Page 30 - Social Media Musings

Social Media Musings – Part III My Reflections on the Practice and Life
Law Firm Management
Successful law firms focus on client services and to do so they identify all interactions with clients and create processes to improve the customer experience.
If you are a firm leader, make sure your firm has a plan to teach your associates the soft skills:
◗ Communication ◗ Confidence
◗ Customer Service
◗ Emotional Intelligence
If you’re a firm leader, spend more time in casual conversation with your team. Talking more brings folks closer together.
Take the time to reach out to lawyer alumni from your firm and stay in touch with them.
If you work at a large or medium sized firm, create a monthly zoom call for firm alumni to stay in touch and refer matters back and forth.
Associate retention isn’t complicated, but it is hard. Do you want to retain your associates? Learn their stories, values, goals and motivation and empower them to pursue their dreams both in and out of the firm. It’s not complicated. But it is hard, because it takes time, energy and commitment to do this. If you don’t want to do the hard work to retain your associates, don’t be surprised if they leave.
Once firms return to their physical offices, they will be asking themselves - should we allow more remote work? It’s a conversation your staff will have, your paralegals will have, your associates will have and your partners will have, so start thinking now how much, if any, remote work you want your firm to have and how that will play out.
Virtual law firm happy hours are fun, but don’t pressure your team to attend. Many folks are juggling work, kids and elderly parents all under the same roof 24/7, and come the end of the week they don’t want to put on a smile and pretend everything is ok. For those who don’t join, make a point to check in on them.
Make sure your lawyers are trained on how to take depositions and handle hearings and mediations remotely. Even if you think this will all be short lived, a lot of clients will save money by having their lawyers handle matters remotely and for some clients, they may adopt this as their new reality even after the pandemic is over.
There’s a balance as firm leaders between optimism and realism with our teams during this time. On the one hand, we want to remain positive. We want to focus on the blessings, on what we have and on what’s working. On the other hand, each of us
is dealing with a lot of disruptions, issues and concerns. I suggest staying positive
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