Hi, this is Billie Tarascio for Modern Law Practice. First of all, I’m trying out a new camera and microphone-in-one that was recommended to me by Regina Irene. So if you like this quality and it sounds better than the other videos, then it’s because of the new equipment. Now it’s a little weird because I’m used to looking into the computer camera and now I have to look into the other camera. So that’s another thing that might make me look weird. So please forgive that, and forgive me for getting used to this and trying this out.
But I’ve got a lot of things to talk to you about, I don’t know about you, but my team has gotten COVID tired. My meetings have gotten a little bit drier. People’s enthusiasm is waning. And while 2020 has been an incredible year for us, profit-wise and revenue-wise, I could feel my team really struggling.
So I decided that we needed to do a retreat. It was time for us to do another couple days offsite. Somethat that was fun. And, and why did I make this decision for a couple of reasons? Number one: I have to invest in my team. I know that investing in my team pays dividends more than any other investment I could possibly make. Number two: I know that this type of thing gets people rejuvenated. We need a meeting every quarter anyway, but another Zoom meeting for the quarterly retreat was not going to happen. The other thing is financially, we can handle it. And the way that I figured this out was I determined, how much profit do we have? How much profit is our goal, and anything that any profit that I have that is above where our goal is, that’s a bonus pool, that’s a pool of money for this exact thing.
Retreat Planning
So what did we do? Well, we found a local resort and we are taking my entire team and their families to a local resort for several days, for three nights and four days for a combination of work and fun. We’re planning the retreat. People are excited. We’re also going to get photos. Now we’ve got to deal with the social distancing. We’ve got to deal with the pandemic. We’ve got to deal with different risk tolerances of my team, but all in all people want to go. They want to, they like the idea of getting together. They miss each other. Most of my team is millennials and they like spending time together.
Office Space Planning
Now, another thing that I’m going to talk to you about in a separate video is office space because I’m working on an office space build out, and that is something that every single one of you should be thinking about right now. What does the office space of the future look like? What do I need for office space for my team? And I will walk you through that process because it’s been a wild ride over the last six months during a pandemic to figure that out. But for the retreat, we’re planning it, it’s expensive. It’s fun. People are participating in doing it. We have the budget for it, and it should allow us to talk about all of these major things coming.
Regulatory Reform starting Jan. 1
Now, another major thing that I’m going to talk to you about in a separate video is the Arizona regulatory reform. Two major changes are taking place here January one. Now most lawyers are freaking out and most lawyers out of state are saying, this will never happen here.
I encourage you to stop thinking that way. Stop thinking this will never happen here. And instead start thinking, what would I do? If so, starting January 1, the two major reforms are number one: fee splitting will be allowed, and non attorney ownership will be allowed for for law firms. That means people can invest in your firm. That means you can pay for referrals. That’s a huge regulatory change. It also means companies like Walmart, Costco, Target, and Legal Zoom, can come in and open law firms.
What does that mean for you instead of freaking out, instead of telling me what a terrible idea it is because I encouraged these reforms, but instead of telling me how much you hate me, because you think this is a stupid idea, start thinking, what if that’s what we’re doing? And part of our retreat is going to be talking about what if or what now?
Legal Practitioners – No law degree needed
And then the other massive reform is that legal practitioners will be allowed to practice law without a law degree, specifically in family law, but in other areas of law as well. And my attorneys aren’t happy. They’re like, why, why did I have to spend all this money, getting a law degree to practice law? And I didn’t have to. And I understand that. I completely understand that. And yes, it could really hurt lawyers, but what does it mean for your vision? What does it mean for your law firm? We are going to make this work for us and you should be thinking right now to what if these reforms happen to me? How do I stay ahead of it? How do I become profitable? So lots of exciting things happening, but the real point of this video of this topic is what are you doing to support your team culture? Your team culture has to be impacted by COVID.
Supporting Your Team
So pay attention to it because remember the most valuable resource that you have in your law firm is your people. And so keeping them connected and on track and understanding the vision is the most important thing that you can do as a leader. That’s all for now. And I’ll talk to you soon and I will work on these other videos and you can let me know also what you think of the video quality and the sound.
