Pro bono work is an indisputably positive activity — in theory. However, the specifics of a pro bono plan are not always so indisputable.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner pro bono

It’s better, but it’s still not really good. What I’m talking about is the situation of law schools.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Law school Lawbiz Coaches Corner

There is a five-step process for establishing a plan for your business.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner

Sixty-five was selected as the targeted retirement age because, at the time, only a small percentage of the population lived beyond it, and thus the cost of insurance was manageable.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner retirement

What should you do if a client says to you, “Give me a 10 percent discount . . . or else”?

Tagged with: Ed Poll fees Lawbiz Coaches Corner

Expenses in a law firm can be predicted with greater certainty than revenues, because in a professional practice setting, the expenses tend to be limited in kind and repetitive.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner

What are the most important words in a dictionary? For lawyers, the most important words deal with accounting.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner

It cannot be emphasized too often that disaster and recovery planning is about people. Staff concerns are especially crucial. Valuable staff members are important during normal times and indispensable in dealing with a calamity.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner Paralegals

The practice of law is no different than the business of manufacturing automobiles or cheese. The essence is the same: the only way that these businesses grow is when the owners pay personal attention to their customers/clients.

Tagged with: ABA Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner

The term "relationship" is not necessarily a word that you might automatically associate with your work life. But relationships are very important in the business of law.

Tagged with: Banking Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner

You know you need to do it, but how? Law firms are rife with data and files, and they must be protected. That’s a given. The specifics, however, often elude lawyers.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner

It may seem obvious, but some lawyers need reminding: revenue has to exceed expenses in order to have cash flow.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner

Like the ripples that spread out wider and wider in a pool of water when you throw a pebble into it, your circle of networking contacts can also spread out, encompassing each other and expanding greatly on that original circle.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner networking

No business, including a business of law, should begin without a plan. A plan is critical to give the business direction and keep it on track in terms of goals and finances.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner

The fact that the world is changing is no surprise to anyone, but the fact that the legal world is changing seems to be a surprise to far too many lawyers.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner

Technology seems to be at the top of everyone’s wish list this year. But be careful: You just might get what you wish for.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner technology

With the highlights of Super Bowl XLIX still firmly in our minds, it is a good time to think about the importance of teamwork and how teamwork leads to the success of any team, whether on the field or in a business office.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner

Having a comprehensive job description for every position in the law office is essential for several reasons.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner

Law firms are comprised of people who do not necessarily have the same goals in mind. Thus, it is important to get together to discuss individual ideas of goals so that everyone can get on the same page for the benefit of the firm.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner

Lawyers owe many duties to any number of people, but they’re increasingly being asked to do even more.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner Professional Responsibility

Any business, including the business of law, grows through personal relationships.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner

Those diplomas on your wall constitute a point of pride, and they should. But if you hope to achieve an advanced degree of success — not just an advanced degree — you must not see them as an end to your education.

Tagged with: CLE Ed Poll Foley & Lardner

An excess number of lawyers — surely there must be a joke about that!

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner

It seems the more that Americans strive for a work-life balance, the more that such a goal becomes, well, out of balance.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner

Remember how much time you and your spouse spent picking a name for your child(ren)? Remember how important it seemed to choose a name that would identify that child for the rest of his/her life? Well, no less time should be spent considering the name of your law firm.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner

A quick glance at the table of contents for the American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct is all it takes to let you know that the client is No. 1.

Tagged with: ABA Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner Rules of Professional Conduct

Let’s talk about Red Lobster. Yes, the seafood restaurant chain. You may be asking yourself, “What does Red Lobster have to do with the practice of law?” The answer is, “They are both businesses.”

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner

Want a surefire way to protect against at least some lawsuits? Don’t discriminate!

Tagged with: discrimination Ed Poll EEOC Lawbiz Coaches Corner

Ever since the debut of The Jetsons, a TV cartoon show that featured a world of futuristic technology and robots, most of us have been aware of the impending death of many jobs and careers.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner

You will always lose when you sue your client.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner