Attorney Journal, San Diego, Volume 177

SAN DIEGO

Volume 177, 2018 $6.95

professional profile of the month

Steve Vosseller The More You Give, The More You Get

20 Frustrating Things Lawyers Do While Delegating

Dina Eisenberg

10 Ways to Habitually Market for New Business Want to Get More Done?

Think Big and Act Small

Jay Harrington

Susan Duncan

How to Deal With Underperforming Lawyers

Why Smart Law Firms Are Hiring Salespeople!

Eric Dewey

Aaron George

Law Firm of the Month

Strazzeri Mancini LLP, Care to Know: An Innovative Business Model and Culture

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2018 EDITION—NO.177

TABLE OF CONTENTS 6 Want to Get More Done?

Think Big and Act Small

by Jay Harrington

8 Twenty Frustrating Things Lawyers Do While Delegating

by Dina Eisenberg

10 PROFESSIONAL PROFILE OF THE MONTH

10 Steve Vosseller, Vosseller Law Firm, San Diego The More You Give, The More You Get

EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Brian Topor EDITOR Wendy Price CREATIVE SERVICES Skidmutro Creative Partners

by Dan Baldwin

12 Community News

CIRCULATION Angela Watson PHOTOGRAPHY Chris Griffiths STAFF WRITERS Dan Baldwin Jennifer Hadley CONTRIBUTING EDITORIALISTS Susan Duncan Eric Dewey Jay Harrington Aaron George WEBMASTER Mariusz Opalka ADVERTISING INQUIRIES Info@AttorneyJournal.us SUBMIT AN ARTICLE Editorial@AttorneyJournal.us OFFICE 30211 Avenida De Las Banderas Suite 200 Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688 www.AttorneyJournal.us ADDRESS CHANGES Address corrections can be made via fax, email or postal mail.

LAW FIRM OF THE MONTH

16

16 Strazzeri Mancini LLP Care to Know: An Innovative Business Model and Culture

by Dan Baldwin

22 Why Smart Law Firms Are Hiring Salespeople!

by Aaron George

26 How to Deal With Underperforming Lawyers

by Eric Dewey

28 Ten Ways to Habitually Market for New Business

by Susan Duncan

26

Editorial material appears in Attorney Journal as an informational service for readers. Article contents are the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of Attorney Journal.

Attorney Journal makes every effort to publish credible, responsible advertisements. Inclusion of product advertisements or announcements does not imply endorsement.

Attorney Journal is a trademark of Sticky Media, LLC. Not affiliated with any other trade publication or association. Copyright 2018 by Sticky Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced without written permission from Sticky Media, LLC. Printed in the USA

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“I recently co-counseled a serious Las Vegas injury case with Rick Harris and his law firm. Rick’s advocacy and skills are extraordinary, and were instrumental in resolving and maximizing our client’s sizable recovery.” ~ Carl Wolf, Esq., Callaway & Wolf Northern California Super Lawyers San Francisco, California

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WANT TO GET MORE DONE?

L

awyers work hard. It’s what they do. The good news is that hard work can be deeply satisfying. It feels good to do a job well done. Accomplishment gives us meaning. Hopefully this resonates, because it’s a feeling you’ve experienced before.

But it’s not just me making this assertion about the connection between hard work and happiness—academic research backs it up.

In the early 1980s, well-known psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi conducted a series of studies meant to understand the psychological impact of common behaviors we engage in every day. One of the major insights of his work was to show that depth generates meaning. He found that people are actually happier doing deep work than they are relaxing.

Based on his findings he concluded: “The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult or worthwhile.” Csikszentmihalyi popularized the term “flow state” that is used to describe the effortless feeling experienced by high achievers—from authors to athletes—operating at peak performance during periods of hard work.

It’s called “hard” work for a reason. Any time you’re trying to learn a new skill, or attempting to build something worthwhile, it’s hard. Most of us start enjoying something only after we get good at it. And it takes practice and hard work to get good.

Take playing the guitar, for example. Practicing guitar is painful (physically and emotionally) and frustrating for several months until enough work has been put in to build up calluses and learn the basics. Once someone earns their calluses and their skills improve, however, guitar starts to become fun and satisfying.

Resilience is built up during the painful periods of any worthy endeavor and serves as a bridge to the other side. If you want to do something that’s satisfying, most times you have to do it when it’s not.

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 177, 2018

I’m convinced that one of the reasons career dissatisfaction is so high among associate attorneys is that we don’t do a good enough job of explaining to them that things get better over time as they get better and build confidence. Passion for a career is cultivated and hard won over time. Getting really good at something is the first step toward becoming passionate about it.

Perhaps a young man who’s struggling wasn’t “meant” to become a lawyer in the purest sense, but he can grow and derive meaning from his career over time as his competence grows. Practice is a precursor to passion.

The point is that the type of intense work that leads to high achievement is not only remunerative, it can be psychologically rewarding as well. In light of work’s holistic benefits, it therefore makes sense to work in the most productive manner possible in order to realize the greatest benefits. What follows is my take on how to get more—and more important—things done in less time.

I’ll start with an overarching argument, which is that the best way to tackle something big and important is to: Minimize as many distractions as possible in order to create space and time to work intensely and consistently on one’s most important priorities.

Notice that this formulation consists of three elements which can be summarized and categorized as follows: (1) minimize distractions, (2) do intense, consistent work, and (3) establish important priorities.

MINIMIZE DISTRACTIONS When he was CEO of Microsoft, Bill Gates would disconnect twice a year for off-site “Think Weeks” during which he would do nothing but read and think deeply. In 1845, Henry David Thoreau headed to the woods for two years to write his master work, Walden. George Orwell fled the hustle and bustle of London and escaped to a remote house on the small island of Jura off the coast of Scotland to write 1984. He described his writing

sanctuary as “extremely un-get-atable.” After his standout 2014 season, All Pro defensive lineman J.J. Watt of the NFL’s Houston Texans bought a minimalist cabin in a remote area of northern Wisconsin in order to isolate himself during the offseason while upping his training regimen.

Now, as a busy lawyer, I’m not suggesting that you can or should head off to a remote location in order live and work monastically, but in order to consistently produce valuable work, you do need to find ways to minimize distractions in your day.

Distractions come in many forms. At the office: relentless email; mind-numbing, soul-sucking meetings; chatty colleagues; LinkedIn; phone calls; the window washing guy outside your office. At home: the kids; the dog; heaps of laundry; dirty dishes; television; Facebook; the comfy couch.

