INTRODUCTION

With changes in government regulation and the volatile economy, the practice of immigration law continues to increase in complexity and competitiveness. It is difficult to run a practice that focuses solely on the delivery of quality work.  It has become necessary to take action to be competitive in terms of pricing, service, and speed.  The authors of this article provide key guidelines for running not only a competitive immigration practice but also a quality business.

The first set of guidelines is essential to consider when running any business at all levels.  The second set of guidelines is specific to the practice of immigration law.  We hope that when applied together, these guidelines will prove valuable and of immediate use to the readers of this article.

APPLY “CARE” TO YOUR PRACTICE

It is helpful to consider a framework to evaluate the processes within your business.  Through the application of the four basic principles of CARE (Consistency, Agility, Responsiveness, and Efficiency), a law firm will be able to address its needs when the economy is turbulent, and maximize its abilities when the economy is on the rise.  In particular, smaller organizations will be better able to compete, and possibly outperform, larger organizations.  To practice CARE, one must break down and consider the meaning of each component in light of the management practices of your law firm:

• Consistency.  Create a steady pace of improvement in your systems so that you can maintain best practices and make them habit forming.  Inconsistent law firms do not create trust.
• Agility.  Be quick to find opportunities and follow through immediately.  In times of economic fluctuation, the most agile companies are able to best compete and seize opportunity.
• Responsiveness.  Be diligent in responding to clients, colleagues, employees, and vendors.  Attorneys may get hired for experience and reputation, but client surveys show that a lack of responsiveness is the key reason why attorneys get fired.
• Efficiency.  By making every case or internal process better as it moves forward, a law firm is able to dedicate more time to increasing revenue and client development.  Revenue gained with less time and effort is more valuable.

To effectively utilize the CARE values, it is helpful to conduct an internal audit.  On a quarterly basis, review the core elements of your business, such as case management, ethics, finance, and human resources. A careful review of your existing practices may reveal large gaps and inefficiencies which if addressed, can propel the business forward.

UNDERSTAND THE BUSINESS YOU ARE IN

Failure to understand the business side of a practice can cause frustration and prevent a firm from advancing.  In the end, a law firm is a business.  A venture built on a great idea that fails to generate revenue is merely a hobby.  The following is a list of ideas on how to avoid turning a potentially great law practice into a hobby:

• Invest Time in Your Business.  As lawyers, we spend plenty of time working in the firm, but how much time do we spend working on the business? While spending time to improve business functions reduces billable hours, the time spent is an investment in your future.  Improvement made today will bring greater future success.
• Balance Legal Education with Business Education.  Business education includes understanding issues like cash flow, human resources, marketing, technology, and business process improvement.  When providing assistance to a struggling attorney, the authors will ask how many hours the attorney spends on Continuing Legal Education (CLE) each year.  The authors then ask how many hours are spent on business education.  Almost inevitably, the lawyer’s answers reveal that he or she spends most of their time on CLE and almost no time on business education.
• Understand Marketing vs. Selling.  Marketing is an outbound message with little control on the inflowing business opportunities.  Selling is the process of closing those opportunities.  To illustrate this point, a website is an effective marketing tool, but it generally does not result in direct revenue until a sales process is initiated to engage the website visitor.  Websites are the yellow pages of the 21^st century.  Virtually all firms have a website that provides basic information about the practice.  One possible method for incorporating a sale aspect into a website marketing campaign is to use tools to track users, obtain permission to contact them, and follow through in the most direct way possible (for example, phone, e-mail, or in-person visit).
• Review Seasonal Aspects of the Business in Terms Of Revenues and Costs.  Many businesses forecast sales and utilize temporary hires based on their seasonal revenue expectations.  The immigration business is highly seasonal and a careful review of revenue will demonstrate increases in certain types of petitions (H-1B, H-2B, and even marriage-based adjustment of status) depending on the time of year.  Effective law office management includes making necessary staffing arrangements, initiating marketing campaigns, and even discounting rates depending on the flow of revenue.

