Your legal expertise is apparent, but what about your business acumen? Do you have time to crunch twenty-five complex financial ratios, and then search the internet for comparison numbers to contextualize your own? One of the foundations of working on your business rather than in it is your ability to use your firm’s financial and human resources effectively, efficiently, and fairly. Any entrepreneur, in any field, would jump at the chance to discover industry-specific financial benchmarks for … [Read more...] about Interpreting Your Financials
Archives for 2011
Discounts: A Complex Matter
Estate planning attorneys often strive to obtain valuation discounts. We set up Family Limited Partnerships and carefully supervise their administration, at least in a perfect world. We advise clients to fractionalize their real estate to obtain a fractional interest discount. But, discounts may not make sense for many clients. Remember, discounts must be taken consistently. In other words, if you are taking a discount for estate tax purposes, the same discounts will apply for income tax … [Read more...] about Discounts: A Complex Matter
Year End Message From Robert And Sandy
Every year, the co-founders of the Academy share a year-end message to the Membership. To me, it is always a breath of fresh air and I thought that our many blog subscribers might enjoy it as well. Happy New Year! Jennifer Price ON YOUR MARK, GET SET... STOP! We’ve all heard the first part of this phrase before. In fact, young children can even finish it when prompted. However, as we end 2011 and get ready for the new year, we invite you to take a moment and STOP! That’s right, STOP. Take … [Read more...] about Year End Message From Robert And Sandy
Email Marketing: Pay Attention to Your Analytics
If you have an email marketing program through an ESP (email service provider) you have access to powerful analytics, and you should pay attention to this data every time you send an e-news. Why? Because it helps you develop better email programs, although you have to know what to look for and how to act on the data you receive. Email marketing analytics focus mainly on things such as open rates, click-throughs, bounces, and spam reports. For example, the average open rate, or percentage of … [Read more...] about Email Marketing: Pay Attention to Your Analytics
A Dramatic Reminder of an Ethics Fundamental
Huguette Clark was nearly 105 years old when she died in May 2011. Heiress to a copper mining fortune, she lived an extraordinarily reclusive life. The last time she was even photographed was in 1930. Although she owned several opulent properties, she chose to spend the last two decades of her life in seclusion at Manhattan’s Beth Israel Medical Center, even when she was in good health. While she lived at the hospital, her close companions were her nurse; her attorney, Wallace Bock; and her … [Read more...] about A Dramatic Reminder of an Ethics Fundamental
Funny Films for Serious Conversations: Grand Theft Parsons
This story is so extraordinary that if it didn't really happen, no one would believe it. It seems life truly is stranger than fiction. The story involves two men, a hearse, a dead rock star, five gallons of gasoline, and a promise. Remember the influential country rock musician Gram Parsons? He played with Emmylou Harris, The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and The International Submarine Band. Parsons died in 1973 in a motel room near Joshua Tree National Monument from a morphine overdose … [Read more...] about Funny Films for Serious Conversations: Grand Theft Parsons
A Portrait of Your Ideal Law Firm
Sanford Fisch recently blogged about finding your primary aim: creating a detailed picture of the lifestyle you want, encompassing your work and personal life as well as your involvement in the community. Once you’ve painted this vivid portrait of your ideal life, how do you bring it into being? The next step is finding your firm’s strategic objective; in other words, creating a picture of the business you want to have that will generate the net revenue to support your ideal life. Not a … [Read more...] about A Portrait of Your Ideal Law Firm
Philanthropy: Guiding Your Clients Towards a Lasting Legacy
Hardly a week goes by without news of yet another wealthy person giving away a large sum of money to a college, university, hospital, medical research facility, cultural institution, or any one of dozens of other institutions or causes. The very wealthy are giving gifts at an astounding rate. The top five Forbes 400 members including Warren Buffet, Stephen Mandel, and Mark Zuckerberg, gifted a total of $3.7 billion in 2010 and 2011. Clearly, many wealthy individuals view their legacy as more … [Read more...] about Philanthropy: Guiding Your Clients Towards a Lasting Legacy
Three Ways to Brighten the Holidays for Our Service Men and Women
Being a former Marine, I know all too well that the holiday season is often bittersweet for our deployed military personnel and their families. It’s hard to be joyful when you’re a world away from those dearest to you. Here are three ways you can make the holidays a little warmer for our military personnel. Send a Card or a Care Package to a Deployed Service Member.It used to be that civilians could send care packages addressed to “any soldier;” however, security concerns now prevent this. The … [Read more...] about Three Ways to Brighten the Holidays for Our Service Men and Women
New Advance Care Planning Video: For Your Clients & Community
Newly released online: a short video encouraging Americans to think about their health care wishes. Accompanied by moving music, it aims to reach the viewer emotionally as well as intellectually ― more so than I’ve seen in other video pieces on this topic. In fact, its tone reminds me a bit of the emotional ASPCA ads similarly-produced with only music, text and photos. You might find this 3-minute piece useful to share with clients. It could be viewed in your office while clients wait … [Read more...] about New Advance Care Planning Video: For Your Clients & Community
Smart Lawyer Does Not Equal Successful Law Firm
Are you guilty of this deadly mistake? Like many of your colleagues, do you assume that because you know how to do estate planning work, you automatically also know how to run a successful estate planning firm? The truth is, running a successful law firm requires its own skill set, separate from and in addition to the skills needed to be an exceptional attorney. Skills they don’t teach you in law school. Find Your Why The first step in nailing down this skill set is figuring out your primary … [Read more...] about Smart Lawyer Does Not Equal Successful Law Firm
Keeping Your Employees Honest
I recently blogged about financial elder abuse, citing the statistic that 66 percent of elder abuse perpetrators are family members. Even worse than the idea of one of your clients being victimized by their family members is the thought of one of your clients falling victim to a member of your staff. Yet that’s exactly what happened in the office of Tuscaloosa, Alabama attorney Zondra Hutto. Hutto served as guardian and conservator for a 79-year-old client suffering from dementia. Hutto’s law … [Read more...] about Keeping Your Employees Honest