Ever go on the Internet just to check out “one thing” and emerge from a daze twenty minutes later wondering what the heck just happened? You get the idea. In fact, that “minute or two” you intend to spend online checking Facebook is costing you much more.

According to a study conducted by Gloria Mark, who studies digital distraction at the University of California, Irvine, it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds for us to return to our original task after an interruption. Do the math on that during the course of an 8-hour day, and you’ll see why interruptions aren’t some trifling annoyance—they’re productivity killers.

To avoid the “work, distraction, work, distraction” cycle that leads to unproductive days, you need to set firm boundaries—for yourself and others. You need to create a work environment that fosters the type of focused work required to achieve big things.

INTENSE, CONSISTENT WORK Thinking big is expansive thinking. Thinking small is restrictive thinking. Thinking big is all about possibilities. Thinking small is all about limitations. Have big dreams? You need to think big.

However, the size of our dreams is what often stops us from pursuing them. The task ahead seems so momentous that we don’t even start. We assume we need long blocks of uninterrupted time to make progress, and because we’re busy and don’t have long blocks of time, we just give up instead.

It’s okay—in fact, it’s necessary—to think big, and have big dreams, if you want to accomplish big things. But the way to get there is not by acting big—it’s by acting small. Success is sequential. It results from tackling lots of small things on a consistent basis, not trying to tackle everything at once.

Dominoes fall one at a time.

In practical terms, what this means is that it’s necessary to break big and unwieldy tasks into a bunch of small and manageable tasks, and then work intensely and consistently to accomplish each one. You’ve probably heard this one before because it’s timeless: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

ESTABLISH IMPORTANT PRIORITIES There’s never enough time in the day, and you probably can’t work longer hours—at home or at the office—than you already do, so it’s important to work smarter. No matter how skilled a manager you may be, it’s tough to manage through the chaos of a typical day without understanding the hierarchy of your priorities. In this sense, productive people—effective people— practice “time curation” as opposed to “time management.”

They discern. They pick and choose. They don’t multitask, they prioritize. And then they ruthlessly honor, defend and work in accordance with those priorities. In other words, when it comes to how they structure their days, they’re “essentialists.”

This is the central argument of Greg McKeown’s excellent book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. It’s a book that espouses the importance of focusing on the most important, essential tasks on your plate. McKeown describes his methodology as the “disciplined pursuit of less.” At its core, essentialism is about setting priorities. According to McKeown: “Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done.”

You can work hard, but hard work matters little if you’re working on the wrong thing. As Henry David Thoreau wrote: “It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?”

Before worrying about eliminating distractions and developing a deep work habit, the most important step in accomplishing big things is spending the necessary time to identify your most important priorities.

THINK BIG AND ACT SMALL Lawyers work hard to accomplish important things. But it’s not all of the big, bold things we do during our lives and careers that lead to success. It’s the small actions taken every day that make the difference and lead to compounding results over time.

Author and marketing guru Seth Godin wrote on his blog: “The thing is, incremental daily progress (negative or positive) is what actually causes transformation. A figurative drip, drip, drip.

Showing up, every single day, gaining in strength, organizing for the long haul, building connection, laying track– this subtle but difficult work is how culture changes.” It’s how lives and careers change too.

Clear goals. The right priorities. Small, consistent actions. This is the formula to leverage the power of progress in order to make big things happen. n Jay Harrington is an attorney, executive coach, author, and legal marketing consultant. He is the owner of Harrington Communications, an agency which helps lawyers and law firms build stronger brands and bigger books of business. His new book, The Essential Associate: Step Up, Stand Out, and Rise to the Top as a Young Lawyer, launched on April 3rd, and is available for purchase at www.TheEssentialAssociate.com

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 177, 2018

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20 Frustrating Things Lawyers Do While Delegating

by Dina Eisenberg

S

olo lawyers who want to scale their law practice must delegate. Yes, as a lawyer you have the brainpower to do pretty much whatever you set your mind to do. That’s the problem. You are doing too many things that are outside of your genius zone, which is practicing law, in case you forgot!

Delegation makes good business sense. However, that’s not the key reason to begin to outsource. Failing to create systems, process and have a team you can rely upon puts you, your law practice and your family at risk. How many days could your practice stay afloat without you—7 days, 30 days or maybe not even 2 days?

Delegating is the best way to increase your capacity to get administrative work done while leaving you time to focus on providing excellent legal services for your clients.

Hiring a virtual assistant or legal assistant to aid you with nonlegal work makes the difference between having a satisfying, profitable experience as a lawyer and being overwhelmed and battling to make ends meet. However, many lawyers strongly resist creating or delegating to a virtual team.

Delegation is not hard to learn. There are some behaviors that will get you a better result than others, though.

What prevents lawyers from delegating more? That answer is difficult to pinpoint. Maybe lawyers resist delegation because of a deep sense of responsibility to personally deliver only the highest quality work.

Maybe the issue is an inability to ask for help. We tend to be the problem-solvers, so it can be difficult to be vulnerable or admit to a weakness by asking for help.

Maybe the reason more lawyers don’t delegate is the imposter syndrome, the fear that someone will discover you’re not the lawyer you say you are. Many lawyers, even amazing lawyers like Jeena Cho, admit to struggling with confidence.

I am on a mission to encourage lawyers to design their law practice to fit your life and create a better law experience for yourself and your clients. I don’t believe lawyering should be so hard.

Delegation is a crucial skill for solo lawyers and small law firm owners. You simply don’t have enough hours in the day or energy to give your full attention and talent to every task your law practice requires. Nor should you. You are a lawyer not a [fill in the blank].

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 177, 2018

Frustrating Things Lawyers Do to Staff No clear vision

No deadline set

Sending mixed messages

Giving contradictory instructions

Giving no or very little lead time

Expecting rush service

Dumping and running

No ongoing communication

Not available for questions

No direction given for problem-solving

No authority given to solve problems

Not prioritizing the work

Having no preferences

Long, confusing explanations

Missing information to complete project

No systems for collaborating

Won’t use collaboration tools

No easy way to share documents or progress

Forgetting to follow up with the project

Only commenting on errors but not the good work

Here Are 3 Tips Help You Be More Effective in Delegation Right Now!

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Planning rules

22

What does success look like?

33

Take 10 minutes and think about why you are delegating that project and what the end goal is for you. Answering the why question helps you to stay motivated because you know at the end you’ll achieve something you desire.

It’s surprising how many times clients say ‘I don’t know’ when I ask what success would look like for them.

Hello?! How can your talent satisfy your wishes and preferences when you don’t know what you want. Failure to set expectations is always the beginning of a bad situation.

