The "New Normal" or "Back to the Future" - Where Do You Fit?

One thing is clear:  Our lives have changed since 2007 and so has the legal profession. Thousands of lawyers have been “fired,” not just laid off. Law school graduates cannot find jobs and have to start their own practices if they want to stay in the profession. The top-tier law firms are experiencing client demands as never before as well as competition from smaller firms, sole practitioners and even non-legal resources offering commodity services that do not require lawyers to get the job done.  Furthermore, technology has entered the picture as never before, making many lawyers’ work a commodity at best and extraneous at worst.
 
Where do you fit in this scenario?  Is this the “New Normal” and you’re O.K. with it? Or is it “back to the future” and you feel like starting over, but can’t? Our speakers, Bob Denney and Ed Poll, are experienced consultants who will take a pragmatic look at the legal profession today and where its future seems to be taking us because, like almost everything else in our lives, it will change still further.

Can you not only survive and even thrive, in the future and, if you can, how? That is the question we will address.

Edward Poll, J.D., M.B.A., CMC
With over four decades of professional experience, Ed’s extensive background in business and law have made him one of the nation’s most sought-after experts in law practice management. Ed regularly shares his insights with attorneys across the United States by coaching, consulting, presenting popular workshops, creating practical DVDs and CDs and by contributing to several legal publications throughout the country.

Ed practiced law for 25 years. Since 1990, he has been the principal of LawBiz® Management, a Venice, CA-based firm that collaborates with lawyers to increase their revenue and net profits, and reduce their stress. He coaches and consults attorneys throughout the country in the areas of starting and operating a law practice, strategic planning, profitability analysis, and practice development.
Ed also offers the Practice Management Institute on April 20-21, 2012. Get more information at www.lawbiz.com.

Ed has authored and produced an entire catalogue of books and practical guides concerning The Business of Law®. His most recent book, Secrets of The Business of Law®, 2nd ed., and Growing Your Practice in Tough Times (West Pub. Co. 2010), respond to the concerns lawyers currently face following the financial crisis. His other books include The Profitable Law Office Handbook (1996), Attorney & Law Firm Guide to The Business of Law, 2nd ed. (ABA 2002), Collecting Your Fee: Getting Paid from Intake to Invoice (ABA 2003), and Business Competency for Lawyers (2006).

Ed is a Fellow, College of Law Practice Management®, Board Certified Coach to the Legal Profession, SAC®, and a charter member of the Million Dollar Consulting® Hall of Fame.

Bob Denney is widely respected for his knowledge of the legal profession, his innovative counsel to law firms and his guidance in implementing the changes they need to make.

He graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. degree in English
Literature and later did post-graduate work at the Wharton School towards an MBA. In 1974 he founded Robert Denney Associates, Inc., a firm that has provided leadership, management, marketing, and strategic growth expertise to over 800 law firms, offices and legal organizations throughout the United States as well as in parts of Canada and the Caribbean.

Bob has written five books on management and marketing, two of which were published by
the American Bar Association. He writes the Trendsreport column for Law Practice
magazine and his articles have appeared in The National Law Journal, Law Firm Partnership & Benefits Report and Legal Management. He has been interviewed by many publications including the ABA Journal, Philadelphia Inquirer and The New York Times and has conducted webinars and national TV seminars on law firm management and marketing. Twice a year his firm publishes the highly regarded reports on “What’s Hot and
What’s Not in the Legal Profession.”

He has addressed conferences sponsored by law firm networks, The American Lawyer, the ABA, the Canadian Bar Association, the Law Society of British Columbia, the Association of Legal Administrators, the Legal Marketing Association and numerous state bar associations. He has also been a guest speaker at several law schools.
In the first phase of his career, Bob was President and Chief Executive Officer of a national cosmetics company and worked closely with Congress and various regulatory agencies. Along with Ralph Nader, he testified before a Senate sub-committee chaired by Ted Kennedy.
A member of the American Bar Association, Bob is a Fellow in the College of Law Practice Management and a past Director of the Legal Marketing Association. He was elected to the LMA’s Hall of Fame in 2008. He is a board member of several corporations and non-profit
organizations. He and his wife have raised nine children and live in suburban Philadelphia.
After his family and consulting work, his interests include jogging, tennis, golf, music and art.

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