WORKSHOP SUCCESS AT THE FLORIDA BAR ANNUAL MEETINGİ

The 1998 Florida Bar Survey reported that 67% of Florida lawyers were at least somewhat dissatisfied with their jobs. No group of Florida lawyers rated their jobs as "very satisfactory." In response to such data and in furtherance of our mission to encourage, facilitate and promote the profession by improving job satisfaction for lawyers and keeping experienced lawyers available to the public, PeopleWealth developed and presented a three hour work shop at the 50^th Annual Florida Bar Meeting on Friday, June 25.

The program was approved for three hours of CLE (1 ethics). Our topic was "Improving Your Quality of Life Without Leaving the Law: Job Satisfaction and Lawyer Retention in Transition." The workshop was limited to 50 attendees and it was sold out six weeks in advance. We agreed to expand attendance to 60 and we still had to turn people away.

The program was very well received. Evaluations were enthusiastic and participation was excellent. Example comments we received included such things as "I would have stayed here all afternoon;" "That was the fastest three hours I’ve ever spent;" and "This is one of the best programs I’ve ever attended." Because of the success of this workshop, PeopleWealth has been asked to present the program on an annual basis as well as to develop additional programs.

Our audience consisted of practicing lawyers with at least two years experience. The majority of the participants had been practicing for over ten years and three participants were thirty year lawyers.

The foundation for this program is our research and work with lawyers which has demonstrated that "Best Lawyers" are those that are the most satisfied with their work and their jobs.

Best Lawyers have certain common characteristics. They are experts in their chosen fields, as busy as they want to be, exceptionally successful, easy to deal with, enjoy good relationships with clients and colleagues, epitomize professionalism, have had a variety and high quality of experience, are personally happy and satisfied and are involved in long term relationships in work and in life. Every lawyer has the potential to be a happy, satisfied, Best Lawyer.

Our program is an inspirational and educational presentation and workshop aimed at increasing professionalism and job satisfaction for individual lawyers and helping law practices reduce voluntary turnover. It provides concrete suggestions, strategies and tactics for improving Quality of Life and Practice without violating professional standards or reducing economic viability. The program is divided into three parts:

A general overview of lawyer retention issues. Presentation on the current state of the profession, the cost to firms and lawyers of high voluntary turn over rates among lawyers and methods for retaining intellectual capital. Includes currently available survey data from The Florida Bar, NALP, and Altman Weil concerning the poor level of job satisfaction for lawyers and the most significant reasons lawyers give for leaving their practices. Concludes with suggestions, proposals and techniques for change.

Strategies for becoming a High Value Added/Hard to Replace "Best Lawyer." Designing and marketing your ideal practice to your firm and your clients without violating the ethics rules. Eliminating conflict. Managing competing demands of home and office. What your perfect practice will look like and how to get there. Develop your career: Identify your clients. Improve your reputation. Learn your craft. Identify the segment of society you wish to serve. Explain the actions you plan to use to do so. Develop an overall system of aspirational values in which to practice law that exceed the "floor" of the ethics rules.

Managing expectations: yours, your clients’ and your firm’s. Compare yourself to the national norms. Where are you now? Where do you want to be? Why? What can you do now to start on your path to personal and professional satisfaction? Avoiding the special problems lawyers face in setting and achieving goals.

Based on the enthusiastic response we received to this program, we have decided to offer it to our clients as part of your overall retention efforts. We can do this presentation in your offices or at convenient locations for groups of clients. At the request of program participants, we also offer peer coaching to individuals. Please call us to schedule a conference or for further information.

İPeopleWealth July 1999