Practice Management in an Uncertain Economic Climate

by Miriam Maisonville

2008 was the year for the introduction of a number of new words – “bailout,” and not in the criminal law sense, “economic recovery” packages, “stimulus programs,” and the reintroduction of old words – “depression” and “recession.” How will the economy impact on our legal practices? What steps can we take to ensure a thriving practice? And what can the CBA do to assist using Practice Management tools in these uncertain times to help your practice?

The key in any uncertain economic time is trying to ensure that our practices are as recession-proof as possible. Critical to that, of course, is ensuring a steady stream of new working opportunities and new clients. Networking is the mantra of numerous employment coaches. The networking opportunities at events and Section meetings are invaluable to help you create your own networking group. For women, the CBABC Women Lawyers Forum is a fun way to connect with women from all areas of practice. We are told by the experts to get involved in our community. Participation in leadership opportunities in the profession include CBA committee work, serving on CBABC-appointed bodies and other volunteer opportunities. Volunteering helps to ensure that others know what you do in your practice and your calibre of work.

The CBA has a National Section also devoted to this end. The Practice Management and Technology Section is concerned exclusively with the business of the practice of law. Areas of focus are of course practice management and include: recruitment and retention of legal talent; marketing of legal services; pricing of legal services; e-lawyering and compensation systems for law firm partners and associates and for in-house counsel.

The CBABC is committed to offering the best for the profession. Our CBABC website home page, at a quick glance in early January, showed several different ongoing learning opportunities touching on practice management matters from Optimizing Accounting in Your Legal Practice, to a WLF dinner meeting and the upcoming Work Life Balance speaker series. Also posted were volunteering possibilities.

We’ve also heard it said numerous times – “work smarter, not harder.” One favourite time-saving tip is to never look at a document more than once – act on it. Read that email but once, before responding or filing or deleting it. Also today it is impossible to consider the area of practice management divorced from technology. This includes using laptops as much as possible and more importantly, developing a good electronic filing system for quick retrieval of important items. One of the most successful professional development courses at the CBA annual conference in Quebec City, concerned advanced emailing and use of BlackBerrys. The problem is finding the time to learn all the applications out there available to practitioners, and this is where the CBA can help by offering more courses such as those offered at the popular CBA mid-winter meeting.

But proper practice management and how-tos serve an even more important purpose. In a world where the federal government is warning of further losses to come, the proper management of your practice is not just smart but essential. It is also important for you so you can find the time to achieve a balance in your personal and professional life.

I wish you all the best for a prosperous and healthy 2009.

This article was published in the February 2009 issue of BarTalk. © 2009 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.