DEVELOP, REVIEW, AND ADHERE TO YOUR BUSINESS PLAN

Business plan keep individuals and organizations on a consistent plan of advancement.  Business plans can be both personal and entity-wide.  At its most fundamental level, a business plan consists of three components: a marketing plan, a budget, and a process and procedures manual.  In other words, it provides: a plan to get clients in the door, a forecast of the cost to run the business, and a plan to get the work done and converted into revenue.

However, it is not enough to simply create a thoughtful business plan.  Regardless of whether you are an entry-level associate, solo practitioner, or a senior partner, attorneys should regularly take the time to stop, evaluate, and improve their business plans.  The following are tips on how to develop and properly utilize business plans:

• Seek Input from Others.  A business plan often fails because the goals stated therein are unobtainable, or because there are obstacles that the author of the plan either does not have the experience to recognize, or is too close to the business to see.  Do not hesitate to seek advice on your plan from individuals outside your area of practice or outside the legal field entirely.  Amazing insight can be achieved by borrowing the perspective of individuals in other businesses.  Contact your local Small Business Administration office and ask about their local Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) program.  SCORE is a network of retired business executives who serve as mentors.  Remember, a law firm is a business that shares more similarities than differences with other business.
• Measure Progress.  No business plan has value unless you can measure the progress of your business.  To measure your successes and failures, the business must have clear metrics.  Metrics can take numerous forms including gross and net profitability, cases filed, client satisfaction, and goal completion.  Carefully analyze which metics are essential to your business and then track them.  For example, many attorneys pour countless dollars into marketing without measuring the benefit of that cost.  Yuou should always be bale to measure what you receive in return.
• Be Accountable. Create an accountability structure comprised of members within your own organization, an advisory board, or other colleagues who will provide honest feedback and acdvice when you diverge from your plan.  In order to obtain quality support, you may need to compensate or trade services with your advisors.
• Annual Retreat.  Conduct an annual power retreat.  Retreats are opportunities to sit back and review the business with members of management and staff.  Retreats should be special events where staff provide input and gain a sense of investment in the business.  This applies to solo and small firm practitioners as well.  If colleagues are not available, seek the services of paid advisor, mentor, or coach.  Creative exercises are available online and in many management books.  One simple but effective exercise is the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis.  In this exercise, individuals on the retreat list items under the four categories.  From there, a discussion takes place to determine how to take advantage of the strengths and opportunities that address the weaknesses and threats.  A sample SWOT analysis is included as Appendix A.

Create a Brand, Culture, and Core Values for Your Business

This is the starting point for all well-run business that is too often ignored by law firms.  A law firm’s culture can be described as the “personality” of the firm.  Specifically, the culture is made up of the attitudes, values, beliefs, norms, and customs of the business.  A business’s culture is not necessarily its mission and/or core values, but the culture should reflect those ideals.  The culture of an organization operates at both conscious and subconscious levels.  At its most subconscious level, it involved deeply rooted beliefs, values, and norms held by members of the organization but are often difficult to describe for insiders who have “grown up” in the business culture.  Public values, on the other hand, exist at a more conscious level; there are the values people discuss, promote, and seek to live by.

• Develop a Unique Brand.  A brand is the symbolic representation of all the information associated with a company, product or service.  It includes images, concepts, slogans, names and other elements of a corporate identity.  An effective brand will provide the consumer a sense of the value the company provides.  A business owner must develop a brand that differentiates itself from others.  Without a unique brand, the business’s service becomes a commodity where the only difference may be price.
• Develop Core Values.  If you are starting a business, establishing core values early on will make the business simpler to run because good values are easy to comply with.  If you are in a mature business and have not yet clearly defined the business’s values, it is a valuable utilization of time and energy to do so.  Once established, it is essential that management and staff consistently strive to do business according to the firm’s values.
• Reinforce Your Core Values.  Core values must be consistently maintained throughout an organization.  This requires a consistent message and alignment and creation of incentives that are based on the business’s core values.  In one attorney’s firm, annual reviews and awards are based on employee behavior that is consistent with the firm’s long-standing core values; innovation, integrity, and inspiration.
• Be the Chief of Culture.  The owner or head of an organization is its chief of culture.  By living the culture of the business, the head sets the example for the rest of the organization.  Although culture is profoundly shaped by the company’s leader and senior managers, it is essential that all members of an organization act consistently with the tone set by management.

