Your advice is always worth something

Look, friends, colleagues and others, a licensed, practicing lawyer knows a lot of valuable information. Sure, much of what they know is freely available on the Internet, at Legalzoom, Justia or Google. But how that information affects a person's life, business or money can't usually be determined by the average person.

Legal training makes it possible for a lawyer to determine what information actually matters in a situation, and how to make that info work. That skill is worth paying for and, above all, charging for.

All the information knowable about the workings of a modern automobile is published in shop manuals. Does that mean getting a car problem diagnosed or repaired is, or should be, free? Of course not. How about a pain in the back? There are diagnostic websites, anatomy texts, all the substance of modern medicine available to anyone with an internet connection. Does that mean a medical diagnosis should be had for nothing? Again, the answer is obvious.

The same is true for legal problems. Any person who has ever had a cold can tell if someone else has one. How many people can suggest a case of adverse possession off the top of their head?  Only a lawyer would know.

Please value your education, experience and training. If attorneys keep giving away "free initial consultations" they devalue every other piece of advice they may give, as well as the advice and effort of other lawyers, everywhere.

Good legal advice is worth paying for, and price tells clients that they are getting something of value. Be valuable from the moment you start listening to a set of facts. 

Service

Tony Robbins is a globally recognized author and motivational speaker. He has risen to, and has access to, the highest echelons of society. He appears as avid a student as he is a teacher. More than that, he seems to be a decent, sincere man.


In his recent book "Money: Master the Game" he infrequently and obliquely discusses his own path to success. It is in those passages one finds little nuggets of wisdom. There is no doubt that the success Robbins has had came with some difficulty and challenges. His offhand remarks in that book  provide some useful insight on how to become more valuable.  One observation of his was particularly resonant with me as a seeker of success in life, and in the practice of law.


"How do I serve the greatest number of people?" he asked himself. That is the question that woke me in the wee hours this morning. How can I serve more people as a lawyer?


I have been actively searching for opportunities to make money in my law practice and in other areas of business.  It is a difficult challenge to look for these "opportunities." They are like the fabled jackalopes. There are no obvious markers and they are not easily seen. They take on varying colors and are as wispy as smoke---until you understand what they are at their source. That is where Robbins made the connection and asked the right question: How do I serve the most people?


That is the heart of opportunity. It is providing a service to those in need of a solution.


This focus point makes it far easier to actively seek out opportunities and even stumble upon some. As you look around your practice and the needs of your clients,and those who could be your clients, ask yourself how can you best serve them. That may be all that you need to focus your advice, your marketing efforts and your capital. With this insight in mind, I am going to focus on casting all of my efforts as service. In this mindset, I will be providing value as a matter of course.


It is not enough to ask how can I make money from this contract, dispute or transaction. It is the epitome of value to provide a useful service. If what you provide does not serve your client or customer, then it has little value and will likely be wasted time, or the source of dissatisfaction.

Serve first and serve many.

The low hanging fruit of the FLSA is gone.

I filed my first FLSA collective action in 2001. That was the boom time. The previously unsexy wage and hour claim had come to life. Plaintiffs' counsel were recognizing the great value of statutory attorney fees under a remedial statute coupled with a whole lot of unsuspecting employers.  Life was good and lucrative for more than a decade.


Now though, most employers of any size or sophistication are aware of the risks from unpaid OT or misclassification. Plaintiffs are relegated to rooting around in the cast-off theories of recovery. Big, valuable defendants are mostly gone.  


This well has been worked. Until there is a fracking analogue for FLSA claims, something that can pull more recoveries out of old theories, it is probably time to pull in the pipes and move on.


I know, I know. More than 8,400 FLSA cases were filed in 2012. It's popular. It's booming. How many were filed in 2001? Less than a 1,850. See, http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/660319.txt.  A 450% gain in a decade is quite a run.


But borrowing a phrase from the investment world: When everyone goes to one side of the ship, it's time to go to the other side. The Johnny-come-lately staffing by employer defense firms over the past two or three years seals it for me. By the time the Ogletree Deakins of the legal world got on board big time, the top in FLSA claims was near.


For lawyers looking for valuable practice areas, and I am speaking only from personal experience and my own observation-based opinion, the FLSA is played out. There are better opportunities elsewhere.