Posts tagged: Law Firms

Dec 29 2011

Injury Law Firm

A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service provided by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent their clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other matters in which legal advice and other assistance are sought.

 

If you have the injury in the work place or some other place and you want have the law firm, then you have to know what kind of law firm you will have. The following details will help you.

 

Law firms are organized in a variety of ways, depending on the jurisdiction in which the firm practices. Common arrangements include:

 

* Sole proprietorship, in which the attorney is the law firm and is responsible for all profit, loss and liability.

 

* General partnership, in which all of the attorneys in the firm equally share ownership and liability.

 

* Professional corporations, which issue stock to the attorneys in a fashion similar to that of a business corporation.

 

* limited liability company, in which the attorney-owners are called “members” but are not directly liable to third party creditors of the law firm

 

* Professional association, which operates similarly to a professional corporation or a limited liability company;

 

* Limited liability partnership (LLP), in which the attorney-owners are partners with one another, but no partner is liable to any creditor of the law firm or is any partner liable for any negligence on the part of any other partner.

The LLP is taxed as a partnership while enjoying the liability protection of a corporation.

 

Law firms range widely in size.

The smallest law firms are sole practitioners (lawyers practicing alone), who form the vast majority of lawyers in nearly all countries.

 

Smaller firms tend to focus on particular specialties of the law (e.g. patent law, labor law, tax law, criminal defense, personal injury); larger firms may be composed of several specialized practice groups, allowing the firm to diversify their client base and market, and to offer a variety of services to their clients.

 

Large law firms usually have separate litigation and transactional departments. The transactional department advises clients and handles transactional legal work, such as drafting contracts, handling necessary legal applications and filings, and evaluating and ensuring compliance with relevant law; while the litigation department represents clients in court and handles necessary matters (such as discovery and motions filed with the court) throughout the process of litigation.

 

As legal practice is adversarial, law firm rankings are widely relied on by prospective associates, lateral hires and legal clients. Substantive rankings typically cover practice areas such as The American Lawyer’s Corporate Scorecard and Top IP Firms. Work place rankings are directed toward lawyers or law students, and cover such topics as quality of life, hours, family friendliness and salaries. Finally, statistical rankings generally cover profit-related data such as profits per partner and revenue per lawyer

For more information on Injury Law Firm you can visit http://www.kevinlucey.com

Dec 17 2011

Law Firm Marketing 101

Law firm marketing is comprised of many different elements. The analysis of your firm in law practice management can be complex, however, lets begin with a key success variable – your current client base. Managing your client base is the most important aspect of your law firm marketing efforts. I suggest you begin with grading your clients.

The ABCD Solution

In looking at your client base for law firm marketing purposes, you can use a time-tested method of analysis. This is the key concept of “ABCD clients”. Service professionals of many types use this method to accurately rate and organize their client base. And for effective marketing for law firms, this method is priceless. By the way it is not just about marketing. It is also about serving your clients better than ever.

As you certainly know in schools we use the letter grading system to rank the students in order of how well they perform on papers, tests, quizzes, etc. Similarly we will “grade” our clients. So think of your client grading system for law firm marketing as summing up all the aspects of a good client.

A client who gets an “A” would be one who has reasonable expectations, follows your instructions, is grateful for the work you do as well as courteous and professional in their demeanor with both you and in particular your staff. In fact if you are ever wondering if someone is an “A” client or a “D” client just ask your staff. The “A” client sends you referrals that turn into “A” clients as well. The “A” client is never concerned with the fees you charge since they know your services are worth the cost. They pay their bills on time all the time. And finally, their cases are interesting and substantial matters. Now isn’t this the kind of client you are aiming for in your law firm marketing in the first place? Additionally, have you ever heard the old saying “birds of a feather flock together”? This means your “A” clients know a lot of other “A” clients who they can refer to you if you play your cards right.

