RJon Robins

Think about the immortal words of Gordon Gekko (Wall Street, 1987)  the next time you see an “equity owner” of a big law firm looking down his/her nose at your efforts to make it rain for your own law firm. . .

Gekko:  Well, I appreciate the opportunity you’re giving me, Mr. Cromwell, as the single largest shareholder in Teldar Paper, to speak.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, we’re not here to indulge in fantasy, but in political and economic reality.

America

America has become a second-rate power. Its trade deficit and its fiscal deficit are at nightmare proportions. Now, in the days of the free market, when our country was a top industrial power, there was accountability to the stockholder. The Carnegies, the Mellons, the men that built this great industrial empire, made sure of it because it was their money at stake. Today, management has no stake in the company!

All together these men sitting up here [Teldar management] own less than 3 percent of the company.  And where does Mr. Cromwell put his million-dollar salary?  Not in Teldar stock; he owns less than 1 percent.

You own the company.  That’s right – you, the stockholder.

And you are all being royally screwed over by these, these bureaucrats, with their luncheons, their hunting and fishing trips, their corporate jets and golden parachutes.

Cromwell: This is an outrage! You’re out of line, Gekko!

Gekko: Teldar Paper, Mr. Cromwell, Teldar Paper has 33 different vice presidents, each earning over 200 thousand dollars a year. Now, I have spent the last two months analyzing what all these guys do, and I still can’t figure it out. One thing I do know is that our paper company lost 110 million dollars last year, and I’ll bet that half of that was spent in all the paperwork going back and forth between all these vice presidents.

The new law of evolution in corporate  America seems to be survival of the unfittest. Well, in my book you either do it right or you get eliminated.

In the last seven deals that I’ve been involved with, there were 2.5 million stockholders who have made a pretax profit of 12 billion dollars. Thank you.

I am not a destroyer of companies. I am a liberator of them!

The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed — for lack of a better word — is good.

Greed is right.

Greed works.

Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.

Greed, in all of its forms — greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge — has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed — you mark my words — will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA.

Thank you very much.

This is the working title of a new e-book I am working on.  It’s about all the lame, stale and/or stupid ideas that pass for free law firm marketing advice online and that keep popping-up all over the blogosphere. 

Last week one of the suggestions that was actually posted in response to an attorney who issued a cry for help after his law firm, housed inside the offices of his single largest client, burned to the ground. . . was to make sure he has nice business cards and to pass them out to everyone he knows.  I’m not making this stuff up!  I half expected that the next helpful comment I’d have to scroll through would be a reminder to blow his nose & tie his shoes.

Any comments, questions or suggestions especially about the title for the book would be welcome.

After Hurricane Andrew which ravaged South Florida law offices 10+ years ago, you’d think anyone who was in practice back then would have learned thier lesson.  Of course you’d think that after seeing the tragic events of 9/11 the same message would have sunk-in.  But one of the little secrets that few in the legal industry in South Florida are talking about, was the sorry state of hurricane preparedness amongst law firms down here when Hurricane Katrina blew through town on its way to N.O.

A LITTLE SECRET

A few dozen large firms with offices in downtown Miami lost windows from Katrina.  We’re talking about like 50% of the glass on the southern side of the buildings in some cases.  And Brickell Avenue was literally littered with documents from all the law firms, insurance companies & private banks that congregate in the downtown Brickell corridor.

But you don’t have to be in a big fancy glass office building to get into trouble when a hurricane hits town.  And you can end up in alot of trouble even if your office is not affected at all.  Witness: Hurricane-related-bankruptcies.

That’s right, you can take every precaution.  Back-up all your computer files to an offsite location.  Lock all your filing cabinets.  Update your telephone & emergency contact list with every staff member and all their out of state family in case that’s where they go when the city loses power.  You can do everything right & still get screwed because your largest client didn’t take precautions & took a cash flow hit that prevents them from paying your bill, or they go out of business altogether!

SO WHAT’S A LAWYER TO DO?

First of all, you should be marketing all year round in case you have to do without any cash flow for a month or two following a hurricane, or whatever other natural disaster afflicts your market.  By marketing all year round you not only spread your risk amongst a wider base of clients, but you also hit your financial goals earlier in the year and can withstand a disaster-induced cash crunch if (when) it comes.

Second, you can take the message of disaster preparedness to your clients.  When you subscribe to my philosophy of law firm marketing you get very comfortable with the idea that your role is as a trusted advisor, not just a technician.  Top Rainmakers look out for our clients and referral sources holistically.  We’re not just concerned about what we can bill them for.  Besides being a decent person, it’s also good business.  Believe me, I’ve never had a client of mine who was offended when I scheduled an appointment to discuss disaster preparedness with them.  I’ve never even heard of any of my Rainmaking clients, whose own legal clients were offended by those kinds of appointments.