The LawBiz® Podcast

Toby Brown, a good friend and previous speaker here at LawBiz® Podcast, is a former director of the Utah State Bar and currently the Director of Strategic Pricing & Analytics for Akin Gump, a top 50 AmLaw law firm. Toby is at the forefront of developing alternative fees -- helping his firm set prices -- so that the client and law firm are mutually benefited and act as "partners." Toby has a great combination of executive level skills in the areas of technology, law and economics. If you have not listened to it already, make sure you listen to our first interview with Toby Brown on "Pricing Practices for Attorneys" from 9/24/13 about pricing and costing required by lawyers in today's competitive environment.. Also, check out Toby's new book, "Law Firm Pricing: Strategies, Roles, and Responsibilities. The publisher will provide all listeners of our podcasts a $50 discount by mentioning the following code: LFP-TBPC1. Also check out the pricing discussion in my new book, Attorney & Law Firm Guide to The Business of Law, 3rd ed., released by the American Bar Association in March 2014 on www.lawbizstore.com. 25 minutes, 18 seconds 7.2MB

How confident are you that your client trust account is state bar compliant? Do you have monthly financials to review that make sense to you? Are all your billable time and advanced client costs being captured? Annette Fadness provides bookkeeping relief for the sole and small firm practitioner. She is also the author of QuickBooks for Attorneys: The Definitive User's Manual for Law Firms. Our interview touches on the use of QuickBooks as a primary application to assist lawyers in the better management of their firms. 20 minutes 11 seconds 5.8 MB Click here to listen.

Gary Kinder is the Founder and Creator of WordRake Editing Software. He is also a lawyer and a New York Times bestselling author who has taught over 1,000 writing programs at the most prestigious law firms in the US. He has dedicated his career to teaching legal professionals how to write precisely, vividly, concisely and memorably. Kinder channeled his many years of intelligence about superior legal writing and editing into the software program, WordRake is now being used by thousands of law firms and organizations to tighten their prose and become better writers. Kinder authors weekly writing tips as well as a blog called WriteToThePoint.com. WordRake, a new software program that enables lawyers to improve their writing and become far more persuasive than without this tool. This is more than checking your grammar; any program can do that. This actually helps you to improve your writing. If you're an associate needing to have your work reviewed by a senior partner, this tool will enable you present a far better product for review ... and of course be viewed as a much better lawyer. If you're a sole practitioner, you may not have the benefit of a good editor at your elbow. This tool will make you better. 19 minutes 45 seconds 4.6 MB Click here to listen.

Toby Brown is a former director of the Utah State Bar and currently the Director of Strategic Pricing & Analytics for Akin Gump, a top 50 AmLaw law firm. Toby is at the forefront of developing alternative fees — helping his firm set prices — so that the client and law firm are mutually benefited and act as "partners." Toby has a great combination of executive level skills in the areas of technology, law and economics. 30 minutes 7 seconds 6.89 MB Click here to listen.

Can lawyers use the iPad successfully or are they tied to the PC? Are iPads the future of the profession, or just another fad? Are other products as good as the iPad? Our guest, Brett Burney of Burney Consultants, is a legal technology consultant who offers iPad training and support for law firms, as well as litigation support technologies with iPad, Mac and Windows. In this discussion Ed and Brett will compare and contrast the Ipad with other available products. Your can read more about Brett Burney at his web site www.burneyconsultants.com. 25 minutes 10 seconds 5.87 MB Click here to listen.

The new health care law, officially known as the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act, sometimes known as ObamaCare, became the law of the land on March 23, 2010. This law changed the health care conversation as well as the political tone in Washington, D.C., if not the entire country. The Supreme Court in what clearly was a fast track decision sustained the constitutionality of the law. This also altered the dialogue for the presidential election of 2012. Many lawyers received increased revenue in the fight on both sides of the aisle. In the future, lawyers who are familiar with the provisions of this new playing field will, likewise, see increased revenue resulting from advising clients on how to comply with the law's provisions. More than 10,000 people daily reach the age of 65, the traditional retirement age; these people face increased health care needs. How will we deal with their needs? Our guest, Brian Sullivan, is a seasoned professional in the employee benefits and health care industry for more than 25 years. He has authored numerous articles in the area of employee benefits and health care, and has delivered dozens of talks around the country to people seeking to understand the complexities of his industry. This discussion is one of the clearest explanations of the law as it currently stands that you will hear. 45 minutes, 34 seconds 6.7MB Click here to listen.