Be vulnerable As a lawyer, you know that it’s very difficult to help someone who does not want to be helped. You have to be vulnerable for delegation to work. Tell your team about the things that you can’t or don’t like to do. The six most powerful words you can say are: I don’t know. Help me, please. They’ll see you as someone confident and courageous! n

Dina Eisenberg is the award-winning entrepreneurial lawyer who prepares solo and small firm lawyers to delegate, automate and design a law practice that fits. Is it time to delegate? Take a quiz to find out at: https://www.outsourceeasier.com/take-the-quiz/

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 177, 2018

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The More You Give,

JOURNAL

“I can honestly say that I love representing plaintiffs in injury cases. And I do not use the word ‘love’ lightly. I enjoy getting to know my clients, helping them through a difficult time, and, ultimately, ensuring they get a fair shake through trial or settlement,” says Steve Vosseller, founder of the Vosseller Law Firm.

FEATURED PROFESTSHIOENMAOLNPTROFILE OF

2018

H

The firm represents plaintiffs in personal injury, product liability, and select medical malpractice cases and is now expanding into civil rights claims.

Most clients are referred by other attorneys. A growing number of attorneys are asking Vosseller to step in as lead trial counsel.

The Vosseller Firm includes associate attorney Sara Simmons, an experienced trial paralegal, and a legal assistant. “Our team’s experience allows us to get up to speed quickly when other lawyers ask for help shortly before trial. But, we limit the number of cases we accept so that we can focus on each client.”

© Bauman Photographers

Lawyers Were Making a Difference

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 177, 2018

The son of an elevator constructor, Vosseller grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood in Kansas City.

His parents divorced before he was two years old and his father raised him.

Despite never meeting any lawyers, Vosseller knew by the sixth grade that he wanted to become an attorney. In school and watching TV news, Vosseller learned that many of the people making a positive difference in the world were lawyers.

“Fairness and doing the right thing are cornerstones of the law. I learned fairness from my dad—along with work ethic, discipline, and compassion for others. I owe everything to my dad.”

The More You Get Vosseller graduated from Washburn University in 1994 and from Washburn School of Law in 1997. After law school, he served as legislative counsel on the island of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia. Two and a half years later, he moved to San Diego.

During his first few years in San Diego, Vosseller served as an associate attorney for two civil defense firms. Although both firms featured excellent lawyers, Vosseller did not find the work personally rewarding. “At the end of a case, clients were rarely happy. Even if we successfully defended the case, the client would be relieved but still disgruntled for being subjected to a lawsuit.

Meanwhile, the insurance companies were often frustrating to deal with. Although I’m thankful for the opportunities at both defense firms, I knew it wasn’t for me.”

Hoping to find the right fit for himself, Vosseller often asked attorneys from other practice areas about their job satisfaction.

Many claimed to enjoy their work, but their demeanor sometimes suggested that they were merely content rather than truly happy. Vosseller recalls discussing this issue with a plaintiff lawyer before Vosseller took the plaintiff’s deposition. “I had great respect for that particular plaintiff lawyer, Chris Hulburt.

When he described his work, I could tell that he truly found it rewarding, and for the right reasons. That stuck with me.”

After a couple more years of defense work, Vosseller sought to make a change. When he discovered an opportunity at Thorsnes Bartolotta McGuire, Vosseller immediately recalled his conversation with Hulburt. “I put two and two together and thought, ‘I’m going to give that a shot.’” Vosseller spent the next three years with the firm and credits much of his development to that opportunity. After a stint at the Gomez Law Firm, Vosseller opened his own office in 2012.

Helping Clients, Helping Others

Within the last six years, Vosseller has helped an array of clients, including teachers, physicians, small business owners, contractors, business executives, homemakers, students, and military personnel. Because each individual is unique, Vosseller and his team dedicate a tremendous amount of time to learning the client’s story.

He notes one client who struggled to open up about the impact of a significant injury. For the client, being physically hurt was a sign of weakness and being emotionally hurt was simply unacceptable. “He took pride in being tough and was reluctant to acknowledge—even to himself—that he was deeply affected by this change to his life.”

Vosseller and the client incrementally explored the client’s

life before and after the injury. The client began to recognize the deep ripple effect that the injury had upon him and his family. He became comfortable opening up, even during his deposition. Just as important, the client took action to improve his relationship with his wife and son.

“We were able to make a real difference in his life, not only legally, but on a personal level. I became a lawyer because I wanted to help people. I don’t pretend to be a therapist. We simply listen to our clients and try to understand what they are going through.”

At the end of each case, Vosseller donates a portion of the firm’s attorney’s fees to a nonprofit organization chosen by the client. Recipients include Challenged Athletes Foundation, Jewish Family Services, A Night To Remember Prom, San Diego Humane Society, Mid-City Community Music, Alzheimer’s San Diego, and Shelter to Soldier. The firm also publishes community service profiles in Attorney Journal, spotlighting volunteer work by various San Diego County attorneys. “I love learning about, and publicizing, lawyers who selflessly volunteer for nonprofit organizations.”

Surfing Up the Good Life

Surfing drew Vosseller from Kansas to the island of Yap and then to San Diego. If there are waves—and work permitting—he surfs four to five days a week. “I’m usually the first one in the water in the morning and still get to the office by 8 a.m. I escape to remote areas of Baja a couple times each year for surf trips.”

His wife, Angela Mullins, is a San Diego Deputy City Attorney and a Commander in the Navy JAG Corps reserves.

Since November 2016, she’s been on full-time active duty for the Navy. They enjoy the beach, bike rides, local restaurants, and exploring Yosemite National Park at least once every year.

Vosseller’s daughter is a freshman at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and his son is a high school sophomore. When his kids were younger, surfing often took a backseat to coaching their soccer, baseball, and softball teams. “Juggling work, kids’ sports, family time, and surfing was exhausting. But, coaching their sports forced me to be more active in my kids’ lives. I would not trade those times for anything.” His son started surfing last year…opening a new realm of father-son fun. n Contact Steve Vosseller Vosseller Law Firm 110 West A Street, Suite 1075 San Diego, CA 92101 (858) 429-4062 www.vosslawyer.com

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 177, 2018

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COMMUNITY news  Attorney Laurie Poole joined

ADAMS | STIRLING as managing partner of the firm’s San Diego and Carlsbad offices.

Laurie is a fellow of the College of Community Association Lawyers and brings 25 years of experience advising community association boards of directors. Ms. Poole is a LAURIE POOLE significant addition to our team of talented attorneys.

