Time is Money: 9 Products to Help Improve Your Revenue Stream |
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Amo ng the many words of wisdom attributed to American statesman Benjamin Franklin is the famous quote, “Remember that time is money.” This advice was given in the context of avoiding idleness (and therefore wasting money), but if Franklin were alive today, I’d be willing to wager a bill bearing his image that his recommendation to accounting firms would be to invest in a good time and billing software.
Read more at CPA Practice Advisor...
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 It seems that there is just no end to the patent litigation between ICT industry giants – and for good reason. Not only has patent litigation become an effective means of raising revenue for both patent trolls and legitimate businesses but it has also become an effective means of trying to squeeze competitors.
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 The purchase price of a PBX is seldom an indication of its cost.
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The "Perfect Law Firm Website" |
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 Google Co-founder Larry Page once described the "perfect search engine" as something that "understands exactly what you mean and gives you back exactly what you want." We can't claim that Google delivers on that vision 100 percent today, but we're always working on new technologies aimed at bringing all of Google closer to that ideal.
Read more at Law Marketing Monitor...
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 It is a little known fact, but even legal costs consultants are often shocked by the costs incurred at the expense of litigants. On occasion, the legal costs incurred towards resolving a controversy is closer to an abomination than actual relief sought, and it seems that many practitioners do not consider two basic principles of the office they hold, being:
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 SARS has received a number of enquiries regarding the correct use of the tax fraction when completing the VAT201 declaration. The reason some confusion has arisen is that the introduction of an enhanced VAT system on 27 May 2011, as part of the modernisation of the VAT process, included a new automated process of using the tax fraction in accordance with Section 66 of the VAT Act.
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 Taking care of your customers is good business. This tenet has held true since humans first began bartering. But in the age of the Internet, those handshakes that were once the bread and butter of customer relations have been replaced by emails and social networking. Enter Customer Relationship Management.
Read more at More Clients Less Selling...
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Paddocks, the spe cialist sectional title training company, has created an innovative online platform that employs cutting-edge technology to make learning sectional titles even easier. Paddocks Club is a fully interactive online community filled with resources and information, all made accessible through the Navigator, the advanced search tool.
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How to Prevent 'The End of Lawyers' |
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 In his book "The End of Lawyers," Richard Susskind paints a picture of a changing marketplace for legal services, where the traditional approach to delivering legal advice, one client and matter at a time through direct personal contact between partners and clients, is being augmented and, in some cases, supplanted by packaged legal services. Susskind, a UK-based legal industry observer, argues that legal IT will play a crucial role in enabling future methods of legal services delivery.
Read the full article in Law.Com
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 Over the past few years, social media has ballooned from a small, emerging market into a major force in the online marketing and advertising space. However, those who lived through the dotcom boom-and-bust cycle can't help asking whether we are about to see another bubble burst.
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 It is somewhat strange that despite hundreds of years of formal legal development, there is still much uncertainty around the rather complex relationship between counsel, attorney and their mutual client; the litigator. Rather more pertinent is the question: "who is ultimately responsible for counsel's fee: is it the instructing attorney, the litigator, or both"?
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 Most law firms are missing out on one of the least expensive and most effective opportunities to promote their services. In an age where conventional advertising methods no longer work, firms need to use their existing relationships (clients) to sell their services, and promote their firm.
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An experienced hand-at-law once told me that it was his experience over the years that when a lawyer's services are needed, almost anything will be promised in exchange for that service required. Author of "The Legal Practitioner's Handbook on Costs", Albert Reinecke shares some of his views on billing and also offers a copy of the book to a lucky winner who answers the question correctly at the bottom of the article.
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 There was a time when the phrase "works well with others" belonged primarily in school report cards. But today, working together is at the heart of productivity in business.
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 It is called "Leaving Money on the Table", when you could charge more for your services, but you don't for whatever reason. The extra revenue which you could generate without doing anything extra, with very little resistance from your clients, is "money left on the table."
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 Aim to win more business and learn how to make your business work so that you don't have to!
• Do you want I grow your business profitably?
• Do you want control of your time?
• Do you want to stay with your top clients?
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 In our previous issue we gathered information from attorneys and worked out the average salaries for the country. We thought that a natural progression of the salary review would be to determine the average hourly rate per area of practice for every region in South Africa.
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 We have come to the end of our salary review. The statistic that stood out for me was the fact that there are extremes to this salary survey, the majority are below the R10 000 bracket and the second most popular bracket are people who earn in excess if R80 000. I was surprised to see such feedback from the senior partners.
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 I was asked the other day what a law firm should look for when choosing a legal accounting system. The answer wasn't what I expected, although it was surprisingly logical when I thought about it. In South Africa, most legal accounting systems have been around for many years - so they are not only full-featured, they have also proven themselves over the test of time.
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Secretary Salary Survey Reminder |
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 Our salary survey started off with a huge bang, but has slowed down considerably in the last couple of days. Remember that it is vital that we get a good number of people clicking the survey, the higher the number of votes the more accurate the results will be and the better for all. Please ask your colleagues to take part in the survey, maybe they don’t get a copy of Tech4Law. Click here to take you to the survey.
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 Recent amendments to s11D of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 (Act) signify wholesale changes in the way research and development (R&D) activities will be interpreted going forward. Until 31 March 2012, taxpayers are allowed to claim a deduction of 150% for qualifying R&D costs relating to the discovery of novel, practical and non-obvious information, subject to certain compliance requirements being met.
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 Not a great number of votes but it seems the majority agree that a law firm should close over the festive period, but …
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 The national backlog in obtaining rates clearance certificates is currently at an all-time high, something that has caused major delays in the finalisation of property sales throughout the country. Korbitec recently announced the launch of their new Payment Solutions service, designed to expedite and simplify the property transaction process for sellers and conveyancers alike.