ALWAYS LOOK TO CREATE GOODWILL

Goodwill is an essential asset of a law firm that never shows up in a balance sheet as a line item, but can be evaluated nonetheless.  Goodwill can exist in different forms and with different groups.  The following is a summary of goodwill that attorneys should strive to develop:

• With Colleagues.  Develop a close group of colleagues and mentors from whom to draw information and experience.  Immigration is a business that requires direct knowledge and experience with a wide array of issues.  Without a group of colleagues from which to draw information, too much time is spent looking for answer that does not exist in a treatise or regulation.  Once you establish goodwill with colleagues by sharing valuable information, the favor will be returned.
• With Clients.  Goodwill with clients is established by going beyond the simple processing of a visa or application for permanent residence.  Taking a vested interest in a client, educating them on the law, and exceeding their expectations are ways to develop client goodwill.  Goodwill with clients is clearly evidenced in their feedback and desire to refer other to you.  At some point in their career, almost every attorney will have an unsuccessful case.  When this happens, goodwill from previous client service will often buy forgiveness and understanding from even the most demanding client.
• With Strategic Alliances.  Strategic alliances include referral sources, vendors, and member of the community.  In addition to creating balance in one’s professional and personal life, goodwill in these areas will frequently bring financial benefit through referrals and boost your reputation as a quality service provider.
• With Staff.  Goodwill within your organization promotes a sense of integrity and loyalty.  Offering quality employee benefits beyond salary, sincere consideration of staff input, a quality work environment, and a culture of employee appreciation are all ways to develop goodwill with staff.  Downturns in business such as those caused by 9/11, the “dot-com” crash, and negative changes in the law can be very compelling reason for talented individuals to leave immigration law firms.  However a high level of internal goodwill can be the motivation for employees to stand by employers during difficult periods.

FOCUS ON EFFICIENCY

Unlike most other practice areas, immigration services have become a commodity.  Prices are largely set by the market, creating a necessity to drive costs down and increase efficiency.  Revenue is not tied direct to the time put into a matter, but rather the price of the service offset by the cost of providing it.  In this context, a dollar saved can be more valuable than a dollar earned.  Many practices overlook this face, seeking to increase staff rather than efficiencies to meet increased demand.  Practices that focus on efficiency will often avoid this pitfall and enjoy better net revenues.

• Software and templates are just the first steps towards efficiency.  The real key to efficiency is the review of procedures in all elements of your business.  This includes the integration of new staff, the acceleration of payment from clients, and the balancing of technology, processes, and staff for maximum efficiency.
• Software solutions can be effective solutions, but they also can be costly tools that provide little benefit.  While almost any issue can be resolved by an engineered solution, many of those solutions are prohibitively expensive.  Simple combinations of procedure and basic technology can often make up for unnecessary and expensive software tools.  This is particularly true if the solution is overly complex or requires an additional investment in infrastructure.
• Employment handbooks may seem like restrictive guidelines for employees, but well-drafted and balanced employment guidelines will provide a common knowledge base for employees to understand how the business operates.  A well drafted handbook will also revolve many of the issues that could otherwise grow into large problems within an organization.  Inefficiency in dealing with employee dissatisfaction can be extremely time-consuming and a cancer on business culture.
• Reviews of financial issues such as cash flow, investments, taxes, and retirement benefits will often result in financial gains that were previously unutilized.  By utilizing firm resources more carefully, the firm can invest and develop a deeper war chest of funds should the need arise.
• Develop metrics that make sense for your business.  Metrics are a system of quantitative measurements to help a business owner monitor progress of key indicators of success.  Metrics should not only measure your financial profitability, but other factors which are essential to your firm’s success.  Financial metrics do not provide clear indications on why a business succeeds or fails.  Metrics should provide insight on what needs improvement, such as customer satisfaction, internal processing and staff happiness.  Good metrics will clue business owners on how to fix problems and alert the business owner far faster than simple profitability figures.  Examples of key metrics for an immigration practitioner include cases in progress; time spent processing, and customer satisfaction.
• Run a lean office.  This is more important today than ever before.  Most practitioners either never have sufficient staff to handle matters as they come in or maintain excessive staff levels year around just for peak times.  Find ways to keep your staff flexible to adapt to your needs.  Using contract staff on a per case basis is a great way to adjust to changing needs.  Maintain contact with former or retired staff and colleagues in case of emergency.  Also, consider alternative compensation strategies to avoid feeding the payroll beast unnecessarily.  Being able to tie your payroll to actual work and income flow without the necessity of constant hiring and layoffs can make all the difference in your firm’s bottom line.

