Canadian Lawyer

32 J U L Y 2 0 1 7 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m From the client perspective Most lawyers who go for coaching prefer to keep their engagements confidential. Canadian Lawyer spoke with two who were willing to share their names and their experiences. Charles Gluckstein, principal of Gluckstein Personal Injury Lawyers PC of Toronto, runs a law firm that he took over from his father. The firm has 30 employees, including eight lawyers. When he wanted strategic coaching on how to manage the firm, he turned to Fred Pidsadny, president of Focus Management. Pidsadny was the facilitator at the law firm's annual staff retreats. In a series of monthly phone calls, says Gluckstein, "I would tell him some of the concerns I had in the business — marketing, staffing issues, strategic planning — stuff I felt I had no one, except my father, to talk to about." Pidsadny helped his client create a chart of the firm's busi- ness metrics that he should monitor monthly. "I call them my Key Performance Indicators," says Gluckstein. "We also were having management issues understanding the role of the dif- Linda Parsons, a Vancouver coach who specializes in business development for lawyers, has had clients who exhibited a strong desire to please others, a deep fear of failure and a high degree of perfectionism. One such client, who had all three traits, was a lawyer practising in family law and wills/estates in a medium-sized firm. The lawyer was stressed because she wasn't managing her time well and was bogged down in her files. She would rush to respond to the latest (or loudest) client inquiries, often at the expense of long-standing client obligations. Says Parsons: "She would procrastinate on non- urgent matters, which then became overdue — creating tensions with clients. She would fail to bill clients (or not bill effectively) because she felt guilty about how long matters had taken to complete." Although the client was a skillful lawyer with good interpersonal skills who attracted many clients, says Parsons, "she felt guilty and anxious that she was neglectful of both her clients and her family — a feeling of 'failing everywhere.'" She had developed bad coping strategies such as surfing the Internet frequently during the day to distract and pacify herself. This coaching engagement took 15 hours over 15 months. The first step was for the lawyer to do an audit of all her files. Over a series of intense weekends, she went through each of her files to identify where she was at — what had to be done, any urgent issues — and to create a prioritized plan of "next steps." She bore down and finalized outstanding matters (such as reporting letters and billing) that had been left undone. Parsons then encouraged the client to implement a new work regime. For the first three to four hours of her workday (for several days a week), the lawyer avoided emails and phone calls. Instead, she concentrated on drafting (pleadings, report letters, agreements, etc.) to move files forward. (She ensured that her assistant would alert her to client or family emergencies.) Then she revised her retainer letters (and talking points to new clients) to set realistic expectations about timing and outcomes. She also turned to a trusted colleague to help her complete her billings. The colleague was a lawyer familiar with her areas of practice who could objectively assess what amounts were fair and appropriate to bill. The client now received encouragement to her billing processes, whereas, previously, her perfectionism and guilt over delay had got in the way. "Overall," says Parsons, "the client made plenty of progress, cleared up some legacy issues and created systems to move forward effectively with her practice. She started to enjoy the practice again." client. He told the coach, "I don't want to appear too eager, like I want something from him. He had a real fear of looking like a sales person," says Szymczyk. By the end of the coaching session, the coach had the lawyer viewing the client meeting from a new perspective. Wouldn't the target client want the lawyer to appear eager and concerned about them and their needs? "Rather than putting off the client, that's how the lawyer would set himself apart [from competitors]," she says. Lawyers are taught never to ask a question to which they don't know the answer. That's a good rule for the courtroom, but not for a sales effort, says Szym- czyk. Before the IP lawyer had the meeting, she did role-play with him, coaxing him to ask open-ended questions — "find- ing the software client's pain points, which is an integral part of the sales process." Too often, she says, lawyers open with a few pleasantries, then leap right into offering generic solutions before finding out what the target client really needs. The IP lawyer won the software client and went on to become an effective rainmaker. Kathryn Szymczyk (continued) ERICH SAIDE

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