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November 11, 2006
KFB sounds off on mid-term elections, tax reform, Executive Branch retirement age.
The Kid From Brooklyn in his November 10 video.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
"Declarations" as Substitutes for Affidavits
We've mentioned declarations in lieu of affidavits before. In 1976 Congress passed a barely-noticed housekeeping addition to Title 28, the U.S. Code provisions on federal courts. 28 USC section 1746 allows witnesses to prepare and execute affidavits without appearing before a notary. But many lawyers who practice in federal courts don't know about its existence. An un-notarized "declaration" with the simple oath required by section 1746 can be used any time you need an affidavit, e.g., an affidavit supporting (or opposing) a summary judgment motion. The declaration has the same force and effect of a "regular" notarized affidavit--and saves witnesses and lawyers the time, cost and aggravation of getting statements notarized.
Posted by JD Hull at 06:04 PM | Comments (0)
Curmudgeon This--For Now.
Busy as I am defending corporate America and European companies from the forces of darkness and dumbness, traveling around the U.S. and western Europe with my new assistant Ms. Bry, working hard to get a couple of good books turned into movies, and trying here and there to teach people in my shop about the Holy Surprise and Miracle of Rule 36 and the fun break-dancing between Rules 30, 45 and 34, I feel very left out. I haven't read or even held in my hands Mark Herrmann's popular book The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law (ABA Litigation Section, 2006). But I want to read it, and will, for a few reasons:
First, you hear and read everywhere that Herrmann's Curmudgeon's Guide is intelligent and very funny. Second, about my vintage, Mark's a trial lawyer and writer with real lawyer credentials from a legendary firm (Cleveland-based Jones Day, ruled for years with an iron hand by a legendary curmudgeon) which was big, international and multi-officed before all that was cool. Mark's firm, unlike many firms from 250 to 3000 plus lawyers on growth streaks, seems to have expanded without doing great violence to or compromising its own gene pool. Third, WSJ Law Blog's Peter Lattman (e.g., here) likes Mark's book a lot, and has posted about it three times. Finally, and importantly, Arnie Herz, of Legal Sanity, did read Mark's book--and, hey, Arnie liked it. Arnie, also busy, is wise, perceptive, discriminating, and with a litigator's filter. That's enough for me until I get to Mark's book. See Arnie's post "The Curmudgeonly Law Firm Mentor".
Posted by JD Hull at 05:51 AM | Comments (0)
November 10, 2006
German Views on U.S. Mid-Term Elections
From the Atlantic Review, a news digest edited by three German Fulbright alumni now in Berlin, Hamburg and Shanghai, here is "German Reactions to the Midterm Elections". AR also recently published "US Election Results, German Prejudices and Direct Democracy".
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Quit working on Maggie's farm.
Start by tuning into www.imthereforyoubaby.com and The Entrepreneur's Guide to Galaxy--with our friends Barbara Bry and Neil Senturia--tomorrow, Saturday, at 1-2 pm California time. Listen live in San Diego area at 1700 AM or via simulcast on the CASH 1700 web site.
Posted by JD Hull at 02:00 PM | Comments (0)
Four New IBLC Firms
Our firm's longstanding international business law group, the IBLC, has four new members. In Algiers, Algeria: Bouchaib Law Firm; in Belize City, Belize: Glenn D. Godfrey & Company LLP; in Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands: McW. Todman & Co; and in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: Pellerano & Herrera.
Posted by JD Hull at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)
Getting Judgments in China.
See "The Vast Chinese Archive of Unexecuted Judgments" at Rich Kuslan's Asia Business Intelligence.
Posted by JD Hull at 03:33 AM | Comments (0)
November 09, 2006
Will Your Clients Help Market Your Firm?
From one of the smartest law practice management sites, which should be on your short list if you read just a few blogs each week, here's "How Likely Are Your Clients to Recommend Your Law Firm?" by Nashville-based Tom Collins at More Partner Income.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Tuesday's Election Results and Litigation Reform.
