The E-Myth Attorney: Why Most Legal Practices Don't Work and What to Do About It

by Michael E. Gerber, Robert Armstrong J.D., Sanford Fisch J.D.

The complete guide to the business of running a successful legal practice Many attorneys in small and mid-size practices are experts on the law, but may not have considered their practice as much from a business perspective. Michael Gerber’s The E-Myth Attorney fills this void, giving you powerful advice on everything you need to run your practice as a successful business, allowing you to achieve your goals and grow your practice. Featuring Gerber's signature easy-to-understand, easy-to-implement style, The E-Myth Attorney The E-Myth Attorney is the last guide you'll ever need to make the difference in building or developing your successful legal practice.

Genres: Business, Law, Nonfiction, Legal

208 pages, Hardcover

First published April 20, 2010

About the author

Michael E. Gerber is an American author and founder of Michael E. Gerber Companies, a business skills training company based in Carlsbad, California.

Reviews

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting extension of the EMyth Manager, which is a great business book. The only issue I take with this book, is that not every legal practice/or lawyer wants to become a growth "business". Sometimes how one runs his or her business is a reflection of lifestyle, and not necessarily standard business practices. One no longer needs to create a big brick and mortar business. There is a course at the University of Virginia Business School taught by an business expert whose premise if that the belief "Grow or Die" (as promoted by this book) is a complete myth for which no empirical data exists. Sometimes it is better to stay small, manage well, and maximize profit through improvement and innovation.

[Dean Ferraro · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you've read The E-Myth Revisited, the "Attorney" version is a waste of time. It basically offers nothing new or specific toward the practice of law beyond the obvious. Having read and enjoyed The E-Myth Revisited, I was disappointed with this "Attorney" version.

[Rylee Powers · Rating 1 out of 5]

bing bong fuck my life

[Vadim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Типичный мотив для создания своей фирмы -- нежелание иметь босса и делиться с ним доходами от "своих" проектов. Автор "The E-Myth Attorney" Майкл Гербер обращает внимание на то, что зачастую подобные начинания заканчиваются печально: вместо работы на досаждающего босса начинается работа на сумасшедшего босса, который вообще не появляется на рабочем месте. Так происходит тогда, когда создатель фирмы проводит рабочий день как прежде, только лишь как профессионал в своей сфере, который прекрасно делает свою работу. Книга Гербера призвана помочь начинающим свое дело вернуть босса на место. Босс думает не об "отработанных оплачиваемых часах", а о "прибыли" и "стоимости бизнеса"; и занимается не "выполнением работ", а созданием и регулярным обновлением технологий работы. Предприниматель должен брать пример с Рэя Крока: его продуктом должны быть не гамбургеры, а сам Макдоналдс.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts reminded me of the 4-hour workweek (which I did not enjoy or find helpful).
Would have liked more examples other than for estate planning practicioners.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good discussion of strategy vs tactics, but I am reading about this concept concurrently in other books too. I think this book would be good for law students, particularly those who might be interested in starting their own practice out of the gate perhaps, but think that many of these considerations would be obvious to most practitioners after working at a firm for a year or less than that.

The chapter recommending that attorneys keep a time log to figure out where their time is going really confused me - who wrote that? With all this talk about billable hours, wouldn't it be clear to even a non-lawyer that lawyers keep diligent records of their time and tasks in order to get paid? Every lawyer should already be doing that as a "technician", so I'm a little confused why it was recommended at all. Perhaps the authors meant to say: "expand your time log to include all 24 hours of your day, including time when you are not 'on-the-clock'"? If so, that's not a suggestion for lawyers really, so much as a wake-up call to any person that they're spending X hours at work and spending their Y hours of leisure hours in ways they neither like doing, nor are good for them, for example. That could be valuable...maybe, but it would be less valuable to lawyers, because we already track every 6 minutes of our workday anyway.

I got the impression that this book was a bit of a mass-produced hamburger. While I admire the McDonald's model, as does Michael Gerber, and found some unique insights in his original e-Myth book, I felt that I was reading a rehashing of the same ideas that I'd seen in other places, but not done originally. I don't know why, but this book did not feel fresh to me.

This book did not get into the nitty-gritty details of legal business. Where was the discussion on realization rates, utilization rates, and client payment schedules (with subsequent discussion of retainers)? Where was the discussion on how to calculate how much money to set aside to weather disruptions in those client payment schedules? Where was the discussion on insurance, rent vs. buying space, and analysis of how summer associates fit into the business model (e.g. compare hiring many summer associates with assumption that most will not work out and take advantage of low billing rate vs. hiring only a few summer associates, investing training resources in each, and preparing to bring each one aboard full-time as long as no red-flags appear). That last strategy decision about summer associates seems to be a huge difference in firm philosophy that I've observed, and I was surprised this, nor those other law firm-specific topics were discussed. As a result, it felt like I was getting a generic hamburger of law-flavor, rather than a book tailor-made for lawyers.

Overall this book is GOOD, but when comparing against other books that are within this genre, I think there are a few other titles that might provide a bit more insight into legal-specific issues. I thought the original e-Myth book was more helpful on the big picture side, but it could be perhaps because I already read that first and did not therefore see much new content in this book.