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How To Book Legal Speaking Engagements Without Making Cold Calls |
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 Regular speaking engagements are a key piece of any good legal marketing strategy. The more you can get out and educate the public about your practice area and the value of your services, the more quality leads you'll see flowing into your law firm.
Read more at Legal Marketing Maven...
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 A number of surprises, being unintended consequences of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) have arisen, which will be explored in this and subsequent articles. Today I want to talk about why it is important to ensure the quality of your supplier is the best you can afford.
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It Shouldn’t Suck to be an Associate at a Law Firm |
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 Improving the quality of associates' lives and job satisfaction enhance a law firm's profitability. A user's guide for law firms. At a recent cocktail party, I bumped in to an old friend, Murray. We exchanged pleasantries and small talk, and the conversation turned to the economy and business. Murray told me that too many of his partners were ignoring the manufacturers' guides for utilizing these assets as soon as they were acquired, demanding more production from them than could be reasonably expected and the result was that they simply collapsed after three or four years.
Read more at Kowalski & Associates Blog
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2010: A Record Year for Cybersquatting Arbitration |
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 Arbitration cases involving allegations of cybersquatting, or improper use of trademarks in internet domain-name registrations, hit record levels last year at the two organizations that handle most of the disputes.
Read more at the LTN web site
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It is perhaps not a very well-known fact, but there is considerable scope to draw and argue a bill of legal costs, in South Africa. Where the bill is either assessed or taxed, there are a multitude of factors that influence the cost and price of legal services rendered, and it is often quite inappropriate to arbitrarily apply a tariff /rule on how an item presented will be dealt with by a taxing official. However, guidelines are always welcome, and any taxing official may be swayed on good argument presented.
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 Ken Strutin writes that social media is an exciting and creative way to connect, share information, and build communities. And the internet is becoming predominant as the marketplace where the daily transactions of life are conducted.
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 PRLog - Korbitec's Attorney Activity Index indicates that current South African property sector sluggishness is set to continue over the medium term. Analysis of the volume of instructions lodged by attorneys show that the South African property sector isn't due for any major changes in the near future.
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Your Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words |
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 We talked here before about what you should do with your biography on your website. I have strong opinions about what generates business and what doesn't. Is it possible that your website picture matters more than your bio?
Read more at Divorce Discourse
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Computing Needs: CRM technology for law firms |
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 Client Relationship Management (CRM)technology is acquired by law firms beginning at about 15 to 20 attorneys to improve the process of sending out e-mails, letters and publications to clients and prospective clients. However, an equally important benefit from CRM technology is how the same contact in more than one attorney's Microsoft Outlook folder is kept up to date.
Read more.....
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Like any advice columnist, I write what I know. And right now, I know what it is like to be a new partner at a firm - and pregnant. While this column applies more to my female readers, I encourage the men to read it. It may provide some perspective into the world of your pregnant colleagues.
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Cloudy Forecast in the Am Law Tech Survey 2010 |
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 With consumer-centric devices making lawyers more tech friendly, but IT operating budgets mostly flat: Is the glass half-full or half-empty? We confess: Interpreting the results of this year's survey of law firm technology departments -- our fifteenth -- was a somewhat maddening task. On one hand, it was easy to take a glass-half-full view of the results: Capital budgets are ticking back up... Read more.....
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How to kill a law firm... |
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 There's a story told about Jack Welch, former GE president - it might be from one of his books, or it might be apocryphal; quite possibly it's both. The story goes that soon after he took over the company, he called in his vice-presidents and other senior people and advised them that countless smaller companies and start-ups were out there gunning for GE, hoping to take down the top dog by finding the chinks in its armour and exploiting them. He directed his people to locate these companies, identify the disruptive innovations they were coming up with, and prepare defences against them.
Read more....
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 All too often we follow the pattern of what others have done when designing our own website. One needs to think about what your prospective client will want from your website. I very much doubt that they will be interested in the number of awards you have accumulated over the years; they will be more interested in finding out your hourly rate.
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 A few weeks ago Shamaa Sheik published an article in Law24.com which spoke about the importance of online directory listings to market your law firm. We thought that a practical extension to that article would be to see which online directory listings are available for the South African attorneys, what sort of followings they have and what the listing would cost.
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 There are many directories on the market geared at helping organisations generate business leads. And whilst directories can really help to promote your business, listing your law firm on the right directory is the most important decision you will ever make when setting up your new practice. Recently the legal industry's reliance on digital solutions has reached a tipping point, and worldwide there is a growing demand for sophisticated online research and marketing tools.
Read more...
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 The secretary/paralegal salary survey that was conducted in the last few weeks worked very well and we were able to establish quite a bit of interesting and important information from the results. We would like to extend the survey to the attorneys/partners of the firms of South Africa. As before the survey is completely anonymous and no private information is gathered on the short survey. There are 4 simple questions which mean 4 mouse clicks and should not take more than 4 seconds to complete. Nobody like to a "nosy parker" which this survey may be seen as being, but it really is not, the information once gathered will be a useful tool when next wondering what the right salary for a position in your firm will be. Click here for the attorney salary survey.
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Over half of consumers expect good law firms to offer legal services online |
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 A majority of consumers expect good law firms to offer their services online in the next couple of years, a survey of over 2,000 people has shown. The online poll, carried out by YouGov* on behalf of Epoq Legal also revealed that nearly half (47%) of consumers would be more likely to choose a law firm that offered the convenience of online access to legal services and documents over one that had no online service capability.
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