REPLAY - Best Practices For A Small Law Firm (Feat. Elizabeth Miller)

In this episode, we speak with Elizabeth Miller, MBA, Independent Law Firm Administrator and Best Selling Author of “From Lawyer to Law Firm-How to Manage a Successful Law Business”. Liz is the Owner and Founder of Managing the Business of Practicing Law(R), which helps solo, small and mid-size law firms handle administrative matters, including billing time, collection procedures and a host of other business functions.   In this episode we discuss: How delay in billing creates calamity Ways to structure effective retainer agreements Smoothing out the “billing edges” Automating retainer replenishments in software Flexibility in client billing Ethical and expedient ways to raise hourly rates Testing the waters to ensure clients have the ability to pay Running interference between clients and attorneys when collecting fees Extracting lawyers from billing to improve the collections process   and much, MUCH more!   Guest Bio: Elizabeth Miller. MBA is an independent law firm administrator and best-selling co-author of “From Lawyer to Law Firm - How to Manage a Successful Law Business”.  Her book was published on May 11, 2017 and was #4 on the best seller list by May 23, 2017.  Elizabeth Miller has been working with the legal profession for over 40 years.  She started her career in NYC as a paralegal and relocated to Tampa, Florida with her husband in 1985.  After working a few years as a paralegal, she opened a paralegal business contracting paralegal work with attorneys, especially trial attorneys. In 1994 she transitioned her career into law office administration when one of her clients from her paralegal business needed an on-staff office manager.  She subsequently earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Eckerd College in 2007, with a major in business administration and a minor in finance.  She earned her 4 year degree in 2 years and 4 months with no prior college credit while working full-time and taking care of her disabled husband.  She immediately pursued in an MBA with a specialty in finance which she earned in June 2009.  She continued working as a law firm administrator for several years, before opening her business named after her bestseller - From Lawyer to Law Firm.  Since December 2015, Liz has been working as an independent law firm administrator for solo, small and a few medium-sized firms on a retainer basis providing them with the administrative services they need but cannot afford to pay a full-time on-staff administrator to handle. This includes everything from vetting, hiring, staff management, performance reviews, systematizing processes, billing, collections, trust account management and reconciliation in accordance with Bar guidelines, financial analysis, and management of cash flow, including annual and monthly budgeting, client development and marketing among other duties.    Guest Contact Info: Email – [email protected] Website – https:// www.fromlawyertolawfirm.com  Telephone – 813-340-9569   To learn more about From Lawyer to Law Firm, visit Liz’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lawfirmadmin/   Allison Bio: Allison C. Williams, Esq., is the 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 by 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.   Allison Contact Info: To check out the FREE training on law firm collections hosted by Law Firm Mentor, download the video training here: https://williams-law-group.lpages.co/collections/