Monday Dec 12, 2022
12. For Lawyers: Legal Industry Development
SeedJura: Decoding Law
Ever felt that hiring and managing lawyers is such a pain? You are not alone. In fact, the most well-kept secret for one of the key ingredients of the success of a company is -- its ability to engage and manage legal services. This podcast decodes the complexity of the legal world so that you, as a business owner, know how to use law and legal services to your advantage. Our legal world has become so complex and, in some way, out-of-touch and out-of-date that it is painful for both clients and lawyers in the legal services process. It is time to decode the secrecy and complexity and talk with both sides as to how to make the process better for everyone. Decoding law is built on three main pillars: (1) helping companies and individuals in decoding the basic rules of the “game” that they live in, (2) decoding the secrets of how to hire and manage legal services, and (3) helping lawyers to understand how to provide legal services that clients actually need both in today’s world and in the future. The most unique aspect of SeedJura: Decoding Law is that we take a topic and explore it with companies/clients one week and then with lawyers the following week. A new topic is introduced every other week in a fun and lighthearted approach. This podcast is hosted by two passionate business lawyers who know the ins and outs of law firms of different types and the challenges both clients and lawyers face in legal services. Come and join us at SeedJura: Decoding Law.
Listen on:
Episodes
Episodes
Monday Dec 05, 2022
Monday Dec 05, 2022
In this episode of SeedJura: Decoding Law, Geneve and Phyllis are joined Tony Alfonso, another co-founder of SeedJura. The three colleagues discuss past and present trends in the legal industry and share enlightening, 'behind-the-scenes' information about the industry with non-lawyers/clients.
The SeedJura trio explores the traditional structure and flow of the legal industry:
Previously, lawyers would go to undergrad and then law school in hopes of getting into a large firm (only 1% of lawyers go on to start a solo practice). After years of work, lawyers could hope to be promoted to partner at their firms. And, partners could offload work onto younger associates. But none of this is universally the case anymore.
In the past, potential clients would only have word-of-mouth information for evaluating the efficacy of lawyers, and were subjected to the fees and expenses of the currently available pool of lawyers.
Law firms are more of an aggregate for individual businesses than they are a conglomerate of legal minds. Individual attorneys at firms are responsible for acquiring their own clients.
Clients belong to attorneys, not the firms. If an attorney leaves a firm, their clients are more then likely to leave with them.
Geneve, Phyllis, and Tony reflect on the traditional way that attorneys were trained:
Landing a job at a law firm can feel like a fish-out-of-water scenario for newer lawyers. Lawyers need an apprenticeship to learn how to apply their legal studies into the practical world.
Even at a law firm, attorneys function as solo practitioners, trying to generate business and billable hours for themselves as opposed to working holistically for the firm.
Often, attorneys work for years at firms and either get promoted to partner, or work for a company and become in-house council.
Traditional marketing in the legal world is complicated:
Marketing has been all about personal connections and going out and meeting people.
Lawyers have had to be salespeople, otherwise they wouldn't generate new business.
There were historically no standards for providing services or marketing, it was all at the discretion of individual attorneys.
Next Week's Episode: Tony joins Phyllis and Geneve again to discuss the future of the legal industry.
Please subscribe to SeedJura: Decoding Law on your favorite podcast player!
Visit SeedJuraGroup.com
SeedJura on LinkedIn (company/seedjura/)
Monday Nov 28, 2022
Monday Nov 28, 2022
In this episode, directed primarily towards lawyers, the SeedJura co-hosts Phyllis and Geneve bust some myths that lawyers may have about their clients
Myth 1 - Clients know the value of their lawyers
Myth 2 - Clients have their business and information organized
Myth 3 - Clients understand the work you put in to help them, and they will have no problem paying your fees immediately
Myth 4 - Clients are proactive and will give you accurate information
Myth 5 - Clients love you
Next Week's Episode: For clients: the SeedJura team will explore topics concerning the legal industry
Please subscribe to SeedJura: Decoding Law on your favorite podcast player!
Visit SeedJuraGroup.com
SeedJura on LinkedIn (company/seedjura/)
Monday Nov 21, 2022
Monday Nov 21, 2022
In this episode, directed primarily towards clients of lawyers, the SeedJura co-hosts Phyllis and Geneve shed light on common myths surrounding lawyers and the legal profession.
