The Collection & The Twist That Nobody Wants
Many collectors spend decades building their collections. Coins. Stamps. Guitars. Books. Paintings. Antiques. Memorabilia. Each piece is carefully selected. The collector knows the history, the rarity, the value, and often the story behind every acquisition. Over time, the collection becomes much more than a group of objects, it becomes a reflection of a lifetime of […]
Before You Drop Your “Child” Off at College, Do This First.
The typical estate planning client is somewhere in their 40s or 50s. The kids are nearly grown. The assets are real. The conversations about trusts, wills, and what gets passed on to whom finally feel urgent enough to act on. It is exactly the right time to do that planning. But there is almost always […]
Consultation. Engagement Letter. Ghosted. Here’s Why.
Most T&E attorneys assume it’s sticker shock. The actual reason is something nobody in that room wanted to say aloud. A T&E attorney recently posted on Reddit asking for help with her conversion rate. The problem: clients would sit through a full consultation, understand what was needed, and then after discussing the fee they would […]
You Are More Than a Trust and Estate Attorney. Does Your Title Agree?
I am suggesting a big change. At some point early in your career, you made a quiet decision. You started calling yourself something. An estate planning attorney. A trust and estate attorney. A probate attorney. You may not have thought much about it at the time. But that label settled into your professional identity, shaped […]
I Am Your Client. Here’s What You Do Not Know About Me.
I had my trust drafted in 2012. I never heard from my attorney again. Not a check-in. Not a question about whether I had funded the trust. Not a note when tax law changed, when my business grew, or when my family circumstances shifted. Nothing for thirteen years, until he sent a letter announcing his […]
I Spent $100 Million on Legal Fees. Here Is What Earned My Business, and Why T&E Attorneys Are Sitting on a Gold Mine
Over the course of my career, first as Corporate Counsel for Fortune 1000 public companies including PetSmart and RSC Holdings, and then as CEO of emerging growth companies and startups, I paid law firms somewhere north of $100 million in legal fees. Not every firm got an equal share of that. Not even close. The […]
A.I. Legal Tech Piñata
Every generation of lawyers has had its technology moment. The fax machine. Internet. Email. Texting. E-Filing. Video Appearances. eDiscovery. Each time, the profession resisted, adopted slowly, and eventually caught up. Sometimes it was very slow. I was recently inside a well-respected firm and a partner whispered to me, like she was embarrassed, that they are […]
The T&E Firm Back Door Problem
As a T&E attorney, your Instagram feed is filled with ads promising to bring new clients through your front door. Yes, growth requires new business, but that unidimensional focus on the revenue roller coaster is costing firms more than they realized. They’re paying to bring clients in the front door and gain their trust. All […]
The Quiet Threat to Every T&E Practice, and How You Can Counter It.
As a fellow attorney, I see the ground underneath T&E practices shifting faster than most are willing to admit. The threats are coming from multiple directions at once, from AI, to online trust and estate drafting platforms, to the fact that T&E clients represent one of the leading sources of malpractice claims against law firms. […]
Why Trusts and Estates Lawyers Are Now the #1 Target for Malpractice Claims
Trusts and Estates has emerged as the leading practice area for legal malpractice claims, and the trend is not a one year anomaly. In 2021, a national survey by insurance broker Ames & Gough reported that Trusts and Estates overtook all other practice areas as the top source of malpractice claims. A 2023 update confirms […]