What About Clients? supports most litigation, tort or judicial reforms which would curtail or eliminate "junk" science, junk cases, junk judges, you get idea. WAC? has flirted with and briefly went steady--perhaps wrongly--with the UK "loser pays" rule. We've stopped short of advocating blue ribbon juries, an un-American idea, granted. But we do support organizations which envision that, some day, no American state court judge may be popularly elected but instead each is appointed based chiefly on merit by people who understand the difference between a great lawyer/jurist and a white-trash dingbat with a law degree who needs a job. Americans need much better judges, especially on the state benches. But I digress. So just see "What Does Yesterday [November 7] Mean for the Litigation-Reform Crowd?" by Peter Lattman over at the WSJ Law Blog and especially Peter's jumping off point, the election roundtable at Point of Law.
Posted by JD Hull at 05:28 PM | Comments (0)
November 08, 2006
Just Doing the Work is Marketing.
Note What About Clients? Rule Six: When You Work, You Are Marketing. And then read from the ABA's LPM Section's Law Practice TODAY, consultant Wendy Werner's "Customer Service for Lawyers":
Why do some law firms excel at bringing in new business and keeping clients while others struggle? They understand that every contact every time shapes the client’s opinion.
Ah, the Big Secret in 8 words. Exciting. Read more.
Posted by JD Hull at 06:17 PM | Comments (0)
November 07, 2006
12 Rules of Client Service
The goal of the "What About Clients?" 12 Rules is outrageous client service--but the 12 Rules' way of getting there is to align the interests of clients and customers and service providers. They were derived from the "How To Practice Law" section of our firm's Practice Guide, written for associates and paralegals in 2000. The rules, like service itself, are not perfect, and can be improved. Promise: This model works--if you work at it. Follow these rules by building a disciplined culture at your shop where they are enforced and kept alive--and your clients and firm both get stronger and better together. You'll see repeat business. You'll make money. And assuming you have the talent pool, and the right people to do the work, you can steal and keep any good client you covet. No limits.
The Catch: Instituting the 12 Rules (as opposed to just following them) is very, very hard work, whether your firm already has a passion for customer service, or has been happy going from day to day with only the faintest sense of its mediocrity. Real client service is as difficult and as important as your day-to-day work. But the two must be merged:
1. Represent only clients you like.
2. The client is the main event.
3. Make sure everyone in your firm knows the client is the main event.
4. Deliver legal work that changes the way clients think about lawyers.
5. Over-communicate: bombard, copy and confirm.
6. When you work, you are marketing.
7. Know the client.
8. Think like the client--help control costs.
9. Be there for clients--24/7.
10. Be accurate, thorough and timely--but not perfect.
11. Treat each co-worker like he or she is your best client.
12. Have fun.
Copyright 2005 John Daniel Hull IV, Julie Elizabeth McGuire, Hull McGuire PC, All Rights Reserved.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Delia Venables: UK and Ireland
If you haven't seen it before, see Legal Resources in the UK and Ireland, by Delia Venables. This is a mainstay and well-regarded UK-Ireland law site. Law practice management, client service ideas, tech developments, other links, everything.
Posted by JD Hull at 05:47 PM | Comments (0)
November 05, 2006
Guess what? You're a salesperson.
Here's "Do You Consider Yourself a Salesperson?" by Tom Kane over at his blog, the consistently fine LegalMarketingBlog.com.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:25 PM | Comments (0)
A penny for the old Guy.
Charon QC, who like WAC? is un-PC and risks becoming an 'R', has reminded us that tonight is Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night. On this date in 1605, Fawkes tried to blow up King James I, Parliament, all its members and Westminster Palace in the Gunpowder Plot. Talk about thinking outside the box. The English, who for all their good manners share with Americans a picaresque, stick-it-to-The-Man sensibility about, well, The Man, have an affection for Fawkes.
So Fawkes appears in nursery rhymes, songs and poems. John Lennon sang about Guy's plot. Even T.S. Eliot, a naturalized Brit born in the U.S., gave the old guy a couple of nods in "The Hollow Men." Fawkes was the model for the "hero" in the 2005 Larry and David Wachowski movie V For Vendetta, starring Natalie Portman and John Hurt.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:26 AM | Comments (0)