Archive | Marketing your Business

Live a Little – Hawai’ian style

David and I have visited Hawai’i several times. It is one of our favorite places and somewhere I would enjoy making my home. I learned a lot on our trips to Hawai’i, including that the rainbows for which it is famous are possible only because, you guessed it, it rains a lot, daily it seems. […]

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Living a little is a concept some people don’t appreciate until it is too late.  The ability to live a little is probably one of the primary reasons Melissa and I enjoy owning our own company.  We frequently build a little “living” into our “working.”  Very often, this involves exploring a venue where we are […]

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Copyright

The photographer in me is compelling me to write about copyrights in this post. The © symbol is the most common way that photographers and artists, of all types, mark their work as copyrighted. There are other “approved” markings, including “Copr.” or the whole word “Copyright” along with the year of publication and name of […]

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It is amazing to me how many of David’s beautiful photos have been purloined, including by attorneys, judges, and the media.  Some people and organizations evidently believe they are entitled to take whatever they want, even if it doesn’t belong to them.  David is forceful about protecting his copyrights.  His photos are similar to any […]

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Managing Expectations

This is the third post in a series on professionalism. This one is about making “keepable promises” with regard to deadlines and deliverables. We, at Magnus, work in a world with many deadlines; very often, these are deadlines beyond the control of our clients. That is, judges set trial dates and discovery deadlines with which […]

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I recently observed my 50th anniversary of employment.  Having lost my father at an early age, I had to work in order during high school to help my mother with our household expenses.  In 50 years of working, I can proudly say that I have never, ever, missed a deadline or failed to deliver my […]

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Billing Expectations

As a follow up to my post on professionalism based on my recent experience of being a lawyer’s client, I want to discuss billing expectations. As I told my family’s lawyer during an extremely unpleasant phone call, what he did to us was like taking one’s car to the repair shop, getting an estimate, then […]

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Almost everyone wants to know the price of something before they purchase it.  This is true regardless if someone is buying a hot dog, a car, or paying for legal services.  Things can look fine, but if they are too expensive, in consideration for what they offer, there will be a disconnect between the product/service […]

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Be Professional

This is a topic I’ve had on my “to be written” list for a long time. I’m prompted to write it now based on having been on the client side of working with a lawyer. Having been the client of lawyers on several occasions, I can say I much prefer the relationship in which the […]

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What does it mean to conduct oneself with professionalism?  Professionalism, in my opinion, does not equate with wearing an expensive suit, working in a high rise office building with a scenic view, or many of the other outward, but superficial indicators of success.  Recently, David and I spent a few days in Merida, Mexico.  We […]

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Biggest Marketing Changes in 30 Years

Recently, Melissa and I have been talking with a long time client about an issue we have, and he has, identified as being a challenge for us, and him, as a trial lawyer/mentor. That is, the “new generation” of litigators/trial lawyers lack experience with trial consultants. In a recent, eye-opening, conversation that included his young […]

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The current generation of associate attorneys and their lack of awareness of the existence of trial consultants reminds me of the years I worked as an adjunct professor.  (As a side note, for many years after I earned my Ph. D., I had 2 jobs, a full time job in the corporate world and a […]

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Show, Don’t Tell

Melissa and I wrote employee policy manuals and other training materials before we had employees. I am thinking about those today because I added a small update to the policy manual yesterday, thinking that it had been a long time since I had added anything. But, while the policy manual is pretty well set, the […]

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David never ceases to amaze me.  I cannot believe he missed a perfectly good opportunity to relate his post to a song by his favorite band, RUSH.  The title of the song is “Show Don’t Tell,” which is the title David used for this post. The premise of the song, written (of course) by Geddy […]

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Fighters or Settlers

We’ve written previously about how some lawyers seem to be more willing to go the distance, that is, take a case to trial, than others. In some discussions, this becomes a comparison of trial lawyers, who are ready for trial, and litigators, who work up cases, but seem to avoid starting a trial at all […]

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David has chosen to write about one of my favorite topics, which prompts me to mention one of my favorite clients.  I agree with the premise that some attorneys are fighters, who are willing to go to trial and “battle” for their clients’ rights, while others are fearful of going to the courthouse, instead, settling […]

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It’s Nice to Be Appreciated

Melissa and I received an unexpected thank you note and gift from the new College of Law at my alma mater, Jacksonville University. We have been doing a little to help with the start up of that program. Out of the blue came a couple of packages with nicely designed and personalized paper weights. Goodness […]

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I was pleasantly surprised to receive the beautiful and thoughtful paperweight from Jacksonville University’s College of Law.  Rarely have my efforts been rewarded with such an appreciative gesture!  My friend, Teresa, is always thoughtful when she visits David and me.  She never leaves our house without writing a thank you note and surprising us with […]

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Holiday Plans

I’m writing this near year end, but as is often the case, things are hectic as we wrap up the work for the year, and prepare for work early in the new year. Melissa and I have diligently tried for all these years to treat the last 2 weeks of the year as a break, […]

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David and I often work on holidays and during vacations.  Our business, and the world of litigation, don’t close just because we are not in the office.  I have distinct memories of: (1) doing an intake on a new case on Christmas Eve, in my mom’s Florida room, mere minutes before we opened our gifts: […]

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