Archive for October, 2014

Christian Scranton – Part 2 of 4 – Motorcycle Community

Thursday, October 30th, 2014

Watch part 2 of Mr. Swanson’s interview with Christian Scranton of Scranton Law Firm in Concord, California, as he discusses how being a member of the motorcycle community helps him serve his clients better.

Share

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Industry News, Video Blogs | No Comments »

Ebola and a Health Care System in Crisis

Tuesday, October 28th, 2014

Watch Mr. Swanson’s interview with Attorney Eric Fong of Fong Law in Port Orchard, Washington, about how improperly addressing infectious diseases, like Ebola, reveals a true crisis in the health care system.

To contact Mr. Fong, call 1-866-504-2203, email [email protected] or visit his website at www.EricFongLaw.com.

Share

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Industry News, Video Blogs | No Comments »

Christian Scranton – Part 1 of 4 – Pilot and Plaintiffs’ Attorney

Tuesday, October 21st, 2014

Click on the video to watch part 1 of Mr. Swanson’s interview with Christian Scranton of Scranton Law Firm in Concord, California, as he discusses how being a pilot makes him a better plaintiffs’ attorney.

Share

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Industry News, Video Blogs | No Comments »

Steve Glickman Talks About Proposition 46

Thursday, October 16th, 2014

Click on the video to watch Mr. Swanson’s interview with Steve Glickman of Glickman & Glickman, A Law Corporation in Beverly Hills, California, as they discuss what Proposition 46 is and why it is so important.

To learn more about Proposition 46 and how you can help, click the links below.

www.YesOn46.org

www.CAOC.org

Share

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Industry News, Video Blogs | No Comments »

Review Your Bank Statements

Tuesday, October 7th, 2014

review bank statementsIt is important for the partners of a law firm to personally review their trust account and operating account bank statements each month. Ideally, the statements should be mailed to the managing partner and be opened by the partner, not a member of the staff. The partner should then examine the statements for anything that looks out of place and should spot check a portion of the payments flowing out of the account for proper documentation. It should be made known amongst the staff that the statements are being carefully reviewed and will be questioned from time to time as a preventive measure against potential fraud.

Also, if the firm has access to any lines of credit or has its own credit card, those monthly statements should also be personally reviewed by the managing partner. This is a critical issue. Over the years, we have seen several instances of fraud at firms involving seasoned, trusted personal friends employed by the firm. I am talking about personal friends of the partners, people they might have gone to church with, embezzling money over time to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars –over a million dollars in a few cases we’ve seen.

If you have adequate staffing, put checks and balances in place so that the same people who are writing checks for the firm are not the ones signing them. Also, put in place a system where whoever is writing the checks for the firm is not the person who opens the bank statement and reconciles the account at the end of the month.

Sadly, it is often the person on your team that you trust the most that ends up surprising you with fraudulent activity. Better to create a situation whereby it is as difficult as possible for someone to perpetrate such acts. Everyone wins when fraud is prevented.

You can learn more about this and other law firm finance topics in my book, How David Beats Goliath – Access to Capital for Contingent-Fee Law Firms.


The above material is excerpted from How David Beats Goliath – Access to Capital for Contingent-Fee Law Firms and is subject to copyright protection © by Michael J. Swanson, all rights reserved

Photo Credit: Philippe Put (via Flickr)
Share

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in How David Beats Goliath, Industry News | No Comments »



EPN Interview: Mandatory Arbitration with Michael J. Swanson

EPN Interview: 7th Amendment Advocate Michael J. Swanson

Michael J. Swanson ePodcast Network Interview

Buy the Book

Amazon | Barnes & Noble
iTunes

Categories