1-Hour Program

See Credit Details Below

Overview

Full scholarships and discounts to attend PLI programs are widely available to attorneys working in nonprofit/legal services organizations, pro bono attorneys, government attorneys, judges and judicial law clerks, law professors and law students, senior attorneys (age 65 and over), law librarians and paralegals who work for nonprofit/legal services organizations, unemployed attorneys; and others with financial hardships. We encourage all eligible attendees to complete and submit a PLI Scholarship Application.

Scholarships available

Why you should participate

Law firm leaders need to make every decision with a sharp focus on the financial view of the firm. To maintain this focus, you need a strong foundation in what makes - and keeps - your firm profitable. In other words, you need to learn to speak the language your firm's decision makers understand. This 70-minute, interactive online course will help you develop a basic knowledge of the key financial drivers in a law firm to understand the role that finance plays in strategic decision-making. Whether you're an associate wanting to understand the business, a marketing team member who is responsible for budgets, or just someone wanting to understand what drives your firm's profits, this course will provide you with the tools you need.

What you will learn

After going through the course, participants will be able to:
  • Identify the primary factors that drive law firm financial performance
  • Evaluate financial data over successive years to identify trends
  • Understand the factors that affect revenue and the impact that revenue has on profitability
  • Compare financial results on an “apples to apples” basis as per-partner, per-lawyer, or per-timekeeper rather than as gross figures
  • Determine the break-even point for any timekeeper using indirect and direct costs and billable hours
  • Understand the impact that expenses have on profitability
  • Explain the difference between direct and indirect expenses
  • Understand how the profitability of a law firm is calculated
Who should participate

Law firm associates of all levels, junior partners, law firm marketing staff and anyone tasked with law firm budgeting decisions will benefit from this course.

Schedule

Module 1 – Introduction

3:00 minutes

Module 2 – Identifying Opportunities
5:00 minutes

Module 3 – Performance Levers
2:30 minutes

Module 4 – Evaluating Expenses
6:15 minutes

Module 5 – Evaluating Revenue
10:15 minutes

Module 6 – Did it Work?
13:00 minutes

Faculty

Carla Landry – LawVision Group, LLC

An Interactive Learning Center program
Industries

Credit Details