The client's view of a lawyer is often formed and cemented long before the actual legal work ever gets underway. Yet many lawyers give little thought to those first impressions that will affect every aspect of the lawyer-client relationship. Here's what you can do to make a positive impact on clients from day one.

As long ago as the early 1990s, leading trading associations in the United States began warning their members of impending shortages in the labour force. Employers were exhorted to focus on labour training, development and recruitment to address the ever-shrinking pools of skilled industry employees.

Want to make your firm stand out from the crowd? Work to differentiate your services and your image from everyone else.

Lawyers may not view the iPad as a viable laptop substitute today, but that may change with the development of new apps.

The legal profession is feeling the effects of the economic downturn, but there are steps you can take to lessen the impact. From renegotiating what you pay for office supplies to reevaluating compensation, here are the top 10 tips for survival, including a checklist for your firm.

After a meeting with his or her lawyer, a client often leaves thinking that somehow, they are not on the same wavelength. The lawyer seems to have the ins and outs of the case down pat, but there remains a lingering doubt in the client's mind.

In 2007, first-year associate salaries in the U.S. topped $160,000 in 2007, as big-city firms tried to out-bid each other for the brightest law school graduates, while also trying to keep their best lawyers on staff with healthy pay raises and attractive bonuses. What a difference a year makes: today’s talk of recession has dampened speculation about the next big pay raise, and associates are under the microscope to justify such big salaries.

he 2.0 idea can be applied to virtually anything in the lawyer’s life and practice, and that includes the most basic element of all – the relationship with the client. Without clients there is no reason to be a lawyer. Lawyers don’t just practice law, they serve clients.

Lawyers, like most business people, often have difficulties in having their accounts paid. In theory, lawyers should have a big advantage in that the ability to hold funds in trust should ensure a 100% recovery of fees and disbursements. The reality is that we often cannot get sufficient retainers in advance and alternatives must be explored.

An interview with Ari Kaplan, author of Reinventing Professional Services: Building Your Business in the Digital Marketplace (Wiley, 2011)