That’s Not Ethical
Who said that, that wasn’t ethical?
I’ve found that many law firm owners shy away from certain business practices, claiming that they are unethical. Now, there may be some nuances that aren’t allowed, but most of the time that is untrue. Most of these business practices are perfectly fine to do.
Ethics are definitely not something to mess with, but there are many things that people think are unethical that are simply just not true. Here are four examples of common misunderstandings when it comes to ethics:
(It could be that some states have laws against these practices or certain aspects of them, so make sure to double check the ethical guidelines, but don’t assume that they’re not allowed)
- Contacting past clients to either sell them another service or to get referrals. There is nothing wrong with trying to provide you services to other people that may need them
- Asking for information on your website in exchange for information or a free consultation.
- Selling a service as a package and collecting the money or a portion of it, up front.
- Any sort of advanced billing.
Why are people assuming that certain practices are not ethical?
Change
People don’t like change. They don’t want to do things differently to what they or their industry has been doing till now. It’s uncomfortable, it doesn’t sit well.
This is all an issue with your mindset. That is something we can fix. You just have to work hard to change it.
So, every time your automatic reaction to something is “that is not allowed,” go check your guidelines. Most of the time you’ll find that it is indeed allowed and in that case you have to do some internal digging to figure out why that was your first thought, so that you aren’t standing in the way of your own success. However, if it actually is not allowed, try to find an alternate way to achieve what you were trying to do, that is allowed.
Embrace Change Today
Resources
LinkedIn group - American Law Network
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12167997/
Workshop
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Author
Moshe Amsel
Author
Moshe Amsel the host of the Profit with Law podcast is not an attorney. As the owner of a successful accounting firm DreamBuilder Financial and Law Firm Growth coaching organization Profit with Law, Moshe has proven that there are better and different ways for a law firm to do business and be successful.
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