Testimonials
Shawn hits head on the most sensitive and difficult issues any lawyer who owns or runs a firm faces; cashflow, quoting fees and holding themselves and the team accountable to make sure the firm is financially viable and profitable. This book is a must-read for any lawyers who are responsible for the financial well-being of their firm. The chapter on rates and realization, alone, with its tools, tips and forms will transform any practice and have an immediate impact on the financial health and will increase profitability.
Atticus founders, Mark Powers and Shawn McNalis, once again present practical advice and useful tools for law firm leaders to achieve success for their practices, and to do so profitability. Atticus’ RULES provide the guidelines for law firms to improve Realization, maximize Utilization, Leverage lawyer and non-lawyer staff, manage Expenses, and add the Speed necessary to decrease “Time on Desk” and increase profitability. Filled with tips for implementing a RULES based practice, Powers and McNalis prove again how Atticus understands the practice of law and the business of law. Atticus’ Cashflow & Profitability offers a must read and must do guidebook for law firm leaders seeking to operate their practices smarter and with greater profitability.
There are many books dedicated to law firms and the business of law. Most are not worth reading.
This one is!!!!!!!!!! I highly recommend this book.
I didn’t learn about how to run a law practice in law school, but my undergraduate degree is in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance. And while I would consider myself to be pretty financially savvy, I read “Cashflow & Profitability” by Mark Powers and Shawn McNalis with wide-eyed amazement. This book gives practical and usable advice with plenty of real-world examples for the small to medium sized law firm and breaks it down into easy to understand language. Every law firm should use the forms and templates to put their financial house in order. This book is essential reading for the financially illiterate up to the financially sophisticated.
I’ve been associated with Mark Powers, Shawn McNalis, and their company, Atticus since 2016. I’ve been an active member in their Practice Growth Program since 2017 and will be moving into their Dominate Your Market program in 2021. The information in this book is invaluable. It addresses exactly why attorneys need to know how to run a “law business,” just as much as they need to know how to run a “law practice.” Law school taught me how to think like a lawyer, years of experience taught me how to practice law, but the information in this book, along with everything Atticus provides, taught me how to truly run a successful law business. Thank you Mark & Shawn for everything you do.
If you don’t want to make more money, have more time off, enjoy your work more and/or do a better job for your clients, you don’t need to read Cashflow and Profitability by Mark Powers and Shawn McNalis. If your goals include any of the above this book is a gold mine. The authors provide a series of clear, simple steps that lead to greater efficiency, better collections, more income and, simply, a more enjoyable working experience. The book does not offer theory but concrete, practical advice based on work with thousands of attorney clients over 30 years. It includes multiple predesigned forms which make the advice in the book easy to implement. They don’t teach this in law school, but they should.
Like many attorneys out there, I started my own estate planning practice knowing hardly anything about managing finances and cash flow, and setting and sticking to budgets were weaknesses of mine. I’m so grateful for the explanations and pointers provided by Mark Powers and Shawn McNalis in Cashflow and Profitability. They walk you through how to make calls to collect on overdue cases, and how to allocate tasks so each team member is doing their highest and most profitable work. Many thanks to Shawn and Mark for helping us set a great financial foundation for our firm!
This timely book provides a practical guide to improving all aspects of a law practice. The easy to use forms and real-world examples offer insights into better revenue and expense management, best practices for billing, collection and budgeting, and valuable advice on how to effectively leverage employees and increase profitability. I have always considered myself to be good at managing my law firm, but reading this book has bettered my understanding of how to achieve my business goals.
I love this book! This book perfectly completes the four-cornerstone concept Atticus has established to help attorneys build successful law firms and to live great lives. It’s an easy read and filled with insights and helpful forms. Without the knowledge and tools to build a strong financial aspect of a law firm, the mission of serving clients cannot be achieved. This should be required reading for all law firm owners.
Once again, Shawn and Mark take a complex and often overwhelming topic and break it down into an impactful plan. The forms and strategies in this book give you the knowledge to make real change in the way your Firm approaches cash flow and profitability. This is not a book with theoretical platitudes that may gather dust on your bookshelf. Truly, the next best thing you can do for your Firm and for your Great Life is to use this book as a guidebook for your Firm’s financial decisions.
By clearly and concisely offering a step-by-step breakdown of all necessary metrics and economic fundamentals, Cashflow & Profitability is the most valuable resource obtainable on the financial operations of a law firm. These foundational must-know lessons, that would otherwise only be acquired over decades of being guided by a skilled mentor, are presented in a fashion that is easy to understand and appreciate. If you’ve just started, this will be your indispensable companion and guide; but no matter how long you’ve been operating a law firm, it is impossible to read this book without gaining additional wisdom and learning how to improve your effectiveness and your firm’s performance. Simply put, without these lessons you are not operating your firm as efficiently, safely and as profitably as possible.
Finally! The legal industry has been hungry for a book that provides a framework for law firm owners to run a profitable practice, and this book delivers.
Shawn and Mark have done a great job teaching the important steps and processes to manage your current cash flow, increase it and empower your team to help. They simplify what can easily be a tedious part of managing a business and also supply you forms and scripts to help you and your team put their helpful and structured advice to work.
If you are ready to simplify cash flow management in your law firm and empower your team to help, you need this book. Shawn and Mark have not only laid out clear instructions and processes, but also supply you with forms and scripts to get started!
A necessary read for any lawyer that wants to gain control of their cash flow and ensure their firm is profitable. The book is full of practical tips that, once implemented, will allow the firm to continue to grow and provide an opportunity for the lawyer to have a more balanced and fulfilled life while providing the best service to their clients.
This book would be worth it alone for the two bonus chapters included on client selection and managing interruptions. Mark and Shawn understand the challenges that law firm owners face in a way that demonstrates why they, and their company Atticus, is at the top of the heap when it comes to coaching lawyers to build the practice of their dreams.
I wish they would give this book out when someone starts law school. It delivers a reality check like no other. For those on the other side of law school, when you are ready to value yourself as much as you do your clients, read and absorb this book. If you do not have the stamina to implement processes to make your practice more profitable and satisfactory, engage someone to do that for you. Implement a chapter a month and in half a year, you will have remarkable results.
Too often lawyers approach profitability by looking at what’s left at the end of the month. Even when they understand if they’ve made a profit, they often miss the levers that can help them get better. Using their unique “RULES” framework, Mark and Shawn have created an actionable system to help law firm owners move from where they are to where they want to be by creating a practical, proven system of improvement.
Shawn and Mark have been teaching the secrets of cashflow and profitability to their Atticus clients for years. Now they have done all attorneys a favor and published their teachings to the world. Cashflow and Profitability is a tremendous resource for attorneys at any level of their career. I wish I would have known half of what Cashflow and Profitability teaches when I first started my practice.
Atticus is a profit force multiplier and this book succinctly reveals how they do it. Read the Leverage chapter to improve your team’s value, the Speed chapter to understand that not all dollars are created equal, and the Financial Dashboard to realize how marketing drives cash flow. Flat fee attorneys, such as myself, benefit from the tough-love lessons on Utilization.
This is a great read! Easy to absorb and full of easy to understand concepts. Following the straightforward guidance offered here will offer you the tools to implement a disciplined financial management structure for a small law practice. Atticus is really a remarkable resource for solo practitioners and small law firms. Having Atticus knowledge in your back pocket is like waking around with a secret weapon that gives you a serious competitive advantage. As a client of Atticus for over 20 years, I feel particularly well qualified to offer my opinion. Atticus is the real McCoy.