The E Myth Attorney by Michael Gerber::Quick Book Review and Summary

The premise of The E-Myth Attorney is that lawyers are trained in law, but not in how to run a small business. If lawyers want their law firms to function better, they need to work “on” their law firms, and not "in" them. Thus, this book is geared primarily at lawyers who are running large law firms with associates, paralegals, administrative assistants, and other staff members, but they still work as a practicing lawyer. The advice given is that this lawyer should implement changes that allow the lawyer to stop being a legal technician and instead focus on having a role as a legal-manager entrepreneur.   

In The E-Myth Attorney, Why Most Legal Practices Don’t Work and What to Do About It, by Michael Gerber, Robert Armstrong, J.D. and Sanford M. Fisch, J.D., (2010), John Wiley & Sons,  the authors have written a book that tells us why we should run our law practices as businesses but not much specific information is given on how we should implement this advice if we are starting from the ground floor up and have no staff.  Instead, we are given advice such as, “Build your business plan with business language and not practice language.”   

If you are interested in building a law firm as an enterprise, these pdf worksheets have helped some to clarify how to do that. Go to  northfieldenterprisecenter.com/wp-content/uploads/The-E-myth-WorkBook2.pdf

Also, more worksheets are available if you are willing to give up an email address at go.emyth.com/e-myth-mastery-worksheets

Primarily, this book is geared at getting lawyers to join a coaching program.  But there is some information that is useful even if you have no interest in joining the coaching program. If you will be hiring staff, Gerber advises creating systems to get things done that can be replicated with efficiency. Gerber suggests systems for developing leads, answering the phone, greeting clients, setting up the conference room, corresponding with clients, etc.  Every function should be documented and turned into a system so that if an employee leaves, a new employee can walk in, read the manual and know what to do and how to do it.  
  
Another good point made is that the cost of attracting a new client is 5 to 12 times greater than maintaining a current client, so if a law practice can keep old clients happy who continue to pay for services, it will likely be more profitable than a law firm that has constant client turnover. Also, by having systems in place that constantly monitor marketing activity, client conversion, deadlines, and financial information, a lawyer can make better decisions.   

The book also includes some tips that are useful even if you don’t have a large firm and have no interest in building a large firm, since after all, law is a business. But these are buried in a bunch of other information.

Rating $$$$ out of 5.  For some lawyers, this information will help them.  


Copyright @ 2016 Christine Esser
  
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