Laurie is an active volunteer for the Community Associations Institute (CAI) and the California Association of Community Managers (CACM). She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the San Diego chapter of CAI, having served as its President.

Ms. Poole is also a member of CCAL’s Amicus Review Committee and devotes time to shaping the laws governing California’s community associations. Laurie has already had a significant impact in our courts of appeal.

Ms. Poole was appellate counsel in Quail Lakes v. Kozina (2012), trial and appellate counsel in Mission Shores v.

Phiel (2008), and trial counsel in Fourth La Costa v. Seith (2008). Through her efforts, nine appellate decisions have become published case law in California.

 Prominent real estate attorney

William Mayer has been appointed chief operating officer and chief legal officer for Sudberry Properties. He will be responsible for day-to-day operations of the real estate development firm, which has developed approximately 10 million square WILLIAM MAYER feet of urban retail, multi-family residential, mixed-use and town centers, as well as the urban village of Civita.

Previously, for more than 14 years, Mayer was the vice president and general counsel for D.R. Horton’s West Region, consisting of 10 divisions in seven states with more than 2,000 full-time employees. Mayer was one of the first attorneys at D.R. Horton, which became the largest homebuilding firm homebuilder in the country.

Mayer has served as a member of the board of trustees of the San Diego Museum of Man since 2009, including two terms as chair. He is currently serving as general counsel. Earlier, he was a partner at Duke Gerstel Shearer, LLP, a San Diego law firm specializing in real estate, construction and business law, and principal at The Law Offices of William Mayer.

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 177, 2018

 Sullivan Hill Lewin Rez & Engel is pleased to announce that

James Hill, Donald Rez, and Candace Carroll have been selected as 2018 Super Lawyers, and Catherine Hanna-Blentzas, Erin Kennedy Clancy, Ashley Kerins, Shailendra (Shay) Kulkarni, and Kathryn (Millerick) Healy have been named 2018 Rising Stars.

Each year no more than 5 percent of the lawyers in the state are selected to receive the honor of being included in the Super Lawyers list and no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers are selected to the Rising Stars list.

JAMES HILL

DONALD REZ

CANDACE CARROLL

 Balestreri Potocki & Holmes is pleased to announce that

Thomas A. Balestreri, Jr., Joseph P. Potocki and Karen A. Holmes have been selected as 2018 Super Lawyers. Balestreri has been selected to the Super Lawyers list in the areas of Construction Litigation and Real Estate. His professional awards and honors include the Top San Diego Lawyers, Construction, San Diego Daily Transcript, and San Diego Super Lawyers.

Selected as a Super Lawyer in the area of Construction Litigation, Potocki’s extensive litigation experience involves high-value disputes relating to a wide variety of issues in the real estate, business and construction arenas. His professional awards and honors include the Top 25 Attorneys in Construction and Real Estate Law, San Diego Daily Transcript, and San Diego Super Lawyers.

Holmes has been selected to the Super Lawyers list in the areas of Construction Litigation, Civil Litigation, and Personal Injury-General. Holmes is a successful litigator and trial attorney specializing in professional liability defense and civil litigation. She is the recipient of many professional awards and honors including being named a San Diego Super Lawyer since 2007.

THOMAS BALESTRERI

JOSEPH POTOCKI

KAREN HOLMES

 Tyson & Mendes has launched a new practice group

dedicated to the defense of insurers and manufacturers of autonomous vehicles. The Autonomous Vehicles Liability Litigation practice group, led by Managing Partner Robert Tyson and Partner Cayce Greiner, provides clients with the firm’s deep automotive liability litigation experience and knowledge about the ever-changing regulation and legislation arising in response to more autonomous vehicles on the road.

Through its automotive liability litigation experience, Tyson & Mendes has represented manufacturers, dealers, trucking companies, national automobile and trucking rental companies, and other transportation and corporate clients.

The firm has been involved in the investigation and defense of fraudulent automobile insurance claims and has provided defense for the insureds of several leading international insurance companies.

Additionally, Tyson & Mendes specializes in “damages only” cases related to automotive liability and autonomous vehicles. Defended cases have included admitted liability wrongful death matters and catastrophic injury with multimillion-dollar demands against some of the foremost plaintiffs’ attorneys in the country.

ROBERT TYSON

CAYCE GREINER

 Douglas W. Grinnell, Shareholder and co-founder of

Epsten Grinnell & Howell, APC (“EG&H”) has announced that he will be retiring effective May 11, 2018. Doug has been an active trial attorney since 1979 and partnered with Jon Epsten in 1984 to begin what is today Epsten Grinnell & Howell, APC. Since that time, Doug has been responsible for numerous multi-million-dollar jury verdicts and settlements, has handled hundreds of construction defect cases in California, and, in 1996, received the Outstanding Trial DOUGLAS GRINNELL Lawyer Award.

Although Jon Epsten, EG&H founder, and Susan Hawks McClintic, Co-Managing Shareholder, see Doug’s retirement as “the end of an era,” they are proud to work with the finest community association lawyers in Southern California and will continue offering the best in innovative, practical and efficient legal counsel to community associations.

Supported by the firm’s attorneys and their unique, multidisciplinary skills, Epsten Grinnell & Howell, APC and its attorneys remain actively involved in California community association industry organizations and are proud to support and contribute to many legislation action committees.

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Email it to PR@AttorneyJournal.us

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 177, 2018

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 177, 2018

The Federal False Claims Act Process is Complex Don’t let your client’s case be lost due to hyper-technical procedural mistakes

At Stephen Danz & Associates, our whistleblower attorneys and co-counsel, some with former government-false-claims positions, are experienced federal and California False Claims Act attorneys. We have obtained substantial recoveries for our clients because we understand the laws, the underlying types of fraud, and how to properly present a fraud disclosure claim to the government.

We’ve been litigating FCA cases for 30 years, are active participants in the major qui tam attorney organizations, and regularly share expertise with other practitioners. Our co-counsel have extensive experience as former governmentfalse-claims prosecutors, so we know what aspects of the case to focus on to encourage the government to intervene.

Our firm also focuses on:

Wrongful Termination and Retaliation claims

Newest Co-Counsel: Hirst Law Group, P.C. For many years, Mr. Hirst supervised FCA cases for a U.S. Attorney’s Office in California, for which he received a DOJ Director’s Award from Attorney General Janet Reno. Later described by Attorney General John Ashcroft as an “exceptional litigator” and recognized by the Chief of the Forest Service for his “brilliant performance at trial,” Mr. Hirst’s FCA cases have been reported in numerous publications throughout the country and the subject of three books, one of which detailed his handling of a case that resulted in the largest fraud recovery against a single hospital in US history.