Of course a client with a “B” grade would have many of the same qualities of the “A” client, but not all. A client with a “C” grade would be closer to a “D” client. A client with a “D” grade is the complete opposite of all the characteristics of an “A” client. They don’t have reasonable expectations, they pay their bills late (some not at all), try to negotiate lower fees or retainers, don’t follow your instructions (may even think they know better than you do), are rude or unprofessional, they do not send referrals (or if they do they are also “C or D” clients), their matters are not substantial and interesting, and they often complain about normal fees. Not a pretty picture these “D” clients. Let your competitors have them!

In targeting your law firm marketing, “C & D” clients are not the kind of client you want to attract. Most firms find that “C & D” clients take up between sixty to eighty percent of their time and efforts, while only bringing in twenty to forty percent of the firm’s revenue. Does it make sense to cultivate this type “C & D” business? Of course not. You need to stop taking “C & D” business and “fire” (ethically of course) any “C & D” business that you can. Even if you only begin with the “Ds” it is a beginning. Quite liberating as well my clients report to fire these folks.

Effective marketing for law firms includes a realistic look at what will bring the best benefit for the best clients. Ridding yourself of clients who are graded a “C or D” is one of the best things you can do for your “A & B” clients. Without spending all your time on the “C & D” problems and concerns, you can pour your attention into your “A & B” clients (moving their matters to conclusion faster thus you can do more of them). Thus the “A & B” clients will be even more satisfied, resulting in more referrals and more business from them. Clearly a “win/win” for all.

Another big, big advantage of spending less or no time on your “C & D” business is you can focus more time on developing your “A & B” referral network. Your increased marketing time and more focused law firm marketing will result in more quality “A & B” business.

What I have found working individually with over 500 attorneys is most of you will need to limit your practice areas to one, two or maybe (and I do mean maybe) three practice areas in order to drop your “C & D” cases. Too many attorneys are practicing “threshold law” that is defined as taking anything that comes across the threshold of your office. In selecting your practice areas try to incorporate cross-salable areas, such as wills and trusts, real estate, and/or estate planning for example. Select the most lucrative practice areas you have and then pour your law firm marketing efforts into those targeted practice areas while focusing on “A & B” clients and referral sources. This may be a bit frightening at first and in the long run you will be extremely glad you did.

May 24 2010

Finding the Right Small Business Lawyer

Finding a good small business lawyer is not as difficult as you may imagine it to be. A reliable small business lawyer is someone who specializes in laws related to small businesses and has sufficient experience to successfully handle your case. It is recommended that you hire a lawyer who has worked with small businesses and has a good track record of representing small businesses successfully. There are quite a few reliable small business lawyers in Toronto. A good Toronto lawyer should not only have sufficient experience in the field but also give your case undivided time and attention. Here are a few ways in which can go about finding small business attorneys in your city.

Referrals

The best way that you can find a good small business lawyer is through referrals. You can ask your friends, relatives or clients for recommendations of reliable lawyers or law firms in your city.

You can also ask your family attorney for referrals. Often, small businesses take the help of Toronto lawyer referral services, but such services are paid to provide referrals and generally not based on objective experience.

Online directories

You can also find a small business lawyer through law directories in case you cannot find one through referrals. You can also take help of relevant websites. Many websites not only contain listings of attorneys but also provide a rating system that rates lawyers in accordance with reviews, ensuring a certain degree of objectivity and credibility.

It is advisable that you collect a list of potential prospects. Once you have made a list, interview each business lawyer. This will help you compare the services each business lawyer provides and find the right one that suits your needs.

Before choosing the lawyer, you should also consider your budget and how much you can afford to pay during the entire course of the trial or legal process. Make an appropriate decision based on the availability of monetary resources.

Choosing the right small business lawyer

Many client-attorney contracts are filled with complex legal terminologies that can be difficult to understand. So, make sure that your small business lawyer is willing to explain the complex legal jargons in the contract patiently. One of the most important characteristics of a good business lawyer is his/her willingness to answer all your questions.