BEING A LAW PRACTICE ENTREPRENEUR

Many of us were taught in law school to learn to “love the law.” The “pure” practice of law can indeed be a love, but practicing law in the real world is more than just analyzing facts, applying the law, and churning out a conclusion.  A successful law practice quickly grows beyond a handful of cases that an attorney can personally manage by reacting to events as they happen.  Being a manager is as much a part of an immigration attorney’s daily, weekly, and monthly job duties as are legal strategizing, marketing and appearing in court or at interviews. Once you have exceeded the capacity of how many cases, cold calls, referrals, and responses to unexpected new issues (for example, requests for evidence) that you can deal with on a given day, you have reached the point of needing support staff and assistance.  Once your practice involves utilizing the efforts of any human being other than yourself to accomplish what you need for your clients, your role as manger becomes as equal in importance as your role of lawyer.  In terms of client satisfaction and your own personal satisfaction with your career, perhaps nothing more important than properly managing your caseload, your staff, and your time.  The following practices are recommended for moving from just “practicing law” to “managing a law practice”:

• Define staff roles in writing.  Many kinds of employment- and family-based petitions and applications can be successfully delegated to legal assistants to prepare for interim and final review by attorneys.  However, delegating has its limits, and staff must understand that giving legal advice, formulating core case strategy, and quoting fees for any potential new case can only be performed by the responsible attorney.
• Cross-train staff so that two or more employees are available at any given time, all of whom are well-trained in particular kinds of cases (for example, L-1s, asylum, adjustment of status).  This ensures that the office is adequately covered so that one employee going on vacation or leaving the firm does not disrupt the flow of work.  Different employees have different work styles and strengths/weakness that make them naturally suited to different kinds of cases and roles.  However, overspecialization of staff can lead to significant disruption when an employee leaves the firm,
• Require consistency by staff in file maintenance.  Each case file should speak for itself, such that if an employee assigned  to a case is unavailable, the remaining office staff should be able to quickly and easily familiarize themselves with the client’s facts and situation.  This is vital in an area of law where urgent questions, such as travel and visa problems, job changes, and/or new facts arise randomly and suddenly.  Establishing and enforcing office-wide consistent practices for file maintenance as well as a case management software system is strongly recommended.
• Remember that great organizations die without innovation.  Even if your business has been successful for years, static views on your business will allow complacency that can doom law firms that do excellent work.  Regularly ask your staff, clients and colleagues about ways to improve service, products, and billing.

CREATE SYSTEMS FOR REGULAR SYSTEMATIC FILE REVIEW

Nothing is as great as getting a phone call from a potential client who says he or she was referred by a past satisfied client (particularly one whom you remember fondly). On the other hand, nothing is as scary as getting two or three or more such calls, plus several e-mails, plus may be a new case from an existing corporate client, plus an unexpected RFE.  Being able to meet your duty to zealously represent all your clients properly requires maintaining files according to a systematic format and planning for regular review of those files.  The following methods are suggested for achieving a regular, systematic review:

• Use two different systems to create a redundant safety net for tracking the progress of your cases to make sure that deadlines do not fall through the cracks.  One suggestion is to use a combination of a case management software system that has a “tickler” feature, backed up by physically annotating files for when you next want to see or discuss the file (for example,  three months after I-130/I-485/I-765/I-131 are filed, or six months in advance of when H-1B status expires, or four days after you have assigned an L-1 to an associate).  Your file room should be combed once a week so that the “come-up” dates are effective in getting the files back to your office well in advance of when you need to act on them.  A paper ticker system also can be helpful to identity which files need to be reviewed each month.
• Effectively using a case management software package can eliminate the need to physically obtain each file from the file room.  One author has a system that notifies two different people of each “tickle” or “reminder” that has been entered into the system.  Clear notes and accurate dates are tracked right in the software package, so it is not necessary to actually have the physical file in front of you to e-mail a client a timely reminder about an H-1B extension.
• Track priority dates each months.  In family – and employment-based practice, it is critical to avoid missing precious weeks or months when a visa number has become available or will soon become available.  The template attached an Appendix B suggests an easy method for creating a simple 3-ring binder that enables you to quickly check all your cases against the visa bulletin when it is released each month.
• Perform monthly total case review.  At least once a month, use your case management software to print off a complete list of all open/in preparation or filed/pending cases for which you are responsible.  Most programs allow relevant information to be easily captured in one entry for quick review (for example, type of case, relevant expiration dates, filing dates, etc.)
• Send new flash updates to your client e-mail list on a regular basis.  In addition, use Internet media tools such as blogs, Facebook and other socials media sites to your advantage in disseminating vital legal information.  Particularly in an employment-based practice, it is important to regularly update corporate clients of upcoming milestone (such as April 1 when new H-1B visa numbers become available for the new fiscal year).  While there is something to be said for not bombarding clients with so many “flash” e-mails that grow weary of seeing your name in their inbox, short, periodic e-mails that are targeted to a corporate client’s interests are largely appreciated and welcomed.  Not only is this a recommended strategy for building and keeping clients loyal by periodically reminding them of your existence, it ensures that you are giving your clients the information needed to do their own hiring and planning.  One author bills his corporate clients through flat-fee arrangement tied to each individual foreigner’s case.  The approval and closing of each particular case file does not mean the attorney-client relationship between the company and the law firm is severed.  To the contrary, a corporate client expect to be kept informed of major immigration news that will factor into the company’s larger planning, even if it is not tied to an immediate case.  As an example, if a company is planning for a round of hiring in the spring, hoping to hire new foreign workers during the summer, the H-1B cap might well be exhausted by then.  The company may depend on your foresight to help protect its interest.

MANAGE ETHICALLY, NOT JUST EFFECTIVELY

With the number of reports of attorney discipline actions seemingly on the rise, it is more important than ever to clearly delineate who has and who has not become a client, and who is no longer a client.

• For phone and e-mail contact with potential clients, if the potential client does not agree to do an initial consultation or hire you according to your usual terms, be clear that you are not their attorney simply because you have had a conversation with them about a potential case.  Immigration is a very deadline-driven practice, and it is very important to be clear whose deadlines you are not responsible for tracking.
• After an initial consultation, always send a written follow-up explaining what the potential client must do to become an actual client (for example, sign a contract with your firm and/or pay an initial retainer).  Once hired, sending an engagement letter is critical to make clear what work you will and will not be doing, what the total fee is, and when it is due.
• Create your own model fee agreement to use and tailor for each client.  Use the agreement to anticipate events such as dual representation conflicts, early termination, disposition of client files, and fee disputes.
• Teach your staff about confidentiality.  Have protections in place to prevent inadvertent disclosure of confidential information and remind staff not to discuss client matters outside the office.
• When the immigration objective is achieved at the end of a case, be sure to send a closing letter that leaves the client not only with your well wishes, but also a clear statement that the attorney-client relationship has ended.
• Resist the fear of no new business.  With the current state of economy, many lawyers take risks.  They take cases they know they should not take because of competency or other reasons.  Every business has slow periods.  When business is slow, turn to marketing and cost savings, not to cases you will regret in the future.
• Periodically review the rules of professional conduct in your state.  True, it can be boring, but it is also very enlightening.  The information contained in the rules can help you run a more effective practice with less stress than you can ever imagine.

MANAGE INFORMATION AND DOCUMENT CONSISTENTLY

One key to successfully managing a large case load and the regular flow of new work is to standardize how you take in client information and how you communicate information to clients and the immigration agencies.