Geneve and Phyllis tackle five common myths people may believe about the legal process:
Myth 1 - The only time you need a lawyer is when you're in trouble
Myth 2 - Any lawyer can do anything within the legal profession
Myth 3 - All lawyers are expensive
Myth 4 - If you have a good lawyer, you're guaranteed a favorable outcome
Myth 5 - All lawyers are rich
Next Week's Episode: For lawyers: the SeedJura team will tackle myths lawyers may believe about their clients.
Please subscribe to SeedJura: Decoding Law on your favorite podcast player!
Visit SeedJuraGroup.com
SeedJura on LinkedIn (company/seedjura/)
Monday Nov 14, 2022
Monday Nov 14, 2022
In this episode, directed primarily towards lawyers, SeedJura co-hosts Phyllis and Geneve explore marketing yourself as a lawyer, and why it's more important than you may think.
When trying to acquire new business it's important to highlight the problems in today's legal industry when it comes to marketing yourself and your firm:
Many lawyers see marketing as a waste of time and want to focus on other aspects of the business
Lawyers have the (mis)perception that clients know exactly what they want when hiring lawyers
Lawyers often don't know the importance of articulating their values, roles, and status
Proposals, pitch books, and marketing materials from law firms all look and sound the same
What are the solutions to these problems? How can you implement solutions to better your marketing material?
Change your mentality: remember that marketing is essential to generate new business
Recenter your marketing around your clients and their needs
Understand the roles you play as a lawyer and ensure those roles are reflected in your marketing material
Ensure your promotional material sets you apart from other lawyers and law firms
Next Week's Episode: For clients of lawyers: Geneve and Phyllis will discuss the legal industry.
Please subscribe to SeedJura: Decoding Law on your favorite podcast player!
Visit SeedJuraGroup.com
SeedJura on LinkedIn (company/seedjura/)
Monday Nov 07, 2022
Monday Nov 07, 2022
In this episode, directed primarily towards clients of lawyers, SeedJura co-hosts Geneve and Phyllis help uncover the secrets behind hiring a good lawyer.
(A note from Geneve & Phyllis: This episode is a little longer than our usual episodes, but we feel that this content is very important and worth dedicating the time to explain thoroughly.)
First, Geneve and Phyllis highlight the what could go wrong if you don't hire the right lawyer. The wrong lawyer could:
Be silent and ignore you case / deposition
Drop you entirely
Lead opposing council to believe you're incompetent
Charge you way more than you expected
The ultimate goal when hiring a lawyer is to decide:
Who you hire
What price point is best for you
What your potential lawyer could provide
When hiring a lawyer, you must understand:
Lawyers are very specialized and not a "one-size-fits-all" profession
Not all lawyers have the same skill-sets, even if they graduated from the same school or work at the same firm.
Hiring the right lawyer makes a huge difference in the outcome of your deal / case
You have to do your homework and take charge when hiring and managing your lawyers
There are many factors that go into the decision to hire a lawyer. If you've decided that you do need to hire an attorney, you should consider:
How important is hiring a lawyer to you and your company?
Do your current needs stipulate the need for a lawyer? (You can listen to Episode 1 of SeedJura: Decoding Law to learn more)
What role do you need a lawyer to fulfill for you? (You can listen to Episode 5 of SeedJura: Decoding Law to learn more)
What value do you need a lawyer to provide for you? (You can listen to Episode 3 of SeedJura: Decoding Law to learn more)
What's the timeframe for this deal, case, or dispute?
Where is the matter, case, or dispute centered, in terms of location (e.g. state, city, etc.)?
What's your budget?
When you decide to hire a lawyer, there are many factors to consider. SeedJura will have a separate episode dedicated to this topic, but as an introduction, when interviewing a lawyer, you should be identifying:
How and where the lawyer was trained
How organized the lawyer is
The team size for each case
How communication with you is handled and how you will be updated on progress
How will you be able to access data (e.g. documents, files, and other info)
What is the lawyer's current workload
How does the lawyer charge you and how frequently would you be updated on your current bill
When finalizing the hiring process:
Get a formal letter of engagement and be sure to read it
If you aren't comfortable with any aspect of the letter of engagement, ask to negotiate changes
Request contact information for at least two attorneys in the firm
Be friendly with the firm's secretaries and assistants who will be assisting the lawyers on your case
Next Week's Episode: In the next episode (intended for lawyers), Phyllis and Geneve will explore how lawyers can stand out and generate new business.
Please subscribe to SeedJura: Decoding Law on your favorite podcast player!
Visit SeedJuraGroup.com
SeedJura on LinkedIn (company/seedjura/)
Monday Oct 31, 2022
Monday Oct 31, 2022
In this episode, directed primarily towards lawyers, the SeedJura co-hosts Phyllis and Geneve breakdown the different roles and responsibilities lawyers have and how these roles serve to help their clients.
