Risk Management & Claims Prevention
Communications breakdown: When a lawyer doesn’t listen
In 2014 the broad category of communications accounted for about almost a third of claims reported and claims costs. We asked some lawyers to give their opinions on the various ways lawyer-client communications can break down, such as when lawyers fail to listen. A study for the Law Society of England and Wales by Hilary… Read More »
Categories: Communication ErrorsCommunications breakdowns: When a lawyer doesn’t care
Why, if lawyers are supposed to be good communicators, are the majority of LAWPRO claims related to communication issues? In 2014, for example, the broad category of communications accounted for about almost a third of claims reported and claims costs. We asked some lawyers to give their opinions on how lawyer-client communications can break down…. Read More »
Categories: Communication ErrorsWarning: Beware of changes made to payment instructions in real estate transactions
The North Carolina State Bar sent out a warning to its members to beware of changes in payment instructions in real estate transactions. Scammers there hacked or faked the accounts of realtors and sent altered wiring instructions. They could also try to impersonate clients or other firms. (In a previous post about fake emails from… Read More »
Categories: Fraud Prevention“Resilience: Facing Life’s Challenges With Courage and Conviction” by Homewood Human Solutions
A lawyer that is low on resilience is thin-skinned, defensive, and easily wounded by criticism. Even small things, such as a client or a lawyer not returning his call, will offend him. The quote above is from LAWPRO’s recent post on resilience as a part of the lawyer personality. That post explains that resilience is… Read More »
Categories: Wellness and BalanceInside the Lawyer’s Mind Part 5: Resilience
The last trait we look at in this series is resilience. A lawyer high in resilience is receptive to criticism and feedback and is not defensive. He is less likely to take criticism personally and is better at focusing on accomplishing the task at hand. If he suffers a loss or is rejected, he will… Read More »
Categories: Career Management, Law Practice Management, Risk Management StrategiesHow lawyers can avoid the dangers of procrastination
Whether it’s leaving a university essay until the last minute or deciding to sort your sock drawer instead of doing your taxes, procrastination is something everyone struggles with in life. However in your law practice, the results can be more damaging. In the past five years LAWPRO has received nearly 300 claims resulting from ‘procrastination’,… Read More »
Categories: Limitations ClaimsInside the Lawyer’s Mind Part 4: Sociability
In parts 1 to 3 of this series we discussed the three traits that lawyers score particularly high on in personality assessments: skepticism, autonomy, and urgency. In this post and the next we look at two traits that lawyers score low on: sociability and resilience. In some ways, these are the most surprising findings. The… Read More »
Categories: Career Management, Law Practice Management, Risk Management StrategiesInside the Lawyer’s Mind Part 3: Urgency
In our previous two posts we learned that good lawyers score in the top 10th percentile on measures of skepticism and autonomy. A third trait that lawyers score high on is urgency, which measures a lawyer’s need to get things done and degree of impatience. Consultant Dr. Larry Richard states in his LAWPRO article that… Read More »
Categories: Career Management, Diversity, Law Practice Management, Risk Management Strategies