• Require All New Clients to Complete a Standard Questionnaire.  Each and every foreign national client should complete a comprehensive initial questionnaire that reviews the client’s immigration history and asks essential questions affecting the client’s admissibility and eligibility for various immigration benefits.  Keep your questionnaires current with changes in the law.
• Establish Intraoffice Standards for Database Maintenance.  The many case management software tools available to immigration attorneys require intraoffice agreement on how client information is stored in the database.  This is particularly true of company information in an employment based practice where the same information about the same company is updated yearly and used regularly, such as for multiple I-129 petitions and Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) filings.  At any given time, if the attorney and legal assistant assigned to a case are both unavailable, other attorneys/staff in the office should be able to determine quickly what the most recent communication has been with the client and the status of the case, whether in preparation or pending at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).  This also prepares your office for staff turnover with minimal disruption.
• Use Template Letters with Necessary Customization.   USCIS has been criticized for using too much “boilerplate” language when communicating with attorneys.  On the other hand, because there is a great deal of repetition in the type of cases immigration attorneys file, attorney templates letters are extremely useful, as long as each client’s particular facts are taken into consideration.  There is a lot of general immigration advice that attorneys need to repeat over and over to all clients, such as the need for a nonimmigrant visa stamp for future international travel.  At the same time, advice must often be tailored or changed entirely from client to client (for example, using or not using the “automatic visa revalidation rule” under 22 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Section 41.112 (d), depending on the purpose of a client’s trip to Canada or Mexico).  Many of the case management software products (and even Microsoft Word) offer easy template features for standardizing letters that you use over and over.

REMEMBER THAT THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

If you are fortunate enough to have smart, capable, and competent support staff, then you may be lucky enough that many of your forms, supporting documentation, and cover letters are prepared by your staff and presented to you in almost-ready-to-file format.  It is dangerously alluring to just sign off on a cover letter and the forms without reading them closely, particularly if your support staff does not need to be micromanaged.  Yet an attorney should never sign off on a case he or she has not personally reviewed.  Even if you are solo and do all your own work, this point bears repeating.  Lawyers take pride in knowing all the substantive laws and having legal citations in support of arguments laid out clearly in briefs and cover letters.  But the strongest, most clearly approvable 1-129 petition can go awry if you make the simple mistake of forgetting to check a box, or check a box incorrectly, such as forgetting to claim cap exemption when you know the case is cap-exempt.  The most solid appeal issue can be lost if you send your notice to appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals’ old address.  And in a high-pressure, fast-paced law practice environment where support staff are used, there is an inevitable tendency for lawyer and legal assistant to each expect the other to catch small mistakes, when in fact, having more than one person responsible for a case can cause mistakes to multiply.  The following recommended practices may feel like they take more time in the short term to implement, but in the long term they will inevitably save time and money:

• Review forms line by line twice; once before forms are sent to a client for signature, and again after signature and before filing the case.
• Double-check the spelling of each alien’s name and date of birth against his or her passport, questionnaire, and possibly birth certificate (if it is provided for that kind of case).  A misspelled name on an immigration document may be a small issue to the attorney, but to the client, it is a major source of frustration and anxiety about future problems at the time of visa application or immigration inspection, as well as a sign that the attorney does not really know who the client is.
• Developing and using quality control checklists is an excellent practice, particularly if you establish a “buddy” system of having a different employee other than the responsible attorney (and possibly legal assistant) complete the checklist to look for gross errors, such as filing fee check in the wrong amount or written out to the wrong party, or missing boxes/fields on forms that are likely to cause USCIS to reject the filing.

Immigration law is simultaneously exciting and rewarding practices are, yet daunting and fraught with potential pitfalls.  Unlike other fields of law involving claims for monetary and other damages, for the most part, the outcome of an immigration case is very much “all or nothing.”

A petition is either approved or not approved; there is no half-visa to get for your client.  Status expires on a particular day, and the extension of status either was properly filed and accepted or was not, with little room for forgiveness if the deadline is missed.  The immigration judge either orders your client removed or grants relief; there is no plea bargaining to a lesser ground of removal.  Does this mean that immigration lawyers must always be perfect and never make mistakes? No, but it does not mean that immigration lawyers have an obligation to make sure they are managing themselves and their practices properly.  The purpose of this article has been to suggest ways to make immigration law practice both manageable and profitable, both personally rewarding and financially rewarding.  In the end, proper law office management is part and parcel of meeting our ethical obligation to our clients, because our clients’ needs are best served by properly managing ourselves.