Some of the specific types of fraud that can result in substantial recoveries and rewards for whistleblowers are:

✰ Overbilling or billing for services never rendered ✰ Making misrepresentations to support bills for services or goods that were provided ✰ Improperly upcoding for services or goods ✰ Providing unnecessary treatments ✰ Obtaining kickbacks for making referrals ✰ Falsifying credentials ✰ Off-label marketing ✰ Fraud from other business sectors: Securities, Financial services, Aerospace and Defense GENEROUS REFERRAL FEES PAID PER STATE BAR RULES

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Hirst Law Group, P.C., has had multiple 8-figure- and 7-figure-FCA recoveries in cases involving health care fraud, defense procurement fraud, grant fraud, and others.

LOS ANG ELE S | SAC RAM EN TO | I NL AND EMP IRE | SAN DIE GO | SAN JOS E I RVI NE | SAN FRAN CISC O | VE N TU RA C OUNT Y | FRES NO

Care to Know “We believe traditional planning can inadvertently narrow planning conversations too quickly. It’s a slippery slope in which the formulation of the problem—the power of the questioning phase—has become a lost art,” says Joe Strazzeri, principal of the law firm of Strazzeri Mancini, LLP.

T

he firm has two principals, Joseph J. Strazzeri and Stephen J. Mancini, an associate attorney, Cody J. Parks, and attorney Ryan Alexeev, who is Of Counsel. Nathalie Fairfax acts as project coordinator, and Shelley Lightfoot is the executive director.

Strazzeri Mancini LLP is one of four companies in the Care to Know™ Family of Resources dedicated to serving specific niches in estate and business planning. California Estate and Elder Law LLP is a law firm focusing on planning for potential disability and estate planning, probate and trust settlement, based on the belief that legal documents should be the outcome of a great planning process that preserves family relationships as well as family assets. The Southern California Institute is a Thought Leader Community providing resources, education and advice via collaborative think tanks, events, programs, online content and introductions. The Founders Group

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 177, 2018

leads business owners through all phases of transition, where increased clarity, net cash flow, and market value expands and solidifies choices for business transition: keep and grow, sell, or plan for succession.

This Family of Resources creates a truly innovative business model and culture, one that effectively meets clients’ many and varied needs over their lifetimes. Curiosity drives all the attorneys, advisors, clients and teams who work with the four companies to think creatively to solve problems, which leads to deep empathy for clients’ situations.

Care to Know™ Planning

Business owners and families too often attempt to focus their wealth strategy planning on a plan before conducting sufficient research and contemplation on the true nature of the challenges and opportunities that will arise in the future. This approach can narrow planning conversations and clients wind up with a solution that doesn’t solve their full and true problem, rather, a solution that Band-Aids a symptom. In both scenarios, the problem will present again in the future. That’s why the firm developed the model called Care to Know™. Families often come with a point of pain they want to address. However, the point of awareness rarely speaks to the full spectrum of the issue. To design the best outcome, attorneys need to learn what’s happening to the left and right of the symptoms.

“Families, individuals, and organizations come to us when they’re in pain—there’s something that not only must be

© Bauman Photographers

An Innovative Business Model and Culture

LAW FIRM

The Strazzeri Mancini Team: Stephen J. Mancini, Shelley Lightfoot, Ryan Alexeev, Joseph J. Strazzeri, Nathalie Fairfax, and Cody J. Parks

OF THE MONTH

2018

addressed immediately, but properly, efficiently, and in a way that continues to work as designed over time. That’s where our Care to Know™ Planning excels,” says Mancini.

“A lot of wealth advisors stop when they have gathered 50 to 70 percent of the information they need to proceed with the case because at that point the clients generally start pushing back. The advisors give in because they know they can dip into their usual inventory of solutions. We aren’t satisfied with that.

We go well past that line so that we have all the information we need to develop the very best solution to their challenges. We call it getting to the last ten percent,” says Lightfoot. One of the real benefits of the Strazzeri Mancini approach is that it allows clients a place to think rather than to act precipitously without planning and coordination of efforts. Creating that place allows clients to focus and then provide their advisory team with that essential last ten percent of crucial information.

By combining legal, financial, tax, philanthropic and business matters into a unified plan, Strazzeri Mancini can: increase control over affairs; assure the continuance of lifestyle and the protection of assets; pass values and work ethic to heirs; substantially reduce excise, gift, estate, income and generationskipping taxes; manage the value of business interests; and keep affairs free from publicity and the costs and delay of probate.

Curiosity, however, is the driving force throughout the process of working with the client and the client’s advisors. And that curiosity fuels the drive toward Care to Know™ Planning.

Care to Know™ Planning Process—Review, Design, Implementation and Maintenance

The process is three separate levels of engagement: Review, Design, and Implementation. A fourth level of engagement is Maintenance.

The Review phase of the process involves initial contact from a potential client/advisor and an Introductory Meeting is scheduled. If all parties wish to proceed, the next step is the Review Engagement.

The Review Engagement includes: • Gathering the Estate – collecting all the client’s personal, legal, tax and financial information; • Evaluation – Evaluating all the information gathered; and • A one- or two-day Initial Visit/Retreat to get to know the clients better, understand their concerns, hopes, and personal, family, and business goals.

The Design Engagement involves: • The firm, and the client’s other advisors working together to formulate a Design Plan containing design fees, deadlines, and responsibilities of all parties; and • Presentation of the Preliminary Plan to the clients for their input and approval. It is explained in detail, and, if necessary, revised and refined. Fees, realistic and measurable benchmarks, and timelines are discussed.

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© Bauman Photographers

The Strazzeri Mancini support team.

The Implementation Engagement: • Implementation of the Plan specifics may involve work in multiple disciplines: legal, financial, tax, accounting, insurance, and so on. Appropriate advisors agree to carry out their part of the plan and the client gets status updates on the implementation progress.

Maintenance—The FamilyCounselor™ Program

Most families aren’t aware that planning strategies are dynamic in their own right. In fact, most estate and business planning messes arise from a lack of methodology and accountability for continuous management.

Obvious changes, such as family events and dynamics, will impact the existing planning. Also, changes in the financial markets, legal landscape, and tax code will cause the planning to shift. With a careful eye, these shifts can be tended to without devastating the planning.

The FamilyCounselor™ Program is a formal annual program that provides substance and process to maintaining a wealth strategies plan. Every year there are four meetings: The Initial Visit Retreat: • Meeting to listen, ask questions, and gain a current understanding of current concerns and desired outcomes.

