Focusing on the Win

We all like to think of ourselves as good, strategic attorneys. But perhaps the most dramatic difference I have seen in my business model is that it really does encourage the right things. When the hourly model defines a firm’s culture, even the best attorneys wake up in the morning thinking about hours. A better business model for law firms creates a culture where lawyers wake up in the morning thinking "how do I win my clients case today."

Because we define a client’s case upfront, including the deliverables and benchmarks, it is much easier to focus on those benchmarks day to day.

It is really easy to simply go through the motions as an attorney in the hourly billing system. In litigations matters, the court enters a scheduling order, there is discovery and eventually a trial. You could sleep walk the whole thing, meet all your hourly billing targets and perhaps even win the case at the end of the day. Bu a better business model identifies and documents right out of the gate, exactly which issues the lawyers believes will win the case. This means that a lot of work needs to go in on the front-end. The lawyer simply executes the strategic tasks which they have already shared with the client as the ones that will make the most difference.

Does your firm wake up in the morning focused exclusively on the single issue of how to win your client’s case each and every day?