The Lawyer's Guide to Increasing Revenue: Unlocking the Profit Potential in Your Firm"Are you ready to look beyond cost-cutting and toward new revenue opportunities? Learn how you can achieve growth using the resources you already have at your firm. Discover the factors that affect your law firm's revenue production, how to evaluate them, and how to take specific action steps designed to increase your returns. You'll learn how to best improve performance and profitability in each of the key aspects of your law firm."--BOOK JACKET. |
Contents
Develop a Revenue Mindset | 3 |
Why Cost Approaches Fail | 4 |
Places to Look for Revenue | 5 |
Other Ways to Improve Revenue | 7 |
Examine the Financial Indicators | 9 |
ProfitExpense Ratio | 10 |
Revenue per Lawyer | 11 |
Aged WorkinProcess | 12 |
Become the GoTo Lawyer | 78 |
Keeping Clients Thankful | 79 |
Set Standards for Client Communications | 80 |
Use the Billing Process to Communicate Value | 82 |
Manage the Clients Expectation of Cost | 84 |
Recovery Issues | 86 |
Technology Finding the Profits | 89 |
Make Sure the Firms Technology Is on Sound Footing | 90 |
Collection Realization Rate | 13 |
Aged Accounts Receivable | 14 |
Billable Hours by Timekeeper | 15 |
Cash | 16 |
Establishing the Baseline | 17 |
Find Maximum Capacity | 19 |
Create a Scorecard | 23 |
Billing Realization | 24 |
Collection Realization | 25 |
Learn the Secrets of Achieving Better Revenue | 27 |
It All Starts at the Beginning | 29 |
Client Intake | 30 |
Find the Magic Payments by Return Mail | 33 |
The Consumer Client | 34 |
The Business Client | 35 |
An Art Not a Science | 36 |
Understanding TwentyFirst Century Leverage | 37 |
Leveraging Expertise | 38 |
Technology | 39 |
Leveraging with Paralegals | 40 |
Move into the TwentyFirst Century | 41 |
Let Your Clients Do the Marketing | 43 |
Protect Existing Client Relationships | 44 |
Distinguish Your Firm from the Others | 45 |
A StepbyStep Guide for Improving Revenue | 47 |
Set in Place the Key Ingredients to Improved Revenue Flow The Client Intake Process | 49 |
Get It Right at the Initial Client Meeting | 51 |
Obtain a Fee Agreement and Fee Deposit | 53 |
The Reality Check | 55 |
Confirm Client Expectations | 56 |
Offer ValueBased Fee Agreements | 59 |
Know the Rules | 60 |
Understand the Components to a Fair Fee | 61 |
Contingency Method | 62 |
Retainer Fee | 63 |
Consider Variations of the Basic Methods | 64 |
Hourly Rate with Minimum and Maximum Charge | 65 |
The Defense Contingency | 66 |
Combination Hourly Fee and Flat Fee | 67 |
Find Opportunities to Move Away from Hourly Billing | 68 |
Identify Small Projects That Can Be Handled for a Fixed Fee | 69 |
So What About Hours and Rates? | 71 |
Determine Appropriate Billable Hour Expectations | 73 |
Adopt Clear Time Recording Policies | 74 |
Evaluate the Secretarial Support Available to the Lawyers and Paralegals | 75 |
Rates | 76 |
Take a Look at the Firms Document Production Practices | 91 |
Find Places to Deliver Standard Service Packages | 92 |
Paralegals Expanding the Role | 95 |
Evaluate the Current Paralegals | 97 |
Price the Paralegal Services | 98 |
Set Production Goals for the Paralegals | 99 |
If All Else Fails Using the BandAid | 101 |
Make the Collection Policy and Procedure a Priority | 103 |
Other Approaches | 104 |
Making It Work | 105 |
Taking the First Stepand Another Stepand then Another | 107 |
Final Thoughts | 109 |
Financial Reports Profit and Loss Statement March 2005 | 111 |
Financial Reports Billable Hours March 2005 | 112 |
Financial Reports Billing and Billing Realization March 2005 | 113 |
Financial Reports Cash and Collection Realization March 2005 | 114 |
Financial Reports Origination Credit March 2005 | 115 |
Financial Reports Aged WorkInProcess | 116 |
Financial Reports Aged Receivables March 2005 | 117 |
Financial Reports Firm Pipeline Report March 2005 | 118 |
Financial Reports Balance Sheet March 2005 | 119 |
Financial Indicators Worksheet | 120 |
Revenue Capacity Worksheet | 122 |
The Scorecard | 123 |
Client Intake Policies and Procedures | 124 |
Fee Agreements and Fee Deposits | 125 |
Rule 15 Fees | 126 |
Law Firm Plan for Implementing ValueBased Billing Document Preparation | 130 |
Law Firm Plan for Implementing ValueBased Billing The Fixed Fee for Small Case | 132 |
Law Firm Plan for Implementing ValueBased Billing Transactional Matter | 135 |
Sample Billable Hour Policy | 137 |
Sample Time Recording Policy | 138 |
Variable Hourly Rate Worksheet | 139 |
Sample ClientCentered Service Policy | 140 |
Correspondence | 141 |
Recovery | 142 |
Sample Paralegal Hiring Policy | 143 |
Paralegal Profitability Worksheet | 144 |
Paralegal Billing Guidelines | 146 |
Sample Law Firm Collection Policy | 148 |
Planning Worksheet | 149 |
Resources | 151 |
| 153 | |
Selected Books fromTHE ABA LAW PRACTICE MANAGEMENT SECTION | |
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Common terms and phrases
Accounts Receivable achieved alternative billing methods American Bar Association amount Anthony E Appendix Arthur G Bank of Nevada better billable hour expectations billing realization rate budget charge Client Communications Client Expectations Client Intake Policies client relationships Client-Centered Service Policy collection policy collection turnover rate contingent fee cost Develop documents dollars EA EA EA Evaluate Existing Clients expenses expertise fee agreement fee deposit fee estimate files financial indicators firm's fixed fee flat fee hourly billing improve revenue initial client meeting law firm Law Practice Magazine Law Practice Management Law Practice Today lawyer needs Lawyer's Guide lawyers and paralegals legal fees leverage litigation marketing matter month Partner Profit payment percent performed Policies and Procedures practice areas practice group problem Profit per Partner requirements result revenue capacity Sample scorecard staff standard hourly rates Step telephone timekeeper value-based billing Value-Based Fee Methods Worksheet