Phyllis and Geneve summarize the most common roles for lawyers as:
Doers - Lawyers who prepare documents and execute tasks
Specialists - Lawyers who provide expert input and representation for clients in a specific field
Influencers - Lawyers who advocate, negotiate, and represent a client
Project Managers - Lawyers who oversee and organize legal tasks and proceedings for their clients
Strategists - Lawyers who conduct overall planning development for clients
Next Week's Episode: For clients of lawyers, Geneve will share the secrets to hiring lawyers!
Please subscribe to SeedJura: Decoding Law on your favorite podcast player!
Visit SeedJuraGroup.com
SeedJura on LinkedIn (company/seedjura/)
Monday Oct 24, 2022
Monday Oct 24, 2022
In this episode, directed primarily towards the clients of lawyers, Geneve leads the conversation and helps illustrate the many roles and responsibilities lawyers have, in hopes of shedding light on the subject for their clients.
First, Geneve recommends refamiliarizing yourself with SeedJura's breakdown of the values that lawyers bring to the table, which was discussed in the 3rd episode of SeedJura: Decoding Law "For Clients: Why are Lawyers So Expensive?"
Phyllis and Geneve explore that a lawyer isn't a "one size fits all" profession, and that there are many subsets of lawyers in the field, such as:
Executors/Doers - Lawyers who prepare documents and execute tasks
Specialists - Lawyers who provide expert input and representation for clients in a specific field
Influencers - Lawyers who advocate, negotiate, and represent a client
Project Managers - Lawyers who oversee and organize legal tasks and proceedings for their clients
Strategists - Lawyers who conduct overall planning development for clients
Next Week's Episode: Phyllis will lead a discussion aimed at lawyers to help them in explaining what they actually do for their client base.
Please subscribe to SeedJura: Decoding Law on your favorite podcast player!
Visit SeedJuraGroup.com
SeedJura on LinkedIn (company/seedjura/)
Monday Oct 17, 2022
Monday Oct 17, 2022
In this episode directed primarily towards lawyers, Phyllis helps illustrate lawyers' need to convey the value they bring to a situation, so that clients can better understand the price of lawyers' services.
Geneve and Phyllis highlight where there’s a disconnect between clients' and lawyers' perceptions of legal fees:
Clients only see the price tag associated with lawyers and not the value and experience lawyers bring to the table
Clients don’t feel like they’re given options with fees
Next, Geneve and Phyllis propose solutions on how lawyers can better communicate with their clients when discussing their fees:
Lawyers need to understand the business and services of their clients so they can approach the conversation with insights into clients' specific legal needs
To help lawyers better communicate their own value, Geneve reviews the Value Chart highlighted in EP03, which explains the many layers of value a lawyer can offer (a further explanation can be found in the the 3rd episode of SeedJura: Decoding Law ("Why Are Lawyers So Expensive?")
Understanding a client’s budget is essential when first establishing a client relationship
Lawyers must communicate both expected fees and any cost overages that arise outside of the initially negotiated rate
Next Week's Episode: Geneve will lead a discussion aimed at clients that asks the question, "What Do Lawyers Actually Do?"
Please subscribe to SeedJura: Decoding Law on your favorite podcast player!
Visit SeedJuraGroup.com
SeedJura on LinkedIn (company/seedjura/)
SeedJura: Decoding Law
Ever felt that hiring and managing lawyers is such a pain? You are not alone. In fact, the most well-kept secret for one of the key ingredients of the success of a company is -- its ability to engage and manage legal services. This podcast decodes the complexity of the legal world so that you, as a business owner, know how to use law and legal services to your advantage.
Our legal world has become so complex and, in some way, out-of-touch and out-of-date that it is painful for both clients and lawyers in the legal services process. It is time to decode the secrecy and complexity and talk with both sides as to how to make the process better for everyone.
Decoding law is built on three main pillars: (1) helping companies and individuals in decoding the basic rules of the “game” that they live in, (2) decoding the secrets of how to hire and manage legal services, and (3) helping lawyers to understand how to provide legal services that clients actually need both in today’s world and in the future.
The most unique aspect of SeedJura: Decoding Law is that we take a topic and explore it with companies/clients one week and then with lawyers the following week. A new topic is introduced every other week in a fun and lighthearted approach. This podcast is hosted by two passionate business lawyers who know the ins and outs of law firms of different types and the challenges both clients and lawyers face in legal services.
Come and join us at SeedJura: Decoding Law.