Un-Billable Hour: Business Management Strategies for the Busy Lawyer

In this episode’s discussions around the Community Table:

Mentioned in This Episode:

Danielle Hendon, previously on the Un-Billable Hour, “Is Your Small Firm Missing A Chief Financial Officer? Rent One.”

4 Corners CFO, “A Framework to Reveal Your Path to Profit”

The Un-Billable Hour, Legal Talk Network

Quickbooks

Clio Legal Trends Report

Clio

Cliocon 2025

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Let’s talk about technology and how it fits into your practice. Fact is, the old yellow pad and document boxes are no longer your friends. Your clients expect you to use technology to be more efficient and effective. 

Guest Richard “Rich” Dukes Jr. has gone paperless. So has his entire South Carolina law firm. Today’s tech drives efficiency whether that’s in document review, witness preparation, or even courtroom presentation. 

Hear how Dukes evaluates each evolution of tech tools, how he decides if they will truly elevate his productivity, and how easy they will be to introduce to his colleagues and incorporate them into his practice. 

Time is an attorney’s most valuable commodity. Technology can give you more time. Coming next, AI. Dukes has some ideas of where artificial intelligence may upend the next generation of legal tech tools. Put down the pen and pad and start working smarter today. 

Mentioned in This Episode:

Notability

TrialPad 

OpenAI

Perplexity AI

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In this episode’s discussions around the Community Table:

Mentioned in This Episode:

Moneyball, what your firm can learn about ROI from a movie about baseball

Google local search ads, be better

Tips for better Google reviews

Listen to the On The Road episode featuring Joshua Lenon 

Clio Legal Trends Report

Clio For Clients app

Cliocon 2024

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Guest Shaun Jardine is an unapologetic disrupter in the world of pricing and billing by lawyers and law firms. He’s leading the charge to move from traditional billable hour pricing – charging for time – to the emerging revolution of value-based pricing. Charge for the results you achieve for your clients, not the time you spent getting there.

Are you still charging for time? Why not base your pricing on your experience, your wisdom, your education, the outcomes your clients want, and everything you bring to the table. Clients don’t want your time, they want their problems solved.

It’s not “the way we’ve always done things,” but Jardine explains why change is inevitable. As technology, notably AI, accelerates the practice of law, why should a lawyer charge less – fewer billable hours – for achieving results faster and more efficiently? 

The move to value-based pricing isn’t like flipping a switch. It will take effort, and it will involve your entire team, from HR to marketing, to lawyers and paralegals. But in a changing world, sticking with the old ways may not be an option. This fascinating conversation will ignite your curiosity and challenge you to think differently. 

Mentioned in This Episode:

Charles Proteus Steinmetz

“Ditch The Billable Hour! Implementing Value-Based Pricing in a Law Firm,” by Shaun Jardine

American Bar Association Rule 1.5: Fees

RACI methodology of change management (free download)

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In this episode’s discussions around the Community Table:

Mentioned in This Episode:

Clio Legal Trends Report

Clio For Clients app

Cliocon 2024 (discount code, “actfast”)

Google Chat

Vonage

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How are you doing? Not you, personally, your business. Do you know? Because many small businesses, including small law firms, don’t have a true CFO, someone who doesn’t just do your taxes, but who helps you understand your business, your bottom line, and your future. 

Danielle Hendon is the founder and CEO of 4 Corners CFO, bringing the benefit of “big business” financial analysis to entrepreneurs and business owners at a cost they can afford. She and her firm are “fractional CFOs,” providing the analysis and planning you need to stabilize your business, develop consistent revenue models, and grow with a goal in mind. 

Hendon helps businesses, like yours, evaluate where they are, how things are doing, what your “real profit” is, and how to set and move toward goals. 

Allocating overhead, hiring, understanding gross and net profit, and growing with purpose is all doable. Hear about “bottom-up budgeting,” understanding cash flow forecasts and how a CFO, even a part time CFO, can help spot red flags and build the pillars that will lift your business. 

Mentioned in This Episode:

4 Corners CFO

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In this episode’s discussions around the Community Table:

Mentioned in This Episode:

Constant Contact

Hubspot

Zoho CRM

Keap

Clio Grow

Lawmatics

“Origin and Meaning of the Word Lagniappe” 

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In this special, high-energy episode, we’re getting down and dirty and talking about fixing your firm. Consider this is a “visit to the doctor.” What’s ailing your firm? Guest RJon Robins is the founder and CEO of the firm How To Manage A Small Law Firm. He fixes things. Get real about the cost of client acquisition, marketing, revenue building, financial control, and finally your life as a business owner. 

Start with knowing that when you hang out a shingle, you run a business. You just happen to be a lawyer. Lots of lawyers have gone through what you’ve gone through. How do you turn your passion for the law into a profitable business? 

Hear how you can focus on the fundamentals of running a real business. Law firms are simple, at their core. Don’t overthink it. Lawyers have been running businesses for a thousand years. Learn the core nuggets that will drive your business. No fads, just the honest realities of business. No excuses. 

Learn how your firm can serve you, instead of you sacrificing for your firm. Get fired up, take charge, and get ahead.

Mentioned in This Episode:

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Profit First for Lawyers, by RJon Robins

RJon Robins Podcast

How To Manage A Small Law Firm, Free Resources

In this episode’s discussions around the Community Table:

Mentioned in This Episode:

Legal Soft

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Law firms often focus on revenue generation, client retention, and financial performance. But guest Tracy LaLone says true success is driven by the (very real) people who work at the firm. Firms that fail to engage and recognize their people, she says, can never reach their full potential. 

LaLonde is a corporate trainer who focuses on engagement within law firms. She has more than 30 years’ experience in corporate training and helps firms focus on the involvement, commitment, and enthusiasm workers feel for their workplace. 

Surveys show only 30% of American workplaces are considered “engaged.” So, there’s room to grow if you know how important engagement is to your firm’s success. How eager are employees to get to work each day? How valued do they feel? Are you focusing on billable hours at the expense of your team’s wellbeing and sense of purpose? 

LaLonde explains how she targets law firm burnout and underperformance through her Hierarchy of Engagement, a pyramid of workforce factors including pay, performance, and perks; work/life balance; and a shared purpose. Learn key tips you can put to work at your firm today to nurture engagement and achieve peak performance.

Mentioned in This Episode:

“The Joychiever Journey: Evade Burnout, Surpass Your Goals and Out-Happy Everyone” by Tracy LaLonde

Joychiever Hierarchy of Engagement 

Joychiever Quiz: Are You a Good Manager?

“First, Break All the Rules,” and other titles from Gallup

ALM

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