AttorneyMentoring.com In-House Lawyers

Communicate clearly and effectively

Whatever area of law you practice, your communication skills
impact your delivery of legal services, your advocacy on behalf of
clients, your relations with your colleagues and superiors, and
your client development skills among other aspects of your life.
As with any skill, practice improves your ability to communicate
clearly and effectively. Some basic tips to improving your
communication skills include:

Understand your audience and their business. Place
yourself in their shoes so to speak and anticipate their
needs and expectations. Then, try and meet them.
Make the message clear. Lawyers have a very bad habit
of speaking in complex language that is often
meaningless to clients or just repeating the issues ad
infinitum without a clear plan to solving the issue.
Communicate so that both speaker and audience are on
the same page.
Confirm that your audience hears the same message
that you believe you are delivering. Make sure your
choice of words cannot be misinterpreted.
Ensure a logical flow from beginning to end. Set up the
problem and then solve it. Test the arguments out with
colleagues or tape your presentation and listen to it.
Make the communication interesting, practical and
worth the audience's time.
Match your message with your body language. Try it out
in front of a mirror first.
Listen. Communication is a two way street. Being in your
own legal world does not serve you, your clients or your
audience. Listen to them carefully and you will invariably
provide them with a better service.

Click here to read an article about achieving better
communications through personality typing.

If you feel that you need more personalized help with your
communication skills, consider hiring a coach for more important
presentations or to help you develop a client pitch presentation or
courtroom argument.

Know how to delegate and supervise

It is important to maximize the human and technological
resources available to you so that you can free up time to
grow your practice and enjoy a personal life. Knowing
how and when to delegate is a key component to
maximizing your time and growing your practice. As you
advance in your career, you will experience ever growing
pressure to balance time between client service and
client development. There is often a critical juncture in a
legal career, typically at the mid to senior level, where
attorneys struggle to transition to a more supervisory
role. With that comes the responsibility of supervising
other attorneys and professional staff. Attorneys also
have to be mindful of added ethical considerations when
delegating and supervising legal work.

Some attorneys resist delegating because they believe
they need the billing hours to meet their firm’s annual
billing requirements while others are simply afraid to let
go of a particular project believing that only they can do it
correctly. Others believe it takes too much time and effort
to delegate and then review the work afterward. They just
do not have the time to manage yet another person. At
first, all these positions can be valid reasons to resist
delegating but in the long run, the only way to stretch
your time is to delegate. The sooner you learn how to do
it, the better. Delegating can be one of your best tools to
a successful career. If you clearly articulate the task and
take the time to train your delegee and properly review
the work, you will come to rely on delegation. You will
also be motivating your staff and junior attorneys, an
important role for senior attorneys.

Knowing what to delegate is an important skill.
You can start by delegating simple projects such
as recurring filings, basic agreements, cover
letters, and one issue research projects. Make a
list of all your work and assignments and look at
what you can safely delegate to others, making
sure you make time to review their work before it
is sent to the client or to a senior attorney.
Provide proper instruction to your delegee,
including background information, client memos,
suggestions for how to tackle the project,
research resources or sample documents, and a
clear timetable for review and completion.
Encourage outlines and make yourself available
for questions throughout the process. Check in
every so often to check on progress. Do not wait
until the end of the project to provide feedback.
Do not micro-manage.
Utilize technology to your advantage.
Sometimes, software can help transform a
complex task into a simple one. There are an
ever increasing number of tools designed for
lawyers and law firms. Check with your
technology department or go online and see
whether there are available systems or
templates to help you with your project. Do not re-
invent the wheel.
Give constructive feedback. First, point out what
the delegee did correctly and then indicate areas
where they could improve. Be specific. Do not
take your frustration out on others. No matter
what level of stress you may be under, it is never
helpful to take it out on others.
Take responsibility for the work. In a
supervisory role, take responsibility for the wok
final product. If the delegee failed to achieve your
ideal results, consider whether you were clear in
your instructions first. Ask the delegee what
issues they encountered. Keep these in mind for
future reference. Effective delegation also
delivers a more cost-effective service to the client
in an environment with ever increasing pressure
to reduce legal fees.
Don’t stop at your professional life. Consider
areas of your personal life which could benefit
from delegation as well. Sometimes the benefits
of delegation far out weigh the expense.
Consider how much you bill per hour and figure
out what it is costing you to do your laundry or
prepare and file your taxes.

Be client service-focused

Successful attorneys are client service-focused at all times. They
focus on delivering the best customer service they can and are
always trying to improve the breadth and delivery of their legal
services. It does not matter at what stage of your career you are,
you can still deliver great customer service. That could mean
making sure to follow up on packages delivered to clients as a
junior attorney or contacting a client about a new regulation that
could affect their business as a senior attorney. In all cases, the
needs of the client should be paramount. Each day, consider
whether you have met your client’s needs and evaluate whether
you could have done anything better.

Most client complaints involve the perception that lawyers are not
responsive enough, either in terms of time or cost or quality of
service. Ignore your client’s desires and business needs to your
detriment. Make sure that you deliver a solution and add value to
your client’s business unit. Look for ways to save them money
and time. Do not view them merely as clients but as business
partners in whose business success you play an important part.

Learn the client’s business and industry. The more you know
about your client's business unit, the more customized the legal
advice.

Appreciate your clients and their business in everything that you
do. Your appreciation will translate directly into loyalty.

Find an internal sponsor or mentor

Regardless of whether you are a junior, mid-level or senior
attorney, your relationships with senior management will directly
impact your opportunities for advancement. Consider the
attorneys senior to you or your non-legal corporate just as
important as the clients. Make sure that you are perceived as a
valuable asset to them, someone always willing to help out when
needed; someone who pro-actively offers to help rather than
hides in his or her office waiting for the next assignment. Seek
out senior management who can mentor you. Try and work with
as many different senior personnel as you can. Here are a few
tips for dealing with senior lawyers or management (these tips
work with both legal and non-legal senior management):

Ask questions up front; understand your assignment
before you start work.
Do not be afraid to ask for assistance or guidance (at the
right time, of course).
Understand the time-frame and budget and meet both.
Keep other parties to a project informed of material
events and progress.
Always appear to enjoy your work, no matter how
mundane.
Review your work carefully before it leaves your hand.
Build a reputation for integrity and a solid work ethic.
Study the habits of the successful attorneys and
business people in your company.
Ask for constructive feedback.