Lean Adviser Legal

February 10, 2023 | Lean Adviser

Pretty much the first thing any good leader will do in any project, be it surgery, sailing, or running a legal assignment, is set out clear roles and responsibilities. Then comes communications. If anybody sees something that looks off, whether it's your work or the team leader's, they need to speak up.

By Lean Adviser Legal

4 minute read

February 03, 2023 | Lean Adviser

Planning properly starts with understanding your client. And clients won't answer the questions they're not asked, so it's on you to understand their business and what they are trying to accomplish. This is all core context which can come back to bite you if left uncovered.

By Lean Adviser Legal

5 minute read

January 27, 2023 | Lean Adviser

A common, but undiagnosed, root cause of malpractice claims is lawyers misunderstanding who they work for. When it comes to your job, there is a subtle nuance at play. It's this: You don't work for your firm, you work at your firm for your clients.

By Lean Adviser Legal

4 minute read

January 20, 2023 | Lean Adviser

Your firm may be big on driving compliance, and yes this avoids malpractice claims. But all the while, billing pressures are relentless, and levels of available work are variable. This can have a counter-effect. It can lead to tinkering, hoarding, haste to execution, padding, sharp elbows, and a host of other unsafe practices. Methods matter.

By Lean Adviser Legal

5 minute read

January 13, 2023 | Lean Adviser

What matters to clients isn't the law, it's how you practice it. Your methods matter. At the root of every disputed bill and malpractice suit is one constant — lawyer methods.

By Lean Adviser Legal

5 minute read

January 04, 2023 | Lean Adviser

Like any presentation, the goal is to present real facts, in an interesting way, as a story. In this case the story is about you. The commonly used Q&A format may not lend itself to story-telling, but that's OK, we have a "lean hack" for that.

By Lean Adviser Legal

3 minute read

December 16, 2022 | Lean Adviser

A familiar feature of the performance review process is the lawyers' self-evaluation form. The temptation is to get it all out, add some flourish wherever possible, and maybe indulge in some spin or even poetic license. This is a perfectly natural and common approach. It can also be a costly mistake.

By Lean Adviser Legal

2 minute read

December 09, 2022 | Lean Adviser

You got through the assignment, the client seemed happy and the bill got paid. We're done here, right? Yes, we are, unless of course you'd like another job from the client. If so, you can do more.

By Lean Adviser Legal

2 minute read

December 01, 2022 | Lean Adviser

Clients are looking for firms that can connect the dots.

By Lean Adviser Legal

4 minute read

December 01, 2022 | Lean Adviser

Legal work is dynamic, uncertain and event-driven. Your work can be hit at any moment from any angle. Or you can make a mistake. Evaluation isn't about how the problem arose or even whose fault it is. It's just an objective, rational analysis of the problem.

By Lean Adviser Legal

2 minute read