to this order form to let me know so I don’t run out again: https://www.howtomanageasmalllawfirm.com/freereport.html

What to do if clients don’t have money to pay for your valuable services

There are alot of people out there these days offering lawyers a set of ready-made
excuses for why their law firms are not as profitable as we'd like them
to be “in this economy”.  But as you probably already know I'm married to a
professional artist.  So I get to go to some really great gallery opening. 
Some real “duds” too.  My FAVORITES are the galleries & openings
that remind me, no


Shove It Into My Face

that there is a TON of money out there

So Shame On ME


if I'm not willing to learn how to do what it takes to get some of it
for myself. 

Afterall, what we do helps


real people with real problems


, RIGHT!?!



I want to help YOU learn how to get the kinds of clients into your law
firm who CAN and WILL pay for your serv





 





ices.

 


I want to show YOU how to use some of my creative billing strategies to
enable clien


ts who NEED YOUR HELP to be able to afford your services.






 






Watch this (>>8:20 mins) video for PROOF that what I'm saying is
true

And then










at any point during the video you can click on it (video is interactive)
to learn more about a 100% no-risk opportunity opening up soon for the
first 50 attorneys who take action.  So you have NOTHING to lose.  And
think of all you could gain by learning how to Transform Your Small Law
Firm into the kind of fun & profitable law firm you always dreamed
of!

RJonSignature.jpg

p.s. Rest assured EVERTHING you have to “do what it takes” to get clients
to pay for your services, that I will show you, is 100% ethical & totally
professional.

 

RJon’s Formula For Calculating Precisely How Much More Money You Could Be Making From Your Small Law Firm

How To Calculate Precisely How Much More Money You Could Be Earning From Your Solo or Small Law Firm

I’m always amused by the skepticism of some lawyers when I tell them about a program I have called “How To Double The Revenues Of Your Small Law Firm In 12 Months Or Less”.  But you really can.

And it’s not even that hard to do.  I’ve even devised a simple mathematical formula you can use to calculate how much more money YOU could be generating with your small law firm.

But instead of plugging their numbers in some lawyers prefer to make excuses.  In fact, here’s how it usually plays out…

I will invite a lawyer to listen to a free teleseminar.  I’ll promise that in about 75 minutes I’ll give them an overview of some of the steps you can take to easily and pretty reliably double your revenues in just 12 months.  I tell them ahead-of-time that, obviously, in just 75 minutes I cannot possibly tell you EVERYTHING.  But I promise I’ll share enough to prove it to you That It Really Is Possible if you follow a system I’ve created and that I back up with a 100% money-back guarantee.

“Impossible” they say!

“But what if it really was possible?”  I say “Would you give it a try knowing that I back it all up with a 100% money-back guarantee?”  “Just think of what it would do for your life if you could earn more money without even working any harder or longer.  In fact this system will even enable you to work less and have more fun and you’ll still earn more money at the practice of law”. I usually add helpfully, because I really do want as many lawyers as possible to discover how much fun and how profitable it should be to be a lawyer!

Of course, some lawyers have been so abused and so damaged and so scarred that they find it impossible to take this chance on themselves.  Even though they don’t have to risk any money.  And the potential for personal, professional and of course financial benefit are obviously great.

Sadly, I cannot help those who are unable or unwilling to help themselves.  But if you’ll have an open mind and confidence in YOURSELF I can PROVE it to you in several different ways. 

But first here’s the formula I was talking about above

a.) Take your current 5 year average gross revenues and multiply that number by negative 1 to arrive at your “Baseline Potential”  (For example if your average is $250,000 x -1 =  Baseline Potential of -$250,000.)

b.) Multiply your Baseline Potential by the average of the grades you earned in all of the law practice management and law firm marketing courses you completed in law school.  So for example if you took a single 15 hour course on law practice management and earned yourself a “B”, and you earned an “A” in your law firm marketing course, the average of those grades is a “B+” or 3.5  to arrive at you “Adjusted Baseline Potential” (-250,000 x 3.5 = -$875,000)

c.)  Calculate the difference between your Adjusted Baseline Potential and 0 to arrive at you “Raw Potential For Growth Through Learning Everything They Didn’t Teach You In Law School About The Business Of Managing & Marketing A Law Practice” or “Raw Potential” for short.   ( -$875,000 + $125,000 = 0)

d.) Divide your Raw Potential For Growth by your Baseline Potential to arrive finally at your Percentage Potential For Growth.  ($125,000 / $250,000 = 50%)  That’s about the percentage of the potential additional income you could be generating from your small law firm. 

Not quite “doubling” is it?  But what if you never took even a single course in law school (or since) on how to manage or how to market a small law firm?  You took thousands of hours to learn how to practice law didn’t you?  But none, zero, zippo, zilch on how to manage & market the business of a law firm?  But you still doubt your own potential for growth & improvement?

“Of course not RJon!  Now that  you put it like that I’m really excited about my own potential.  How do I learn more about this free telseminar you were talking about!?!?”

Well, I’m glad you asked because HERE is  where you go to sign-up!

RJON

p.s. I am the sole person responsible for creation of the formula above.  Do not make important decisions based soley on that formula without consulting with me first because its results must be interpreted in connection with another formula for calculating how much more FUN you could be having as the owner of your small law firm.