Chart the preliminary course of the FamilyCounselor™ Program meetings for the coming year.

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Family or Team Tactical Planning Session • A tactical planning session, utilizing the “Nine Key Business or Family Questions” exploring legal, financial, tax, and family developments. Identification of areas of misalignment and alignment.

• Where concerns exist, we seek clarity of the problem and possible solutions that may not have been obvious before and allow for recalibration as things may change.

• Development of current year’s potential Enhancement Initiatives (specific projects to address concerns or create new methods) to be assigned to the appropriate advisors and team members with timelines and responsibilities.

Advisor Update Meeting • Benchmarking and monitoring the plan and goals, keeping in mind end-of-year tax planning and current asset and estate values. Meeting with client and collaborative advisor team to discuss and understand the status and progress regarding client’s legal, financial, and tax situation, organized by advisor and associated enhancement initiatives.

Confirmation/Family Meeting • To review and address the Implementation Details, Exception Reports, and Remaining Questions. Where appropriate we discuss the upcoming year.

Care to Know™ Planning and Maintenance serves families and business owners at two layers. First, it helps their existing

trusted advisors expand the landscape of perspective to include disciplines and strategies outside of their core practice areas. Secondly, it allows families to see the complete breadth of their opportunities and challenges, thereby finding the magic and nuance in “The Last Ten Percent.”

Through Strazzeri and Mancini’s teaching and leadership at the Southern California Institute, The Laureate Center for Wealth Advisors, WealthCounsel®, and other national collaborative wealth planning platforms, the attorneys at Strazzeri Mancini LLP have not only practiced collaborative planning, implementation, and maintenance at these levels, but are also instructors on how-the-rubber-meets-the-road to attorneys, financial advisors, accountants, insurance professionals, bankers, and other wealth advisory professionals.

The Business and Wealth Planning Strategies taught through the above mentioned organizations may be used to plan for successful families and business owners to help them: maintain control over their affairs; assure lifestyle/ tax-free conversion of paper profits; add protection from lawsuits and judgements; employ income tax reductions; manage the value of the family business; pass value and responsibility to family members; benefit from federal gift and estate tax reductions; and protect from administrative expense and delay.

In accordance with the We-Driven Mindset (the art and science of how people work together to ask broader questions and create better outcomes) mentored at the Southern California Institute, Strazzeri Mancini often formally engages other advisors to collaboratively serve clients.

Where appropriate, the client engages Strazzeri Mancini directly and in turn, with disclosure, the law firm engages the attorney, advisor, or consultant collaborative advisor. In doing so, the firm creates a completely open exchange of information among the family and all advisors; protects the other collaborative advisors’ work product as attorney client privileged; and compensates the collaborative advisors.

© Bauman Photographers

Care to Know™ Coaching and Partnering

Strazzeri Mancini Executive Director, Shelley Lightfoot and Project Coordinator, Nathalie Fairfax

Care to Know™ Planning was developed from experiences gathered not only in the legal arena, but also from the corporate world at large.

Before becoming an attorney for affluent clients, Joseph J. Strazzeri developed an in-depth awareness of the business world as a general contractor, land developer, and business owner—a rare combination of skill and experience. While he takes on numerous roles in his everyday work, the common denominator that underlies all his efforts is this ‘We-Driven’ mindset, in which collaboration itself is a craft. This drives how he works with others—courageously arming clients with the right questions and resources. Strazzeri brings an

© Bauman Photographers

Partners and Best Friends

Strazzeri Mancini Principals, Stephen J. Mancini and Joseph J. Strazzeri Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 177, 2018

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exceptional ability to shed clarity on the issues at hand and reach insights that offer illuminating resolutions.

Stephen J. Mancini is a Certified Specialist in wills, trusts, and probate by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. He is a former retail business owner. He has more than 37 years of experience as an attorney, and provides a unique perspective for advising business owners, families, and their wealth advisors. Mancini’s practice focuses on educating families, business owners and wealth advisors to find the answer to “what is next” for their future wealth needs. A guiding principle of his approach is to ensure that the clients’ assets are fully protected throughout the processes implemented by the firm.

Strazzeri and Mancini are not only business partners but also best friends. When they are not working, you’ll find them spending precious time with their families in Hawaii, hosting gatherings, engaging in spirited conversations, and tooling around the azure waters of Mission Bay. Or they may be deep in the wild Wyoming back country, fly fishing hip deep in swirling river waters.

Strazzeri Mancini and the three other companies in their

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 177, 2018

Family of Resources are dedicated practitioners of collaborative planning and implementation, and maintenance of estate planning programs designed to meet the most complex needs of affluent clients. The relationships built are true partnerships with the business or family, family members, and the attorneys, financial advisors, accountants, insurance professionals, bankers and other wealth advisory professionals.

“At the end of the day, we protect families, assets and relationships. Our Care to Know™ model celebrates the inherent magic of nuance that exists between individuals as they navigate life and business. We design plans that are simple, elegant and understandable. Then, we help you implement. Your plan will be reflective of you and your important life principles; an imprint of your greatest clarity and most authentic self,” says Strazzeri. n Contact Strazzeri Mancini, LLP 3636 Nobel Drive, Suite 450 San Diego, CA 92122 (858) 200-1900 StrazzeriMancini.com

Why Smart Law Firms Are Hiring Salespeople!

by Aaron George

S

ales is not something that most lawyers think about, even though they are probably out there selling almost every single day. There just hasn’t ever been a role for sales in the traditional legal business model. But that may be starting to change. Legal services are becoming increasingly commoditized, and law firms are waking up and realizing they need to start acting like a real business, where marketing and sales are the name of the game. In this post, we’ll explain why smart law firms are hiring salespeople, explain the role of a salesperson in the firm, and look at how focusing on sales can help you grow your practice.

Since bringing in more revenue is the most fundamental step toward growing a business, it should be clear that without an effective sales process in place, growth will not come very easily.

This is why having a salesperson, whose sole job it is to bring in revenue, is such a good idea. Failing to establish a sales process is also a common reason why many law firms may be struggling to grow.

Without a clearly defined sales role, no one is directly responsible for one of the most important aspects of growing the business!

Sales Is Missing From The Current Law Firm Model

What A Law Firm Salesperson Actually Does

Today’s law firm model is pretty standardized. Attorneys and paralegals do most of the actual legal work, billing by the hour or for a flat fee. Receptionists and office admins pick up the phones, handle client intake and scheduling, and manage billing and collections.

