Building your skills
You can't build up your career until you've strengthened your skills. So look at the Hub as your new personal trainer. We'll show you how to develop skills that pinpoint practice area demands, make you a better researcher and writer, and showcase what it takes to become a true professional.

New Client Development: It’s All About Who You Know
9/26/2008
When you first start at a new firm, all you want to think about is learning the job and getting the work done. But, sooner or later, you know that you will be expected to start bringing in new clients. You were never taught this skill in law school, except...(0 comments)

Developing a Relationship with Your Mentor
10/8/2008
What’s the secret to success for the new lawyer? Many publications and web sites tell you to locate a mentor, but your mentoring experience will only be successful if you give serious consideration to your role as the mentee and your relationship with...(0 comments)

Relations with Support Staff… Partners’ Secretaries Outrank First-Year Associates: Deal with It!
9/2/2008
What a heady time for the First-year Associate. You have endured three years of law professors, other law students, and law school in general. You have survived the bar examination. And now you are a newly minted attorney with a generous salary, doing important...(0 comments)

Understanding Interest on Lawyer's Trust Accounts
5/30/2008
Commingling   The Rules and Canons of Ethics mandate that law firms and attorneys not commingle attorney funds with client funds. Attorneys are required to place client funds into a separate account. Any interest earned on these...(0 comments)

Put time on your side
5/28/2008
Get ready to juggle six or seven assignments while appearing responsive to clients, senior attorneys, and partners. It comes with the profession! A law firm’s inventory is time—as evidenced by activities that can be billed to clients. Developing...(0 comments)

Failure to Monitor Dockets or Receive Court Emails Can Prove Costly
7/23/2008
Two recent judicial decisions illustrate how today’s technology is creating new expectations of attorneys.   The first opinion addressed an attorney’s failure to timely file a Notice of Appeal of a court’s order. Six weeks after...(0 comments)

How Social Should You Be?
6/25/2008
During your time as a summer associate, how can you be sociable, but also appropriate? Although you likely have many opportunities to socialize with professionals at the firm, are there gray areas you’ve been wondering about? For example:  ...(1 comments)

How a Law Firm Makes Money
5/30/2008
An associate in a law firm can increase his or her value by understanding how a law firm makes money. Most law firms earn fees in one of four ways: (1) contingency fees; (2) hourly fees; (3) flat fees; and (4) retainers.   Contingency...(0 comments)

Keeping a Calendar
1/31/2008
Judges demand respect. Part of that is a demand that attorneys show up when they are supposed to, ready to proceed. Missed deadlines and missed appointments can result in adverse rulings against a client, sanctions against the attorney, and possible...(0 comments)

Collecting Client Accounts
5/17/2008
Getting slow-paying clients to cough up what they owe is frustrating and a big drain on cash flow, but there are ways to nudge a client into paying.   Reminder Invoice   One of the least confrontational things you can do is to send...(0 comments)

Engagement Letters
1/31/2008
When an attorney agrees to represent a client, it is in everyone’s best interests to get the fee agreement in writing. The agreement should cover the precise matter for which the attorney or firm is being retained, the fees to be charged, expenses,...(0 comments)

Download PDFManaging Litigation Documents with Concordance
4/29/2008
Putting Concordance into the Proper Perspective   Although it was initially introduced more than 20 years ago and has acquired a loyal user base, Concordance is still sometimes erroneously compared with traditional database management software....(0 comments)

The New Client?
2/28/2008
The call elicits instant chest swelling. It's a prospective client who has been treated very badly by one of my professional rivals at another firm. "I should have gone with my instincts and picked you in the first place," the caller intones....(0 comments)

Working Successfully with a Legal Assistant
2/29/2008
Good two-way communication is essential to a successful relationship —This principle is so basic it seems almost trivial to mention it, but it’s worth reinforcing. Communication is not a top down process. It involves mutual respect and...(0 comments)

Checklist for Setting up a Law Office
1/31/2008
I.                      Obtaining Clients a.        Determine what kind of clients...(0 comments)

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