How to Shrink Lawyer Receivables CLE

How to Shrink Lawyer Receivables

April 2011

How to Shrink Lawyer Receivables

What You Will Learn

As a result of attending the workshop How to Shrink Receivables, lawyers will learn how to:

-Schedule actions to begin collect more of the existing past-dues

-Understand why old accounts receivable are toxic in numerous ways

-Approach late-paying clients without offending them

-Implement steps to for approaching each late amount, even the 'impossible' ones

-Adjust your methods for intake of new clients to create clear expectations for payment 'up front'

-Use three key metrics to monitor monthly gains in collections

-Identify and correct fee shrinkage in the three key areas

-Improve three areas of client communication that influence timely payment

Pre-work for Participants (Optional)

As a participant of this program, you have the option of bringing specific data on your practice for your private use and planning during the workshop exercises.

Tools for Follow-up

Workshop learning is supported with tools for use back at your firm, including :

-Checklists

-Guidelines

-A personal action plan that you develop during the workshop

Workshop Description

No lawyer likes to work for free, but that's what happens when accounts receivable become 60-90 days past due. Sadly, it is a myth that all good clients pay on time when satisfied with good and timely legal work.

Understandably, delays in paying are allowed sometimes for a client with legitimate reasons to delay, if eventual collection is certain. But, a legal practice can remain healthy and enjoyable only if clients pay in full and on time as the rule, not as the exception.

Contributing to the buildup in past due accounts is the fact that it is easier for most lawyers to discuss legal issues with clients than to discuss paying past due bills! But the workshop How to Shrink Receivables shows how to collect existing past due receivables by using professional, proven ways and still maintain good client relationships.

The workshop also shows how to manage future work and billings so that the receivables problem doesn't return. How to Shrink Receivables explores preventive methods for setting and managing client expectations, and how to head off the main causes of delayed payments. The workshop shows steps lawyers can take to get clients to consistently pay in full and on time in the future so the receivables problem stays away.

Agenda:

8:30 - 9:00 am - Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00 - 10:30 am - Programming

10:30 - 10:45 am - Networking Break

10:45 am - 12:00 pm - Programming

12:00 pm - Adjourn

I. Introduction:

A. Why don't all clients pay on time every time?

B. Private review of individual lawyers' pre-work and its role during the workshop.

II. How Accounts Receivable are Toxic to Six Key Areas of a Law Practice.

Profitability
Efficiency
Ability to collect full value
Morale and professional image
Firm / career growth

III. How to Analyze Receivables for Action:

What has worked /not worked for collecting past dues?
Test your Average Turnover Times:
Billing turnover time
Collection turnover time
Total average turnover time

IV. How To 'Solve' The Present Problem

How to contact each client professionally, tactfully, and effectively (A

checklist)

Assign one of 6 action tactics to each past due case. (citeria to weight)
Assign action to be taken on each case, with due date and person to act.

V. How to 'Prevent Recurrence' of A/R Buildup (An assessment)

Why just being a great lawyer is not enough without two other key skills

(and ways to develop them)

How is client 'intake' done? Three key expectations that are a 'must' to set 'up front'
How does 'work done' get recorded? (and how to handle un-billable time)
How often are bills issued?
How good is communication with clients, from beginning to end? (A

checklist)

Are utilization and realization percentages monitored monthly? (Guidelines for use)
What is done when a bill falls past due? (Guidelines for action)
H. Identify the invisible culprit: fee shrinkage, and what to do about it.

VI. Business Case for Managing Receivables

Four Rules of Professional Practice
Reasonableness of fees
Client communication
Diligence

Managing the non-lawyer employee

About the Presenter:

Gary Richards

Practice Management Consultant

Gary Richards designs and conducts CLE programs for state bar associations, tailored workshops for individual law firms and personal management skills coaching for attorneys. He is a member of the Duke Corporate Education Global Learning Network.

He addressed the American Bar Association's National Convention in Hawaii and has been on the program for the Young Lawyer's Chapter in Chicago and New Orleans. He addressed the state meeting of the Virginia Bar and has also presented his customized workshops to Bar Associations of Missouri, Nevada, Oregon, Massachusetts, Indiana, Virginia, Kansas, Nebraska, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, as well as to Washington Defenders Association, and the Cincinnati and Cleveland Bar Associations. He also conducted workshops for bar associations in eight Canadian provinces, and corporate in-house legal departments.

His most popular CLE courses for lawyers include: How To Get Work Done In A Law Firm, How to Keep Clients Happy (Profitable Client Service Skills), How to Reach Productive Agreements ( Day-To-Day Negotiating Skills), How To Conduct Productive Meetings, How to Write to be Read, How To Thrive As Legal Support Staff, and How to Shrink Accounts Receivable.

Richards is a graduate of Oklahoma State University and attended law school at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. He is a former Certified Financial Planner and a former member of the Association for Continuing Legal Education (ACLEA).