By Crystal Rockwood Welcome to the largest club of anonymous members who also hate networking. Many have good excuses for not doing it. If any of these are yours, this article may help. It is selling, and I hate selling. I don’t know anyone. I never know what to say. I get trapped in boring...Continue reading
By Crystal Rockwood It made sense when you brought in “Alex” for your client’s wage-and-hour case; he is, after all, the best employment lawyer you know. But after he suggested that the client hire your competition for another piece of business your firm hoped to get, there is no way in Hades you will ever...Continue reading
By Crystal Rockwood At a legal industry retreat where 25 attorneys from various firms and companies are discussing business outreach strategy, opinions about email etiquette fly around the room – many delivered like an unwelcome gift from a seagull. “No one cares if you sign your name or not to an email,” one attorney says...
By Crystal Rockwood You are about to exit the freeway when suddenly a white SLS Mercedes cuts you off, causing you to slam on your brakes and slosh your now-not-so-large coffee around the car. Moments later, as you pass the offending driver, you pause and let your fingers do the talking. Lucky you? Not if...Continue reading
By Crystal Rockwood Managing partners see it every day: A young attorney is corresponding with a key client by email, and things start to get tense. Then, instead of picking up the phone to call the client, the attorney fires off even more messages trying to explain his or her position. Meanwhile, the client’s responses...Continue reading
By Crystal Rockwood It is that time of year again where ample opportunities exist to build or blow up client and family relations. Can you avoid the “naughty list”? Certainly. Here are some tips for mastering awkward encounters. Particularly irksome to many attorneys is the holiday greeting. “It’s like walking on eggshells,” says William Shreve,...Continue reading
By Crystal Rockwood As legend goes, Ray Kroc of McDonald’s could not decide between two executives for a high-powered position so he took them both to lunch. When the food arrived, one executive immediately salted his food while the other, tasted it first. Kroc decided the executive who first assessed the situation rather than assumed...Continue reading