Covers the specific business skills required to be a lawyer, including file management, time management, project management and finance. Every lawyer needs to understand what it means to be a lawyer and how to win business, build profits and make money for the firm.
Key features:
- Written for students, trainees and new lawyers using a conversational style
- Discusses what it means to be a lawyer and how to win business, build profits and make money for the firm
- Covers the specific business skills required to be a lawyer, including file management, time management, project management and finance
- Examines the current legal market from the point of view of someone just starting his or her career
- Case studies illustrate points from the text
- Discusses the professional requirements for lawyers
- Compares corporate structures, including partnerships, limited legal partnerships and limited companies
- Considers the practical skills needed to start advising clients, including how to open files, write engagement letters, speak to clients and how to avoid complaints
- Covers how to set fees, record time and delegate work
- Looks at how to choose goals and CPD
- Discusses how to give financial advice, how to read financial statements and provides a basic guide to the common taxes
- Examines how law firms manage risks and how to manage intellectual property
- Appendices cover standards of conduct and service, goal setting and a sample Gantt chart
