The Effective Lawyer

In this episode, Zinda Law Group CEO and founder, Jack Zinda talks about measuring your law firm and determining what matters.

Discussed in this Episode:

• What is a Scoreboard?
• Why does it matter?
• What are the best practices?
• Mistakes law firms make

What is a Scoreboard?

A scoreboard is simply a collection of data that provides a rounded view of the law firm and how it’s functioning as a whole, shared with a large group of people. This can include fees collected, demands sent, and other things. It can create what Jack calls “fame and shame”. It celebrates those who are doing well and it makes it known who is struggling or slacking.

Why Does it Matter?

Jack recounts a story of early in his career when the firm he was at was failing to get fees. He took a large amount of data and found out that certain lawyers were more productive than others and looked at where those certain attorneys were succeeding. By creating a data set for him to look at he was able to meet with the attorneys who were struggling, found their weaknesses and was able to coach them up to a higher standard, thus bringing the success of the entire firm up. That only lasted for a few months though and after a while Jack realized that performance would always improve when given the information, but then slump again. The solution? Keep that data available and in the open at all times.

What are the Best Practices?

Don’t just use data for data’s sake. Find out what data actually matters and motivates your team. Once you have the relevant data, use a side-by-side graph to show what their expectations are to give them a visual example of what they need to improve on. Then delegate to managers or assistants to continually pull data as new information comes in. Some people may find it disconcerting to find out that they are low on the scoreboard, so having steps in place to make sure that they get the resources they need to succeed is important.

Mistakes Law Firms Make

You don’t need to purchase expensive or fancy software. Programs can give you too many options and KPIs that can make things overwhelming and unnecessary. Things should be simple and clean. Don’t assume that people can decipher what the numbers mean. Color coding performance is much easier for a group to understand than getting them up to speed on why and how the numbers are what they are. Remember to announce this ahead of time so people don’t think that they’re in trouble.

You can reach Jack at:

[email protected]

512-246-2224

Discussed in this Episode:

• What are core principles?
• Zinda Law Group’s core principles
• Should your core principles evolve?
• How do you apply them?
• Holding your employees (and yourself) accountable

What Are Core Principles?

Your core principals are your “bill of rights” that all decisions are based on. A mission statement or “core purpose” describes who you are. Your core principles are the action steps to achieve that mission statement.

Zinda Law Group’s Core Principles

Jack breaks down how Zinda Law Group established their core principles and explains what they are. 1. Failure’s not an option: “By doing the little things right... that leads to really big results”. 2. It’s only the best: Everyone at the law firm must be an A player in their role. 3. We’re going to outwork our opponent: “if there’s a problem on a case, we’re not going to give up until we find a solution. 4. We all take out the trash: Everyone will be treated equally 5. We make data driven decisions.

Should Your Core Principles Evolve?

Revisit no less than once a year. Core principles shouldn’t be something that easily changes, but they should be reevaluated often and make tweaks when necessary. Look 10 years into the future, will your core principles make sense as your practice grows?

How Do You Apply Them?

Repeat them often. Bring up your core principles at every opportunity. Put your core principles in your job posting to keep the wrong people from applying. “The People Analyzer” is a tool they use to determine how consistent their employees are with their core principles and is also used to determine raises, hirings, firings etc.

Holding Your Employees (and Yourself) Accountable

One of the most difficult things to do is release an employee who is a great worker, but doesn’t mesh with company culture. Look in the mirror and make sure you’re adhering to your own values. If you aren’t following the practices core principles, then why would your employees? If no effort is made, releasing that “star” employee is the right thing to do.

You can reach Jack at:

[email protected]

512-246-2224

Links:

Trillion Dollar Coach

In this episode, the Zinda Law Group team discusses how to evaluate a case. A lot of the time, it’s not the case you take, but the case you don’t take, that can make or break your practice. Sharing their thoughts and experience with Jack is his law partner, Joe Caputo, one of the top litigators at the firm, Neil Solomon, and one of their all-stars, Christina Hagen, who litigates cases in Colorado and Texas.

How to evaluate a case

Deciding whether or not to take a case is one of the toughest parts of your job - you only have a tiny snippet of information on which you have to base your decision. So, how do you know whether the case is worth taking or not?

“When evaluating a case,” Jack says, “I think of liability damages. Is there a source of recovery? What do I think about the client? Who’s at fault and why? And damages. Are they hurt enough to warrant pursuing a claim?”

Consider also if you’re proud to represent the case, whether you’d feel confident working nights and weekends to represent them. Are you going to make a meaningful impact in their life?

“Is it going to be worth their while to have us go through our process to try to help them? Evaluating the facts and the circumstances and the damages and the source of recovery. It's just as important that you think about it from the client’s perspective.”

Sometimes, the best thing you can do for the client is not take the case.

Sorting fact from fiction

“Trust your instincts,” says Joe, “if it doesn’t sound right, it probably isn’t.”

You don’t want to get your hopes up that it’s a million dollar case only to wind up disappointed because you didn’t ask focused and direct questions:

• How did you leave the scene?
• Who was the first one there?
• Who called the police?

The clients aren’t out to deceive you, they could simply be mistaken, and if you don’t ask the right questions, you could misinterpret information.

“A lot of times when you sign up a case, you'll hear information from the client. If you don't verify it, that becomes an assumed fact in your head. And you could get six months, a year, two years into the case, and you never vetted that. And it actually wasn't a fact, it was just someone's opinion or hearsay that someone heard second, third, fourth hand,” says Chrissy.

Source of recovery

How do you identify if a case makes sense from a source recovery standpoint, especially when you don't know much about the case?

“The most important thing,” says Neil, “is to confirm the source of recovery, because it will determine your strategy and the timeframe in which you can try to get the case resolved.”

Look outside the box too for sources of recovery, don’t accept a blank space on a crash report where the insurance policy isn’t recorded. “That's also where dash cam and body cam footage can be really helpful too,” adds Chrissy.

Walk the scene

Always go to the scene and do your own investigation. Hire an expert in the field if you aren’t familiar with what you’re looking for.

“Whether it's how to build a hotel, or how the training process is related to operating a truck crane, or how to hang a chandelier, get an expert to talk to you about what could have gone wrong and who the parties are,” says Chrissy.

Go at a time when the incident occured so you can see what the situation might have been like - who else might have been there? Potential witnesses? And look for cameras.

Deciding whether to take the case

“I always approach it with a best case scenario, in terms of liability, damages and source of recovery. And then given that and how much money I can afford to spend on the case, can I file a lawsuit and conduct an investigation without taking a crazy risk?” says Neil.

Top tips for new litigators:

• Always meet the client in person or have Zoom meetings - you need to get a sense of who the person is.
• Ask focused and direct questions to make an informed decision.
• Determine the best case outcome.
• Sometimes turning down a case is the best thing you can do for a client.
• Be open and honest about how you conduct your investigation.
• You can’t change the facts once you’ve established them, you need to be able to think on your feet and change your game plan accordingly.

On today’s podcast:

• How to evaluate a case
• Sorting fact from fiction
• Determine source of recovery
• Deciding whether to take the case

Links:

• www.zdfirm.com
• Attorney John C. (Jack) Zinda
• Christina Hagen
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