As firms grow, they may hire teams to oversee marketing, IT, finance, and accounting. Yet few firms ever hire even a single salesperson.

So who does the selling?

Don’t get me wrong. Not having a dedicated salesperson certainly doesn’t mean that law firms don’t sell. Someone still ends up selling the legal services and signing up the clients, but that role is often very poorly defined.

Sometimes the lawyers do the selling, sometimes the receptionists do the selling, and sometimes the paralegals do the selling. Ultimately, the role becomes muddled up and it’s unclear whose job it is. And this is a big problem.

Why Having A Dedicated Salesperson Is A Good Idea Building a business requires the implementation of standardized processes. Otherwise, it becomes impossible to manage your growing workload and keep your staff on track. Eventually your growth will stagnate.

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Ok, so we have established that placing an emphasis on sales and carving out a specific role for it in your law firm are important steps toward growth. But what does a law firm salesperson actually do on a daily basis?

Law firm sales is quite different than other industries. The salesperson won’t be making cold calls, but there are still some important things which need to be done. Here are the key parts of a law firm salesperson’s job:

Manage Leads One of the most overlooked, yet critical parts of the legal sales process is managing the leads (i.e. potential clients). If nobody is assigned the responsibility of tracking leads at the firm, it’s a near certainty that some potential business is slipping through the cracks.

A core part of the salesperson’s job should be using some type of CRM system in order to input the contact information and notes about the legal matter of every single lead that comes in the door. This will ensure that people are getting the attention they deserve, and no business is lost due to poor organization.

Screen Calls and Set Consultations At most law firms, a major step in the sales process is the consultation. This is typically where an attorney assesses the

client’s legal issue and decides whether or not the firm should take on the client.

Getting potential clients to book a consultation is the first key step in the conversion funnel, so this is an excellent job for the salesperson to perform. They should be contacting leads, screening out bad cases and clients, and setting appointments with attorneys for the viable clients.

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Follow Up Regardless of the industry, it has been shown that persistence works in sales. In fact, one study found that potential buyers are ready to make a purchase after the first meeting only 2% of the time. The other 98% required multiple conversations before sealing the deal.

The same study also suggests continuing to follow up until you hear five “no” responses. The point is, if you only follow up once or not at all, you are letting paying clients slip away.

A major part of the salesperson’s role should be following up with every potential client in order to maximize your conversion rate. The follow-ups should happen both preconsultation, in order to get them to schedule, and postconsultation in order to get them to hire.

Build Trust and Drive Conversions Each firm may operate very differently in terms of its approach to marketing, and its client intake process.

Ultimately, the salesperson’s role is to manage the pipeline of potential clients throughout this entire process.

The goal should be to represent the firm well, build rapport with potential clients, establish their trust, and do whatever it takes to close the deal when it makes sense for the firm.

If no one is tasked with this responsibility, or it is shared by a bunch of staff members, it’s inevitable that things will slip through the cracks. You’re only hurting your own chances of success as a result.

That’s why smart law firms are hiring salespeople to get ahead in today’s competitive legal industry. n Aaron George is a technology entrepreneur with a background in law, having attended Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Currently he is co-founder and President at Lexicata, the legal industry’s leading CRM and client intake software. At Lexicata he focuses on product design, content marketing, and business operations. Connect with him on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/aaronwgeorge/

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 177, 2018

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 177, 2018

How to Deal with Underperforming Lawyers

by Eric Dewey

T

he challenges of a shrinking and intensifying competitive legal marketplace demand that firms address underperforming lawyers quickly and decisively. Business development coaching has increasingly been adopted to help these lawyers get back on track. But, is the traditional model of business development coaching effective? And, if not, what’s missing?

Others often perceive lawyers that struggle to build a client base as suffering from time management or motivational issues.

As such, business development coaching services tend to focus on building better disciplines in the lawyer. While these issues may contribute to the problem, more often than not poor business development results have their roots in the makeup of the lawyer’s practice and the conditions in the firm. I call these structural issues because they create impediments to building a practice that are so familiar that most lawyers fail to recognize them.

Diagnosing the cause of a lawyer’s under-performance can be a challenge. The attorney’s practice area; their target clients; the breadth or depth of an attorney’s knowledge; the firm culture and compensation system; the maturity of the attorney’s practice; the lawyer’s matter management skills; their billing rates and competitive position; and the lawyer’s professional relationships are so varied and dynamic that no two lawyer’s practices are truly similar.

There is a pervasive belief in law firms that lawyers are the best ones to understand their own business development challenges.

As the thinking goes, no one understands his or her practice and clients as well as he or she does, so surely, he or she knows what needs to be done to turn around a struggling practice.

It’s not true. But too often they are left to fend for themselves.

Lawyers struggle to bring in their own clients for a variety of reasons. These reasons include a lack of marketing knowledge and skills; client development challenges; firm culture or compensation issues; competitive positioning problems; and challenges associated with the structure and focus of their practice. The idea that focusing on a lawyer’s motivation, attitudes or time management without first determining whether the lawyer is burdened by structural issues in their

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practice is neither fair to the lawyer nor in the best interests of the firm.

To illustrate what I mean by ‘structural issues’, a senior partner came to me after having been unsuccessful working with three other business development coaches. On our introductory call, I reviewed his bio and quickly realized his problem. He listed experience in eight unrelated practice areas, published legal and business topics on an even broader variety of subjects, and featured as his most significant matters work that was more than 15 years old. His fear of missing out on potential work (by listing eight different practice areas in which he had some experience) confused his prospective clients about the area of the law in which he was truly an expert. No amount of nagging and cajoling would fix this structural issue in his practice.

A second example comes from a lawyer working in a small, 12-lawyer ‘full service’ law firm whose practice area required significant bench strength to effectively leverage the types and size of matters he said he handled. He wasn’t getting this type of work because, surprise, platform matters to clients.

Practice Development or Business Development Coaching?

In just about every lawyer I have worked with, low motivation and poor time management were rarely contributing factors.

Their challenges, which these lawyers didn’t understand at the outset, related to practice focus, practice maturity issues or practice transition challenges. These are all practice development issues. The traditional coaching model typically does not include a methodical process to evaluate the myriad of challenges that work against the lawyer’s best efforts. But practice development coaching does.