[Mike Cheng · Rating 2 out of 5]

The original E-Myth (1986) and E-Myth Revisited (1995) were published for the small business owner. Those and the E-Myth Vertical Series (which includes this book) are based on the central premise that a successful enterprise requires the proprietor(s) to understand the importance of the distinct roles of technician, entrepreneur, and manager. A similar philosophy is presented in this book, namely that an effective legal practice is not the same thing as a successful legal practice - the former refers to being a group of competent attorneys (i.e., only technician focused) and the latter refers to a thriving firm with happy partners, associates, and staff. Put another way, a successful attorney must be effective, but an effective attorney is not necessarily successful. There’s a lot of the latter, but very few of the former. The best advices were contained in the chapters about understanding money, billable hours (which the authors contend is perhaps an antiquated model), and time management. As to money, such falls into four categories: income; profits, cash flow; and equity. Knowing the distinction among the four and how each has varying levels of importance for each member of the firm is paramount. One major reason may firms fail to become successful is because they do not comprehend cash flow. For billable hours, a successful law firm should have a specific projection of how much incoming cash receivables it is targeting each year. Because most attorneys charge hourly, in order to collect that much in receivables the firm must bill a certain amount of hours (write-offs notwithstanding). Example: If a 75 attorney firm seeks $50M in annual revenue, and assuming 207 working days each year, then daily receipts need to be $241,546, and each attorney needs to bill at least $3,221 on average per day. Knowing is half the battle here. Because the “product” that attorneys sell is their time (which E-Myth founder Michael Gerber says is the currency of life), good time management is absolutely critical. While attorneys are generally good about keeping track of their billable time, it is also important to know the value of one’s time, whether billable or not. Having this knowledge allows for better decision making with respect to delegation as well as how much it costs to waste time. Also, schedule blocks of time for particular tasks, including reading and responding to emails which can be the greatest attention and time suck of all.

[Amanda Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book at the recommendation of my law partner who has already incorporated many of the E-myth recommendations into our practice. I think the advice is sound and makes sense and resonated with me, largely because I’ve already seen it working. The only thing I didn’t particularly like was the fact that this is basically a regurgitation or the original E-Myth book, with a law spin on it. In the book’s forward/introduction they make it clear that they intend to write a variation of the same book for many different professions. It just strikes me as a money making enterprise without new content or inspiration. Better to just read the original book and apply the concepts.

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

The content is incredibly lacking. Feels more like a hype book with fluffy ideas rather than specifics. Each chapter is about a random topic that does not connect with the other chapters. In fact, multiple authors write all the differing chapters, so there is no cohesiveness to the flow of the book.

Great book for higher, big picture stuff. Very little practical advice on why legal practices don't work and what to do about it.

[Renata Castro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an important book for solo or small practitioners who are looking for ways to implement processes and procedures aimed at increasing productivity. Easy to read, it is important to keep in mind that this is a beginner's level read. Nonetheless, I recommend that you look for more in depth material once this is done.

[Jana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains some useful (and motivational) information, but it feels outdated and sluggish as a read. Maybe there was too much repetition of ideas. It does not stand out as a must-read, even with its narrower focus than so many business books.

[Clifton Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellence personified!!!

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll probably read this book every year for the rest of my life as long as I am practicing law.

[Miriam Majome · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful and helpful. Will read it again

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the best thing to happen to solo legal practitioners. It makes you look at your legal practice as a business or enterprise and not just the art of doing legal work. Excellent book.

[Kara Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A practical response to the problem that likely plagues most law firms. It is definitely a must read.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with great ideas to implement.

[Morgan Lyons · Rating 3 out of 5]

review forthcoming

[Gregg · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some good tips in here...even a few lessons for a Government attorney without a profit motive.

[Lance J. LoRusso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written and broken down into logical segments.

[Sadity Esq. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like I missed something. The book offered no actionable plans or ideas. I understood the philosophy but I didn't really gain anything new to apply to my firm.

[Adrienna]

Chapter 9 was a great chapter for me since I am looking at paralegal/legal assisting position; they need someone friendly, warm and able to relate to people. Not someone who is painfully shy, or not qualified and paying them very low incomes to do what counts the most to show loyalty and honesty to assist your clients.

Somehow the audiobook skipped or unable to play part 3 (skipping 6-8 chapters).

Enjoyed some insight about business practices to add to the legal practice to be profitable, not just working long hours and seeking clientele; also following similar practices like McDonalds and Frank Sinatra systematic practices to see a legacy, to be legendary, and of course consistency that benefits your law practice. I took pages of notes for future reference and may have to add this book to my library too.

Leisure read 2015.

[Scott Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The entrepreneurial approach to managing a law practice (i.e., a "legal services business") is refreshing and illuminating given the dismissive attitude many lawyers have toward the actual business of the law. The pointers and advice are helpful.

But the format stinks. There are literally two chapters for each topic: a generic chapter by the primary author and a repetitive follow-up chapter by his attorney devotees. This isn't really a concept that needs double the content - and actually doesn't necessitate an entire book.

I gained much valuable insight into how I will run my law practice, but you're best off checking out of the library and taking notes on a few key chapters.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of the E Myth series of books. These books deal with how to make small businesses work. This book applies those general principles to special needs of law practices. I enjoyed this book's nuts and bolts approach.

[Honoree]

Perfect book for the entrepreneurial attorney. Michael Gerber is a systems guy (like me) and believes there's a way to systematize and leverage for complete professional and financial freedom, and this is the road map. Fantastic!

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting and helpful suggestions and tips, but I think they have oversimplified the practice of law and the attendant legal and ethical requirements that set legal services apart from many other professional service organizations.

[Alvah]

Excellent book. Will recommend to my clients.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended roadmap for seasoned attorneys looking to transform their practice from just a job to being an entrepreneur.

[Steven Silverman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty much on target

They feel that your practice should be run as a business. they did a good job explaining the difference and how to make the change.

[Gina Lynette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Gerber is brilliant. I've been reading his books since the early 90s and he's still pumping out great insights.