Practice Guide

The Practice Guide section of FindLaw's Law Firm Management Center provides free resources dedicated to operational and risk management issues encountered by solo and small law firm practices. Business issues such as Disaster Preparedness, Malpractice Insurance, Client Relations and Practice News are critically important to the success and survival of your law practice. Risk management limits business liability exposure and can put your practice on the road to recovery in the event of a disaster. Staying current on the news, events and trends in your practice area allow you to keep ahead of the competition. Managing the client relationship is a core issue and challenge for any law practice. As a small business owner, you need to understand these issues well enough to make informed decisions that impact your law practice. Browse, read, and share FindLaw's free collection of articles, news and tips that make up the Practice Guide.

Practice Guide

Client Relations

Disaster Preparedness

Malpractice Insurance

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State of the Legal Profession: Client Driven Innovation

Innovation in the legal services industry is frequently driven by client demand. Over the years, large corporate clients, in particular, have had a substantial impact on the way law firms handle core matters, such as billing and staffing. Recently, large clients have established new varieties of financial and practical requirements that legal service providers must meet.
Answers to Common Legal Malpractice Insurance Questions

Before you consider buying malpractice insurance, it is important to understand the basics of insurance.
Negotiating Better Results for Your Law Firm's Clients

For a number of years I have been doing research into how one's behaviors at the negotiation table affects financial and other outcomes. For lawyers who negotiate on their clients' behalf day in and day out, understanding this connection could be highly beneficial, or failing to notice it, highly detrimental.
Thinking About Law Firm Risk Management

If you're a good lawyer, you won't get sued for malpractice. This belief may be comforting, but it's a myth. Good (and bad) lawyers get sued. There is no simple way to predict if your client will sue you for malpractice. In fact, risk management begins as soon as a person becomes a potential client.
How to Deal with Difficult Clients

Though no one will admit it, more than a few attorneys who are otherwise competent negotiators have returned to their office after a client meeting, closed the door, plotted revenge or, worse, wept (metaphorically speaking). Why do some clients have this aggravating effect?
Team Conflict Management

Watching fireworks light up a summer sky awakens the wonder in us all. When fireworks light up a conference room and team members are ready to explode, it can be the true test of your project management and leadership skills.

Practice Guide Articles

Five Tips to Avoid Getting Sued

Within a business, there are few things worse than getting slapped with the dreaded lawsuit. Not only are lawsuits expensive, but they can be time-consuming, draining and frustrating. So how do you avoid one?

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Attorney Malpractice and the Unintended Client Relationship

You've been there a thousand times. Someone finds out your a lawyer and has a "quick legal question" for you. While you want to be helpful, you also don't want to expose yourself to malpractice or create an unintended client relationship. This article focuses on how unintended client relationships can be formed and the best way to navigate through those murky waters.

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Making the Most of Law Firm Client Surveys

Client surveys have become increasingly popular among law firms. And with good reason. Properly designed, client surveys can help the firm in a variety of ways.

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When to Say No: 10 Ways to Select and Reject a Client

Client selection -- and rejection -- is the first line of defense against malpractice problems, but it has the added benefit of being a wonderful management tool for law firms.

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State of the Legal Profession: Client Driven Innovation

Innovation in the legal services industry is frequently driven by client demand. Over the years, large corporate clients, in particular, have had a substantial impact on the way law firms handle core matters, such as billing and staffing. Recently, large clients have established new varieties of financial and practical requirements that legal service providers must meet.

Read More »