It’s no secret that I use virtual assistants for a variety of tasks - actually, most of my administrative work is handled by a variety of competent professionals located around the world.

I get asked all the time about how I find my virtual assistants. The answer is complex - there are a ton of good resources out there, and each one has served a purpose at one time or another. It’s a frustrating process, but a fruitful one if engaged in properly.

I ran across this terrific post that brings together all of the best sources for VA help. take a look and bookmark it - it’s invaluable.

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We all find it difficult to motivate employees, partners and clients. We beg, plead, cajole and, in at least one instance of which I know, cry (yes, the boss invoked tears to get someone to do something - it was sad, and it didn’t work).

How do you do make someone do what you want? Simple, really - make them believe it’s in their best interests to do so.

On a cold Saturday in New York City, the world’s largest train station came to a sudden halt. Over 200 Improv Everywhere Agents froze in place at the exact same second for five minutes in the Main Concourse of New York City’s Grand Central Station. Grand Central is a hub of activity even on a slow day (and Saturday is not a slow day), serving over half a MILLION commuters, vacationers and residents each day.

Here’s the video:

So here’s the question - how did this group motivate 207 people to take part in this exercise? They gave them an idea, showed them how much fun it would be, and how many people would see their antics (over 9 million views on YouTube as of this writing, and counting), and then let them go. In other words, they appealed to the interests of the participants.

When you ask a paralegal to get something done, do you explain WHY it’s in their best interests to do so? How it will stop the client from calling every 20 minutes, how it will clear one more thing off the pile of work to be done, how the paralegal will be appreciated?

Or do you just toss it on their desk and say, “This has to get done today,” without more?

Consider answering the question, “What’s in it for me?” the next time you assign a project. It will go a long, long way.

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Let’s face it - you can’t work from home. You need a place to see your clients, somewhere to put your reams of paper and thick files. You cannot possibly get away with working from home.

Oh, and your place is too small. I mean, where would you possibly get anything done?

Maybe it works for a niche practice but certainly not yours. After all, you’re a respected lawyer - your clients demand to see you in the office, and those expectations must be met. Who would pay you if you told them that you work from home?

Losers work from home. Loners, people who won’t ever make much of their professional lives. They’re those lawyers who always look slightly beaten down, as if they’re carrying lead weights on their shoulders. Crumpled suits, scuffed shoes, battered briefcases. Jeez, you almost want to give them a dollar as you walk by.

I’m began writing this as I sat at my kitchen table, cup of coffee at my side along with a dirty breakfast plate (I promise, I’ll do the dishes!). The iPod was playing softly in the background, aptly enough “It Was A Very Good Year,” is just wrapping up. Though I maintain an outside home office (I work from a converted attic in a neighbor’s home), I typically stay at home for three days each week rather than slog down the street to my “real office.”

There is one reason for not working at home - fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of changing the way you think about your world. Fear of how people - your clients, your colleagues, your judges - perceive you.

Yes, it’s a different way of practicing law. A way that involves making the most of your world, of harnessing technology and making it work for you. And yes, you can do it.

But here’s why you don’t - because you have no confidence.

That’s right, I went there. I put it out on the table, and now everyone knows the truth. You don’t have enough confidence.

After all, do you measure your success by the number of bankruptcy cases you file each month? By the brand of suit that drapes lovingly over your shoulders? The type of bag you carry to court?

Try this on for size - you should measure your success by the net profit of your business, your client satisfaction, and your ability to spend time doing the things you love rather than the things you need to do.

Stick with me over the next little bit of time, I have a lot to say about this. But the time is late, and I won’t keep you up any longer. When next we speak, there will be ideas about managing your practice and your life . . . and maybe an announcement or two.

Stay tuned.

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Public.Research.Org recently published 1.8 million pages of copyright-free federal case law online, which is an incredible wealth of knowledge that has previously been beyond the reach of most attorneys without heavy Lexis and Westlaw bills. Now the company that provided it with those cases, Fastcase, unveiled an even larger free library of cases, statutes, regulations, court rules and legal forms. Called The Public Library of Law, it claims to be “the most comprehensive free resource for legal research online.”

PLOL includes all the federal cases Fastcase provided to Public.Research.Org, plus appellate cases from all 50 states from 1997 forward. In addition, it has statutes from all states, court rules from all states, regulations from selected states, the U.S. Code, the Code of Federal Regulations and federal court rules.

Thanks to Robert Ambrogi’s LawSites for pointing out this resource.

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Seth Godin, in a recent post, discusses the possibility that your clients may not have bad judgment. Rather, they act according to their belief systems. When looking through the lens of client relations in a consumer bankruptcy law office, the question becomes a compelling:

If your clients are unhappy, why do you think that is the case?

Many lawyers will respond that their clients have unrealistic expectations or are needlessly difficult. But if a client has unrealistic expectations that yield dissatisfaction with the services rendered, an easy fix becomes one of realigning those expectations to the way the firm operates.

The biggest complaint that clients have about their lawyers is that it is difficult to get the lawyer on the phone or to get a return call in a timely fashion.

It bugs them, and rightfully so. If a lawyer tells a client that they should call with any questions or problems, the client understandably expects to have a means of resolving those issues when they make the call. But the reality is that this is not always possible - client meetings, court appearances, and life get in the way of the lawyer being available 24/7/365.

One way to handle this is to take a few minutes with the client at intake and discuss your real policy with respect to handling phone calls. I always make it a point to let clients know that I answer the phone when I’m available but cannot physically be there all the time due to the fact that I have many clients with varying needs. You can follow this up by changing your voice mail message each morning to let the client know when you will be available on that day and when phone calls will be returned. In this way, you manage client expectations more effectively and give the client a way to know when they will be assisted by way of a response.

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