To ensure the punishment fits the crime, law firms can develop a formal process to diagnose the under-performance of lawyers and pinpoint whether the low numbers result from behavioral or structural causes. Practice diagnostics can tease out the factors that inhibit growth and prioritize which issues

Practice analysis helps the attorney identify a coherent strategy and a working plan to move forward. to address for the greatest and fastest impact. A good system should assess the firm’s compensation system, the financial and billing data for the lawyer and their practice group, the lawyer’s practice specialty areas, the market opportunities for the practice, their client relationships, and their past business development and marketing activities. This examination paints a more accurate picture of the challenges and opportunities in a lawyer’s practice. It puts aside the assumptions about motivation and time management and leaves them to the actual coaching process where those issues can be more accurately analyzed and addressed.

Practice analysis is an extra step in dealing with underperforming lawyers, but it will ensure the best use of the firm’s investment by directing resources to the true challenges and obstacles facing the lawyer. Practice analysis helps the attorney identify a coherent strategy and a working plan to move forward. What’s more, it helps the firm better understand the challenges that lawyer faces and set more realistic expectations

for how quickly that lawyer will be able to turn around their practice. As any seasoned sales professional will tell you, if the product is flawed the sales will be too.

As an industry, we focus too heavily on promotion and not enough on the packaging and positioning of our attorneys’ individual practices—that is to say, we do not focus enough on practice development. Practice development analysis can help identify the structural challenges the lawyer faces. Only then can you begin to ascertain whether behavior, attitude or time management problems are also affecting the lawyer. n Eric Dewey, MBA is principal of Group Dewey Consulting and has more than 25 years training and coaching hundreds of lawyers and other professionals in practice and business development. He is the former chief marketing officer of several large law firms and has extensive experience in financial services, commercial real estate and management consulting. His clients range from the nation’s largest law firms to midsize law firms, specialty boutique firms, and solo practitioners.

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10 Ways to Habitually Market For New Business

by Susan Duncan

A

sk the most successful rainmakers what their secret is to their success and most will tell you that they work on it constantly and relentlessly. It has become integral to their client work and practice and they do it every day. Given the pressure lawyers feel to record billable hours, it may seem almost impossible to find time to do business development and even if time allows, it can be difficult to know how to do it effectively.

And like a regular exercise routine, many people don’t like to do it, but once you form the habit and feel more comfortable, you will enjoy the results! Follow these steps for more focused, effective and consistent business development:  Focus on your goals, then focus on what will make you most successful: qualified leads, proven referral sources, differentiation.

Don’t try to do everything all at once and don’t waste time chasing “suspects” instead of qualified leads.  Find things to do that you enjoy and are good at, including ways to connect your personal hobbies and passions with clients and business development. At the same time, be prepared to hone skills in areas in which you are weak and also to go outside your comfort zone.  Remember to say no. Not every invitation to speak, go to a conference or join a task force or committee will be valuable or help you achieve your goals. This is especially true for many programs or associations in which over three-quarters of the audience is lawyers you compete with!  Work on your personal style and approach: how you come across to clients and to colleagues, how responsive you are, how collaborative, how assertive and confident, how you describe what you do.

 Prepare, think ahead and stay ahead. Leverage as much as you can. If you give a speech at a conference, send the PowerPoint to clients who couldn’t attend, convert it into an article, use the materials to do custom CLEs for clients, convert it into an alert for the firm.  Make your business development habitual. Develop and maintain good habits and discipline as you would for an exercise routine: • Make a plan and follow it. Each year, develop a few realistic goals and determine the steps you will take to achieve the goals. Review and revise this plan on a quarterly basis. Also develop your target contact list and review this on a monthly basis. Keep your list of BD to-do’s and contacts by your phone. Record your time so you can evaluate effectiveness of your efforts.

• Spend at least 10-15 minutes every day (perhaps at the beginning of each day) to review your BD action plan and contact list. Make progress on at least one action item per day. It could be sending an email to follow-up or schedule lunch or a quick phone call.

• As a partner, aim to spend at least 200 hours per year on marketing, client and business development. As an associate, spend at least 100 hours. Most very successful rainmakers spend 600 hours/year, just to provide you with a benchmark.

• Get out of the office at least once a week! Schedule a BD-related meal with a colleague, referral source, prospect or client for the specific purpose of discussing their priorities, trends and business issues. If it helps, schedule lunch on the same day every week.

• Plan to visit one client every month. You likely will be able to fit other visits and meetings around it.

 Focus first on giving value and making yourself relevant. Get to know someone, ask and listen. Leave the discussion/pitch about the firm and yourself to a later time.

• Ask your assistant to help keep your contact list up to date (every time you return with business cards or get a new client) and help you categorize contacts by client, prospect, referral source, association committee peer, personal, etc.

 Become known in a niche. Write about it, speak about it, get quoted about it and be sure your bio, LinkedIn, and the firm’s web site all have the most current and correct information about it.

• Use your calendar as a tickler system to remind you when to follow up with targeted contacts. They should hear from you at least on a quarterly basis.

 Never take good clients for granted! Treat them with respect and appreciation, provide value, ask how they’re doing, show them you care, make them always feel like your most important client.

• Use the internet to stay connected, e.g., LinkedIn, and easy shopping web sites/tools like Amazon Prime to send clients gifts.

 Collaborate. Seek feedback from another partner or external colleague on your business development strategy, your elevator speech, or your ideas. Find a “marketing buddy” to meet with weekly or monthly to review progress, brainstorm opportunities and get advice on obstacles.

• Celebrate your successes and those of your colleagues! n Susan Duncan works on the business, strategy and management side of the legal profession at RainMaking Oasis and has been doing so since 1980. Along with a high level of energy and enthusiasm, Susan brings deep knowledge of the legal industry and a passion for what she does to her clients and consulting engagements. To learn more, visit: www.RainMakingOasis.com.

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 177, 2018

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GRIFFIN LAW OFFICE

• Drug Sales & Gun Possession: Dismissed Day of Trial • 2nd DUI with Injury: Motion to Suppress Granted • Felony Domestic Violence with Strike Prior: Dismissed Day of Trial • Driving Under the Influence Jury Trial: Not Guilty • Drug Sales: Motion to Suppress Granted, Case Dismissed

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PatrickGriffin

Griffin Law Office, APC | 402 W Broadway, Suite 1925, San Diego, CA 92101 | T: 619.269-2131 | GriffinLawOffice.com

Your Estate Plan is Not Business, It’s Personal …

Our passion is to educate, motivate and protect our clients, their families, and their hard-earned assets— for life. We don’t just draft estate plans … we create lifelong relationships backed by comprehensive planning.

Providing expertise to our California clients in: • Asset Protection

• Estate Planning

• Trust Administration

• California Probate • Medi-Cal Planning • Planned Giving WE PAY REFERRAL FEES

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 177, 2018

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