The lawyer should also clear all your doubts regarding the fees charged, including retainer fees and monthly payments. You should also ask the lawyer about other expenses including those incurred towards photocopies, travel expenses and phone calls. Good small business lawyers are generally open about how much you can expect to spend during the course of the legal proceeding and will not hesitate to answer all your queries. It is advisable to avoid lawyers who avoid answering your questions or evade full disclosure.

Once you narrow down to two or three potential prospects, determine which lawyer you are most comfortable interacting with and sure of sharing a harmonious rapport through the case. You should feel at ease discussing your case candidly with the lawyer. It is also advisable that you set up a pay-as-you-go agreement with the Toronto lawyer you hire on a quarterly or a monthly basis.

May 03 2010

Business Lawyers – Business Owners Legal Help

Lawyers provide a very valuable service to the public. They are there to help people fight cases that might have been brought against them or to help them fight cases that they themselves have brought against another party.

Lawyers help keep you out of trouble

Lawyers can also give people advice on what they should do in situations involving the law and how to prevent themselves from getting in trouble with authority figures and more. Their insight on different types of situations will have been obtained through the years of schooling that they have gone through and/or the years of experience that they have gained on the job. There are different areas of the law that lawyers can specialize in or practice in. For example, there are business lawyers who provide their services to businesses.

Choose a Law Firm to suit your businesses size.

There are law firms that focus on only small businesses.

Others help out all types of businesses. If you are a business owner, you might want to consider this before deciding on which business lawyer to hire to help you out. If you own a small business, then you might want to check out business lawyers who just cater for small businesses. This might be a good idea because there are probably different situations that small businesses are more likely to encounter that other businesses would not, and a business lawyer focusing on small businesses would probably know really specific and useful details that law firms with a broader focus might not.

Legal help when you need it most

However, whether you own a small or big business, you will need business lawyers to help you out when you face a legal problem.

The many different legal problems that businesses encounter include accidents that happen on the business premises, breaking of the contract, discrimination lawsuits, and more. A business lawyer might be able to advise beginning business owners on what type of insurance they will need in order to run the business. Business lawyer and solicitors might also be able to prepare them for the different types of legal problems they might potentially face and how to avoid them. Therefore, they can provide a lot of help to people who are running their own business.

Choose a Law Firm with experience

If they do get into some legal trouble and a lawsuit is maybe brought against them, then business lawyers can be hired to help them fight or settle their case. When looking for a business law firm or a lawyer to hire, the business owner should probably look for the ones who have the most experience, who have successfully fought or settled cases for other businesses, and ones who are affordable.

Apr 05 2010

3 Steps To Finding Reputable Credit Repair Companies

In a hard way with your credit score? Need to improve it in a hurry? You should probably considering hiring a credit repair company to manage your case rather then do it alone. While many credit repair activities can be done on your own, it’s best left to the professionals when you’re under a strict time line. This article will explore 3 tips for finding reputable companies to help improve your credit score.

1.) Ask for references: The first step is to find a company (or even better be referred to one by a friend). Once you’ve found a credit repair company you’d like to do business with try to get some references. People who they’ve helped in the past, and successfully improved their credit score. This is important to ensure they’re not running a scam, and can deliver.

2.) Check with the better business bureau: If you’re able to get references, especially if your now, contact your local better business bureau about the company you’re thinking of dealing with. This can un-cover certain things that you may not know about the company, especially if there have been complaints about their processes.

3.) Look at their track record: This is important, especially if you’re thinking about using an online credit repair company. Find out how successful they’ve been in the past. There’s no sense hiring a firm that hasn’t been able to remove items from other clients credit reports. You want to find a company that has already done what you need done.

I suggest considering one of the many online credit repair law firms that exist. They often post relevant information such as stats for the past year, and testimonials from clients. Of course there’s still the chance of finding a bad egg, your more likely to find a reputable company because of the tight laws surrounding the credit repair industry.

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