Lawyers need additional training in manage a law practice.
Law practice management is an area of study important to lawyers that may or may not be covered extensively during the course of their law school studies. The American Bar Association offers a Law Practice Management section among the different types of continuing education programs it maintains for practicing professionals. Some state bar associations offer their own law practice management courses, while others can be taken online or through colleges and universities.
ABA Law Practice Management
The Law Practice Management (LPM) section of the American Bar Association provides ongoing training for lawyers in the areas of finance, marketing, technology and management skills. Lawyers who join the LPM are provided with subscriptions to law practice management publications like "Law Practice" and "Law Practice Today." Members also receive discounts to ongoing conferences in the LPM field. Much of the education provided the LPM section is through ongoing collaboration with other attorneys and section meetings. State bar associations like California also have similar chapters.
The John Marshall Law School
The John Marshall Law School in Chicago offers a law practice management course as part of its required curriculum. The focus of the course is to provide necessary training for lawyers to deal with the day-to-day activities involved in running their own law practice. In addition to the Law Practice Management course, the school also offer a variety of other courses geared towards educating lawyers in the basics of running a law firm. Areas covered by these courses include office accounting, fee arrangements, financial analysis, pro bono obligations and many other areas lawyers deal with daily.
Michigan State University
Michigan State University offers a law practice management course that can be taken in conjunction with or taken following its Professional Responsibility course. The professional responsibility course provides law students with an overview of their legal responsibilities in running a legal practice. It covers areas such as the function of the bar association and areas of authorized and unauthorized practice in the legal profession. The Law Practice Management course covers areas like ethical issues, practice development, timekeeping, personnel issues and financial management.
Florida A&M University
The Law Office Management course at Florida A&M University (FAMU) is similar to other coursework offered by other major law schools. The course at FAMU has four primary foci around which the course content is structured: practice management, life management, business management and client management. Business management covers the basic aspects of starting up a law practice, from financing the endeavor to bookkeeping. Client management covers areas like malpractice and client satisfaction. Practice management includes studies in employee management and administrative systems and the life management aspect covers issues such maintaining work-life balance and succession planning.
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