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Posted on January 31, 2023
Public Resources

Danny Mazza graduated from law school believing he would take the bar and create a career in politics and government. After his parents died within 43 days of each other, his career focus shifted to estate planning and probate law. He worked at a larger firm, and within just a few years, he knew he wanted to start his own practice. Bri Niro joined Danny at his small firm and became his partner after meeting him during law school. Together, they’ve created a successful law practice that continues to grow and thrive by identifying their unique gifts and complementing one another well. How You Can Use Networking and Referrals to Build Your Business 1. Identify your strengths.  Danny knew he was good at networking and remembering people. It’s his gift, and while he could employ it in his own firm, working for a larger firm meant his hands were tied in many ways. Putting out his shingle allowed his outgoing personality to shine. Bri’s gift that complements Danny’s so well is that she knows how to engage and nourish new relationships. She recognizes that it takes effort, so when Danny brings in new relationships to their firm to encourage, Bri steps in with intentionality to maintain...

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Posted on January 24, 2023
Public Resources

Attorneys often struggle with relinquishing control of certain areas of their businesses. Today’s guest, Patti Paz, is an expert at initial client meetings and isn’t a lawyer. Patti is a law firm's adjunct practice advisor, paralegal, and team leader. She also co-leads Practice Growth Programs and is Steve’s co-instructor for a program teaching non-lawyers to do initial meetings. Lawyers frequently conduct their own client intake meetings, but as a non-lawyer, Patti is adept at teaching other non-lawyers how to perform these introductions and save the practicing attorneys time. How You Save Time and Money and Increase Cash Flow with Delegation Stop believing you’re the only one who can do it. It’s hard to relinquish control--especially when you’re accustomed to being the only person in your firm who knows how to do something. But what if you could save hours and increase your firm’s cash flow by delegating a task to another capable team member? You know the answers to the legal questions, and by conducting all of your initial client meetings, you’re probably giving away free legal advice in addition to valuable time that could be spent on cases instead of intake. By delegating initial client meetings to a qualified team member, you can...

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Posted on January 18, 2023
Public Resources

One of the biggest challenges in the legal industry is attracting and hiring great talent. With the industry being extremely competitive (*with more than one million active lawyers in the U.S.) and economic changes shifting the way we think about building a high performance team, it's important to adjust the way we view employees and staff. Sometimes higher salaries and bonuses are just not enough. "Time spent on hiring is a time well spent." Hiring and attracting talent is a necessary investment and can change the trajectory of long-term employees. So, how do you attract the right employees, keep the employees that you value, and still maintain a competitive edge? We have provided four tips that can assist with this process: creating a positive work culture, promoting work-life balance, using technology, and providing growth opportunities. Creating a Positive Work Culture Creating a positive work culture starts with who you hire. Focus on "A" players who enjoy what they do and cultivate a high standard within your law firm. Hire staff members that believe in the same values as you do. A positive work culture also includes offering a competitive salary and bonus structure, so you don't lose your hard-working employees to a competitor. Promoting Work-Life Balance With...

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Posted on January 17, 2023
Public Resources

As in many other parts of the economy, law firms are experiencing the squeeze of inflation. Today’s guest, Glenn Finch, shares some key ways he’s learned to combat its effects. Glenn Finch is a longtime friend of Steve’s and a partner at Atticus. Married for 20 years with four children and five grandchildren, Glenn is also a Colonel in the Florida National Guard, has a black belt in martial arts, is a master scuba diver, and served for 12 years as a Senior Pastor for three multi-staffed churches in Florida. While anyone can throw more wages at employees, Glenn believes satisfaction is key to retention. How Creating Employee Satisfaction and Sharpening Your Client Mix Can Fight Inflation 1. Increasing employee wages isn’t the only way to ensure employee satisfaction. While increasing employee wages during record inflation seems like a no-brainer, it isn’t the only way to keep your firm’s employees happy. Wages are only one part of the compensation package. Get creative. Maybe offer a gas card to them to offset their commuting costs. Offer an alternative work schedule. The bottom line: A paycheck isn’t the only way to compensate someone for their work and time. 2. Don’t stop reaching for the A clients. Depending on the type...

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Posted on January 10, 2023
Public Resources

Here at Atticus, we have a Double Your Revenue™ Workshop. It’s a one-day workshop designed to help lawyers do just that: double their firm's revenue.  We hear lots of attorneys state reasons why they are scared to take part in this workshop. I recently had a conversation with my friend Denise Gamez about these fears. Denise is the Director of Member Services at Atticus. She started with our company as a salesperson. However, she showed such tremendous talent and understanding of our customers’ challenges that she began doing the Practice Growth Diagnostic which is the first step of the client journey inside of Atticus. She also started speaking on behalf of Atticus at various engagements.  Today, I’m sharing some of the things Denise and I talked about regarding what scares most attorneys and stops them cold as they go through this one-day workshop for reframing their mindset and up-leveling their firm.  Fear of Doubling Revenue The first main fear we hear from attorneys is the entire thought of doubling their revenue.  They think that if they double their revenue, they’ll double everything else: their stress level, workload, staff, and more. The thing you must understand is that there is a methodology to doubling your revenue. If...

