Sometimes, I Just Don’t Care About The Client’s Damn Budget
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | May 1, 2025 A young lawyer named Eve called me today about a fee dispute. She had quoted an hourly rate without providing an estimate and issued an interim bill for the time spent. The client did not think it should have cost that much […]
A Masterclass on Quoting Fees For Lawyers Who Bill by the Hour
By Murray Gottheil | April 28, 2025 Estimating is what you do when you don’t know ~ Sherman Kent A young lawyer named Eve called me today. She had made the same mistake I had made numerous times in my first years of practice. She quoted an hourly rate for reviewing and reporting on a draft […]
A Matter of Trust
Photo by Liza Summer at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | April 16, 2025 Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.~ Stephen Covey A Canadian grocery chain has just announced that it will launch a new brand to sell low-priced groceries in Canada. […]
Murray’s Masterclass in Managing Client Expectations
By Murray Gottheil | March 9, 2025 Photo by Max Fischer at Pexels At My First Rodeo Client (C): We need to close this transaction in two weeks. Murray (M): That is impossible. C: The vendor said that his lawyer told him that deadline is perfectly reasonable. Why are you creating roadblocks? If you cannot get […]
A Sucker’s Game
By Murray Gottheil | February 13, 2024 Imagine the following scenario: Jordan is a third year associate with Big Law targets. He typically achieves that target and receives a bonus of $18,000. He is also paid 10% of the billed and collected business that he brings in. Despite the “reasonableness” of the target, Jordan is […]
Gladly Suffering Fools
By Murray Gottheil | February 10, 2025 Back in the day, before I became as warm, compassionate, empathetic, and all-around loveable as I am today, I had a reputation as someone who did not suffer fools gladly. There were even a few people around the office who found me to be intimidating. Of course, self-awareness not […]
Zero is the Loneliest Number
By Murray Gottheil | January 23, 2025 In law firms, more zeros are better than fewer zeros. For example, announcing, “Look at me! I just closed a $100,000,000 acquisition” impresses your colleagues more than saying, “I just did a deal worth $10,000,000.” A deal that was only worth $965,000 is not even worth mentioning. Frankly, it is almost […]
Let’s Talk About Recruiters
By Murray Gottheil | January 15, 2025 Lawyers struggle to attract talent who are both capable and a good fit for a firm’s culture. If only there were consultants whom firms could retain and candidates could work with who understand the market, the culture in different firms and practice groups, the current salaries being paid by […]
Retirement For Young and Old Lawyers: Part Eight – The Final Chapter
By Murray Gottheil | January 6, 2025 I’m not sure I can say there is a clean line between me as an individual and me as a lawyer – Anita Hill Retiring may be difficult for many lawyers, because too often lawyering is not only what we do, but who we are. You cannot retire from […]
Retirement For Young and Old Lawyers: Part Six
By Murray Gottheil | December 18, 2024 Husband: “Green Acres is the place to be . . . keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside.” Wife: “New York is where I’d rather stay. I get allergic smelling hay. I just adore a penthouse view. Dah-ling, I love you, but give me Park Avenue.” – Lyrics by Vic […]