Another year is ending and a new one is just around the corner. For lawyers, now is a great time to reflect on what’s working and what isn’t when it comes to current firm practices, specifically your prospective client intake procedures.
A little time spent reviewing and improving client screening and intake practices now could save you valuable time and help avoid unnecessary
For attorneys, conflicts of interest allegations can lead to several undesirable outcomes, whether a formal malpractice claim, costly litigation, disciplinary issue, or problems with insurance. It’s a situation best avoided.
Yet recent studies of attorney malpractice claims indicate that conflicts of interest allegations are on the rise. While some claims assert an attorney had divided loyalties, others contend there were adverse interest issues.
Like most people today, lawyers are rarely more than an arm’s reach from their cell phone. You may have even made a habit of giving your clients your cell phone number and allowing them to call or text you at any time.
Texting clients can help facilitate scheduling, reminders and quick communications, while also giving clients a positive impression that a lawyer is
Imagine you have just discovered that a former client with past-due legal fees has posted an inaccurate and negative review of your firm on a popular social media site. They tagged your business page in the post and people are commenting and sharing the post. What should you do?
Many people’s first instinct is to act to defend themselves from these online mischaracterizations.
According to the latest research, a lot of lawyers are now using social media for career and client development,1 and you might be one of them.
As social media becomes a key means of communication and advertising within the legal field, you and your firm have a unique responsibility. Ethics committees are turning more attention to what lawyers are posting online, but this
Recently, the legal malpractice industry has seen an uptick in claims filed against defense attorneys. Some of these claims are of high severity, resulting in seven figure settlements or verdicts.
What is responsible for this new development and how can defense attorneys guard against it?
Traditionally, defense work supported by institutional clients drew relatively few malpractice claims. Institutional
Do you know how what social media ethics guidelines your firm should follow? People’s willingness to disclose personal information on social media can be particularly helpful in the discovery phase of litigation. Snooping on opposing parties, witnesses or jurors through social media can provide a treasure-trove of information that might have once taken a private investigator months to obtain. However, lawyers need
For a lawyer, there is nothing worse than the gnawing feeling something at the office is not quite right. Why hasn’t my client returned my phone calls? Did I file that brief on time? Why is my client late paying their bill?
It is inevitable that you will make a professional mistake at some point during your career. Once you realize an error
Browsing through your inbox, you notice that the check from the insurance carrier you recently settled a claim with has arrived. Imagining all the wonderful things you can do with your portion of the proceeds, you pick up the phone to call your client and ask her if she wants to stop by the following day and pick up her portion. “How
Email has become the preferred method of communication for corresponding with colleagues and clients. Although writing an email is easy, lawyers need to avoid email pitfalls. By avoiding the common errors discussed below, your emails will remain effective and professional.
It is essential to do a thorough review of an email before sending it to the