Lawrence Wolf, Esq. has been a criminal attorney for over 35 years. He represents defendants accused in criminal matters ranging from drunk driving to sexual abuse. He not only defends them, but helps them put their lives back together. He has used the art of the brochure to effectively promote his practice. Today in this interview with Ed Poll, he relates how his focus with the brochure has changed over the years from attracting clients to attracting those who can refer clients. More information about Larry can be seen at www.YouAreInnocent.com. 23 minutes, 42 seconds 5.4MB Click here to listen.

What does a paralegal do?  Have you ever attempted to type the plural of paralegal in your word processor; what happens?  Evidence that few lawyers, let alone others, understand what a paralegal is, does or contributes to the law firm. Find out: What can paralegals do? What can't/shouldn't paralegals do? How can lawyers take advantage of the skills that paralegals bring to the table? What is the best way for lawyers to interact with lawyers? Can lawyers leverage the skills of paralegals, and if yes, how best to do so? How can lawyers make money from the work performed by paralegals? Our panel members, Cynthia Mascio, ACP, CEDS, a leader in the California paralegal movement, and Edward Poll, J.D., M.B.A., CMC, will discuss these issues from the perspectives of both the lawyer and the paralegal. 56 minutes, 3 seconds 12.8MB Click here to listen

Roberta Chinsky Matuson is the President of Human Resource Solutions and author of the new book, Suddenly in Charge: Managing Up, Managing Down, Succeeding All Around (Nicholas Brealey, January 2011). Join Ed and Roberta as they explore how extraordinary results can be achieved by creating work environments which allow workers to thrive. 25 minutes, 01 seconds 5.7MB Click here to listen.

Jason Wisdom, of Wisdom Consulting, has been working with companies in the legal, financial, education and medical industries for 15 years, showing them how to leverage technology as a business, and bridging communication gaps between their business and IT. Jason resides in New York City, and works with companies all over the world. He and Ed talk about how lawyers can increase their revenue by embracing the real benefits of technology. 23 minutes, 19 seconds 5.5MB Click here to listen

This is the second Interview Ed has done with Erik Pelton. Erik is founder of Erik M. Pelton & Associates, PLLC, a boutique trademark law firm in Falls Church, Virginia. Erik has been named a Top 10 trademark filer by NameProtect's Trademark Insider two times and is the creator of Apptorney: IPSM, an iPhone® application for intellectual property attorneys (www.apptorney.com). This conversation centers around the topic of branding for law firms. 19 minutes, 23 seconds 4.4MB Click here to listen.

Rob Mattern is the president of Mattern & Associates, LLC a consulting firm that specializes in assisting law firms to develop strategies for their support services to reduce expenses and increase the realization of their soft cost recoveries. Mattern & Associates just recently published their 2010 Cost Recovery Benchmarking Report, based on a survey of 81 law firms in the US and Canada. Today Rob and Ed will be discussing the economics of running a law practice. 29 minutes, 3 seconds 6.8MB Click here to listen.

Erik M. Pelton, founder of Erik M. Pelton & Associates, PLLC, a boutique trademark law firm in Falls Church, Virginia, is our featured guest in this podcast. Erik has been named a Top 10 trademark filer by NameProtect's Trademark Insider two times and is the creator of Apptorney: IPSM, an iPhone® application for intellectual property attorneys (www.apptorney.com). His conversation with Ed is focused on Iphone® Apps for Lawyers. Watch for our follow up conversation with Erik about branding for law firms. 18 minutes, 55 seconds 4.3 MB Click here to listen.

Nerino Petro is the Practice Management Advisor for the State Bar of Wisconsin. In that position, Nerino helps attorneys throughout the State of Wisconsin to deal with process questions like: "What technology should I be using in my practice?", "How can I improve my collections?", "My client did X, what should my response be?" and a host of other issues which confront a bar practice management adviser on a daily basis. Our discussion today will focus on the issue of cloud based applications. What are they? How do they differ from traditional applications? And are they ready for the big time? Join Ed and Norino for this interesting discussion. 27 minutes, 29 seconds 6.3MB Click here to listen.

Audrey H. Rubin is president and founder of Rubin Solutions, Ltd., She designs and implements business processes which improve the financial performance and operations of corporate law departments and professional services firms. She talks with Ed about what lawyers need to know before they open their own law firm. In today's world, this is a topic of great interest, especially to those increasing numbers of law school graduates who are starting their own practices right out of school. You can learn more about Audrey at www.rubinsolutions.com. 25 minutes, 43 seconds 6.0MB Click here to listen.