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Posted on January 3, 2023
Public Resources

Many lawyers have trouble with innovation.  There are a variety of challenges and traps that come with innovating in the legal field. Additionally, whether someone is a lawyer or not, innovation doesn’t come naturally as adults. On top of all of this, there’s also the question of why it matters. You might wonder if innovation brings any benefit to attorneys. Should you care about it at all? Today, we’re going to discuss all of this. I’m drawing ideas from a conversation I recently had with the innovation expert, Carla Johnson, in which she explained why innovation is important in the legal field and how to develop it. Innovation As A Business Tool Innovation is more important now than it's ever been in business.  There are so many pieces that constantly change in the business world. Even if lawyers have processes that they follow, there are many variables within those processes. However, they often don’t give themselves credit or allow themselves the leeway to think differently and look for those hidden opportunities.  As we look at what could be ahead of us, the whole idea of having an innovator’s mindset is all about looking for opportunity in that way. No matter your practice area, you need to figure out...

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Posted on December 27, 2022
Public Resources

You’ve got to slow down to speed up.  That’s what I like to tell my fellow attorneys.  Most of the time, we're so rushed and so time-pressed that we don't have the opportunity to stop and think about things. In other words, we jump to conclusions. What we should do instead is slow down, examine how certain things occur in our practices, absorb those things, and ask good questions about them.  I’m so passionate about this and so is my friend Dan Markovitz. His book, The Conclusion Trap, puts a hard stop on jumping to conclusions. Dan has done a tremendous job of simplifying something called lean thinking for all people.  Today I want to take some time to talk more about Dan’s work and how to prevent ourselves from falling into the conclusion trap as we’re building a great practice and a great life. Lean Manufacturing About 15 years ago, Dan started consulting in the area of corporate time management. During this time, the ideas, concepts, and frameworks of lean manufacturing struck him. Lean manufacturing is the idea of creating more value with fewer resources and inputs.  In the case of attorneys, the resource you're dealing with is time and attention. Those resources are finite. How...

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Posted on December 20, 2022
Public Resources

What’s your first instinct when you fail?  Do you speak it over yourself by labeling yourself as a failure?  Or, do you give yourself grace? The key to having not only a great practice but also a great life is to give yourself grace.  Remember, all you have to do is simply start again. This is what will propel you forward and lead to progress. I recently had the opportunity to speak with my dear friend Victor Medina about this and other key strategies for running a successful law practice.  Victor is a fantastic attorney who has built an amazing practice himself. What makes his story so unique is that not only has he walked the path of growth obstacles, but he also leads the practice growth program as an adjunct practice advisor. Victor’s Career History Victor has an amazing story full of ups and downs. He didn’t go to law school right out of the box but got a job selling photocopiers after college.  During his years in sales, he met his wife, who encouraged him to go back to school and get another degree. It was from that that Victor decided to go to law school. After graduating, he worked for a large law firm. The hours were...

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Posted on December 13, 2022
Public Resources

Setting goals are an effective and accurate way to measure the success of your law practice's performance. Goal setting allows you to identify what is working, what is not working, where you need to pivot, and what elements in your law firm need an overhaul. Goal setting should not be a one-time event - you can continue to edit and adjust your goals as needed and as your law career progresses. Career goals will vary as you hit different milestones so it's important that you customize and personalize your goals at every stage. It is key that your goals are clear, precise, and measurable. You can also use "I" statements to make it personal and to describe the way you feel, think, and need. Using "I" statements also provides clear communication. Research shows that 90% of the time, setting specific goals leads to more success and those with goals are ten times more successful than those without. Another practical way to set goals is using the S.M.A.R.T method - specific, measurable, achievable/attainable, relevant, and time-based. Here are some law firm goal examples using the S.M.A.R.T method. S: Specific Examples of specific goals comes from, "How Good Attorneys Become Great Rainmakers" - Number of new clients to be brought...

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Posted on December 13, 2022
Public Resources

Here at Great Practice, Great Life, we believe that building a successful law firm is not just about being a great lawyer and entrepreneur. It’s about building a great life. One way to do that is by taking care of our bodies and prioritizing physical health.  Jeff Life is a medical doctor who helps his patients do just that every day. When he was in his fifties, he completely turned his life around. He transformed his physical well-being and ultimately won a national competition for fitness and health. Today, at age 83, Jeff is still as healthy as ever and is still actively practicing medicine full-time.  Following are his top three strategies for living a healthy life and pursuing the goal of living past 100.  1. Reduce visceral fat. The first strategy Dr. Life teaches is eliminating the belly fat inside your abdominal cavity. That’s called visceral fat and it is the dangerous kind of fat. It’s the kind that makes you look pregnant.  Visceral fat takes on a life of its own and releases harmful chemicals and hormones that cause a variety of health issues. These issues include inflammation, arterial disease, heart attacks, strokes, cancer, Alzheimer's, and dementia. Losing body fat in general will reduce your...

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