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Attorney Aaron Bortel is a client of ours. He’s a DUI attorney in California – so his firm operates in one of the most ruthlessly competitive legal markets in the United States. Several of his peers have shut up shop over the last year. Why? Over the last five years, at least, law schools have …

I apologize if this post is blunt. But, today, I want to talk about a fundamental truth about the “attorney-potential” relationship (as opposed to the attorney-client relationship.) In some ways, when a potential steps into your office for an initial consultation, it’s kind of like when they visit their doctor. What they really crave is …

A little bird told me that Google is planning to strike again soon – and thousands of businesses (including many law firms) are going to come into work one morning and find they’ve been cut them off from the Internet. When? I don’t know. How? I don’t know. But here’s what I do know: Google …

Sometime last year, I was at a legal convention talking with an attorney who prided himself on being, and I quote, “the cheapest attorney in town”. I kid you not. He was bragging about it. Until I had to come along and burst his bubble. “You’re not actually the cheapest attorney in town”, I said. …

This might sound like hyperbole, but when I say “ultimate”, I mean it in the truest sense of the word. Because when you use the negotiation tactic I’m about to share, you don’t need anything else. Here it is: Create a “feature” list that summarizes all the different things you’ll do to prepare for a …

Thomas Edison once quipped: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” If there’s a mindset to success, these 12 words above must be it. Because what Edison said wasn’t to be taken literally – it’s an attitude. Success is about reflective learning. Trying something, figuring out why it didn’t work, …

You’re a grizzled attorney. So you don’t need me to tell you how important inner game is to your success. Because any lawyer that walks into the courtroom with the wrong mindset is going to walk out with a broken nose. The right mindset isn’t only vital for winning cases – it’s also vital for …

A lot of attorneys tell me – it’s hard to get reviews from past clients, especially if you work in something like criminal defense, because folks don’t want to air their dirty laundry in public. It’s true, to a point. Nobody wants to broadcast their problems on Avvo or Google Plus. And so if you …

When it comes to your perceived status as an attorney, your authority is not objective – it’s subjective. In other words, it’s in the eye of your beholder. It’s like this: Your typical potential client doesn’t know much about law schools. They don’t know understand the different hoops you had to jump through to prove …

Quick question: Do you get frustrated with time wasters and marketing vultures calling your law office, even though they don’t have a legal problem to discuss? If so, then I have something for you. It’s a simple 12-word question. Give it to your admins — or anyone else that answers the phone, including yourself — …