Author Archives: john

The owners of the most successful law firms will tell you (if you ask) that their key to success is simple: they run their law firm like a business.  Seems pretty fundamental, but how many law firm owners run their firm like a business?  Almost none. The ultimate goal is a self-managing law firm.  A self-managing more »

 ​Do the leaders of your law firm know what you expect of them? Just expecting the leaders of your law firm to do their job provides no guidance. Your leadership principles should be crystal clear and guide the decisions of your leadership team.  By documenting your firm’s leadership principles, your leaders will know what is more »

​Errors and omissions policies are a weird combination of claims-made and occurrence-made policies.  The claim must be made within the policy period of the professional liability policy and the occurrence that gives rise to the claim must be brought within the policy period or within the period of your retroactive date. If the occurrence that gives more »

​What is the most common reason that team members (a/k/a employees) fail? New team members fail because they do not know what is expected of them. And why is that?  Because you did not take the time to explain clearly what you expect from them. The next time that you hire a new team member take more »

At a mastermind, a 30-year old lawyer makes a bold proclamation, “I want to be a malpractice lawyer.” The lawyer is met with more than a healthy dose of negativity by the members and is told that he should avoid malpractice work due to its complexity and substantial cost. I did not agree.  I told the more »

 Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, writes an annual letter to shareholders. The letters inspired and reinstilled the message that Amazon’s core values will never change and no matter how successful Amazon is, they will always live by the “Day One” values of being frugal, having a “beginner’s mind” and taking a long-term view.  These annual more »

This was easily one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen. Outside of a meeting room during a mastermind, a small group of lawyers huddle around each other.  The focus of their attention is on a lawyer who is showing them something on his laptop.  This piqued my curiosity and I moved closer to find more »

 What is the biggest challenge facing most law firms?  Most law firms do not have an organized onboarding system for new team members and simply ask a member of the team to train new employees. This is not a system—it’s a recipe for failure.“The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave more »

Have you ever wondered why a few lawyers are wildly successful while most struggle?  There’s one thing for certain, success is not based upon luck.  The most successful lawyers have proven systems that they’ve learned from years of taking chances, making mistakes and discovering what works. You see the outward signs of a successful law firm, more »