What is the meaning of law practice management today?

In the Jan./Feb 2017 issue of Law Practice Magazine, I try to briefly provide a framework of the basics in my column, the Four Corners of Law Practice Management. Can you guess my four corners? Well, most members of the ABA Law Practice Division can. The Division undertook a study to determine how to define law practice management and these four core areas emerged.

I think I will force the rest of you to click over to our fine digital magazine and discover the four corners.

I will note that one of the corners is marketing and this issue is the Marketing issue of Law Practice Magazine. Marketing is a topic of great interest to many lawyers today. So this entire issue is worth a read. I'll single out three of the many fine pieces. The Lawyer's Internet Marketing Tool Kit by Jason Marsh is a great outline of a number of tools. If you feel behind the curve on online marketing, you wouldn't want to miss this one. How an Introvert Can Build a Thriving Practice by Anne E. Collier is a great treatment of a subject rarely discussed. Everyone can feel like an introvert at times. This is a well-written piece with a lot of great ideas.

Here's a special shout out for my friend, Tom Mighell, on his column, Blogging for Lawyers, Part 1; Choosing the Right Platform. I think a lot of lawyers should be giving blogging another thought. There is a lot of content online now, but lawyers can still demonstrate their expertise by publishing short essays online. That is what lawyer blog posts should be −short essays, often including links to source material. A blog can give you a tool that makes it easy to create your content, then you can push the content out via social media, email, links to it from the firm website or email newsletters. But, hopefully, others will note your good content and share with their group.

Tom's article also demonstrates the challenge of writing for print publications today. He notes Medium as a potential platform. I love the way stories are visually displayed on Medium and had thought about giving it a try myself. But a few days ago, Medium announced major layoffs with office closings and the messages about restructuring were less than clear. It may yet turn into a better venue for smaller firms and solos to post, but at this point it is best to wait and see.