Firing Your Family from Your Law Firm

In today’s episode, I’m talking about firing your family from your law firm.  I know I have talked about the need for us to really have very clear boundaries with those that we employ so that we can get optimal performance out of our team, and how that is particularly necessary when you have family members in your law firm. Today, I want to expound upon that a little bit because I know that there are several people out there who started off their law firm not having a whole lot of revenue, not having a whole lot of clients. As a result, they had their spouse, or another family member, come into their law firm to provide some much-needed assistance.    I don't want to say that working with family never works. There is definitely a positive element to having family members in your law firm. But I want to talk about, in particular, the challenge of firing your family because so many people I know are contemplating that, and/or have already gone down that road- and there have been ripple effects.  In this episode we discuss: The challenge associated with having family work in your law firm. Setting boundaries when you add another person to your culture. Risking a claim if you treat employees differently. How different circumstances can determine the manner in which you fire someone. Remaining in the context of the employer when terminating a relative.   Allison Bio:   Allison C. Williams, Esq., is Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law.    Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017.  In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest growing companies among graduates of Florida State University.   In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers.  She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money.  Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications and money management in law firms.  Contact Info:   www.LawFirmMentor.net https://lawfirmmentor.net/speak-with-a-growth-strategist/  Contact Law Firm Mentor: Scheduler: https://meetme.so/LawFirmMentor     Snippets   00: 03:00 (48 Seconds)  The reality is, if your mom screws something up, it is going to be more challenging for another employee who might be inclined normally to come to you as the saving grace and say, Hey boss, I wanted to let you know that the new girl in aisle four has just messed up X, Y, Z. She's probably not going to say that if the new girl is your mom right, or if it is, if the relationship is the other way around. If you have had mom here for years and someone comes in, that person is going to have a different attitude toward your relatives than they might have toward just any other employee. And this doesn't have to be inherently bad, but it tends to be... not universal. But it tends to be that when somebody comes into a workplace, they are always looking for the hierarchy, right?