I'm looking at leasing a new place and I need to quickly provide financial reports.
Does anyone have recommendations for a cheap service where I can just upload bank statements and it'll spit out a profit/loss statement, cash flow, balance sheet, etc?
I don't need anything fancy or ongoing, just a one-off to show my financial strength at this point in time.
Can anyone give me pros and cons of switching from Clio to PracticePanther?
Before starting my firm, I've worked at firms that used Clio and PracticePanther. My general impression was that they were quite comparable but for document automation Clio was noticeably better, so when I started my own firm with Clio.
As I'm adding more users, I noticed that the price of Clio is quite high compared to PracticePanther.
A few months ago I outgrew Clio's document automation capabilites and switched to another service, so my main reason for choosing Clio over PP no longer exists.
Before dedicating time to exploring this, I'm hoping someone who has used both at the managerial / owner level can give me their thoughts. Or if anyone has experience migrating from one to the other, I'd like to hear about that too.
I need a referral for something simple
Someone called my office and scheduled an appointment. Said they were an attorney with overflow work, so my assistant put them on the calendar.
Not an attorney, a liar trying to sell me their bullshit service. Nope, never - I already knew I'd never work with them. But especially after pulling a scum move like that.
See title.
My existing network is not appropriate for the task at hand.
I'm about to bring on another attorney in a counsel role. The other attorney has their own practice but wants to break into my field, and I need the extra help.
Most likely, this will involve a few weeks of being shadowed, and then me slowly handing over more and more work. I'm fully confident that the other attorney will be a quick learner and capable of handling simpler matters quite adequately soon enough.
I know no two firms are alike, and keeping in mind that I'm paying for all the overhead (including advertising/marketing) and will spend a disproportionate amount of time training/supervising during the learning stage, what do you all think would be a fair split for cases I generate? What about for cases that the other attorney brings in?
This will almost exclusively be for flat fee estate planning. (I also do more complex matters hourly, but that'll take a few years to learn.
I’m reaching my braking point in terms of volume. At the same time, an acquaintance asked me about transitioning to my field - she’s been an attorney for quite a while but she’s newly barred in my state and knows nothing of my practice area (estate planning)
we’re considering making her a counsel, where I train her and also offload work to her. of we can make it happen that’s win-win.
the main issues are:
what’s a fair payment arrangement?
what’s a good way to train and transfer matters in a way that makes sense?
any other things I should think about?
I've gone about as far as I can with my current automation tools, and I'm looking for suggestions on what's out there.
I use my own templates, which I've programmed with (a lot of) conditional logic in Word and integrated with my practice management software to quickly generate drafts, but it takes too much time to maintain, particularly when it comes to formatting and updating changes. I just don't want to spend time bugfixing whenever I make adjustments.
In particular, this is for estate planning and can currently generate complex trusts with multiple triggers that turn different articles, sections, and clauses on and off, as well as tables for e.g. beneficiaries.
I am not looking for existing language (e.g. wealthcounsel or IAL), nor do I want something that looks like a dog's breakfast (Clio Draft), or that has a steep learning curve and is difficult to use (got that already). Also, anyone who suggests using AI should reevaluate their life choices.
I don't particularly want something that's geared toward clients completing online questionnaires or wizards, though if it makes sense for internal use, I'm open to the idea.
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Please don't just name different products, I've probably already heard of it, I'd like to know how it works in practice.
at a convention last week, I was talking to a vendor about their AI product, and I was appalled by the sales rep.
not on a personal level, but in the total lack of understanding of what the product could do for me. I kept trying to ask, in many different ways, what the AI tool does, and not a single answer made me want to even demo the tool.
if it’s something I can already do easily, why do I need your product?
if it’s something I can do with automation, why do I need an AI tool?
if it’s something that’s already built into a basic function of existing and widely used software, why would I use your tool?
the sales rep was not a tech person, was not a lawyer, and was of no use whatsoever. I went in open minded and walked out thinking that product can’t do anything better than a tech stack from 2010.
nobody is buying your product because its interesting or well-made. the only reason to buy your product is because it can do something that will make or save money. if you can’t articulate to the client how your product will do that, and do that better than what they already have, you're just wasting their time - and they’ll never give you that again.
I'm looking for a secure way to:
audio record a meeting. Preferably through my iphone
transcribe the recording
make a summary of the meeting
My primary concern is data security and privilege (no training models), secondary is cost, and the third is ease of use.
Anyone have any suggestions?
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Many DIY providers can make adequate documents, but it's not just about the documents. The documents should reflect a carefully designed plan and the DIY solutions don't do that careful design part. They just offer a basic solution that kinda fits most people. It's like selling only size large tshirts - most people could probably wear it, but doesn't mean it's the right fit. So you can get a good outcome or a bad outcome with DIY. The problem is you don't know.
DIY is imperfect, but so are many lawyers. Documents from lawyers can produce good outcomes or bad outcomes. I have encountered more problems from lawyers than from DIY solutions. Using a lawyer isn't 100% guaranteed to be perfect, just as DIY isn't 100% guaranteed to be a disaster.
Modern DIY solutions have improved significantly from pre-printed forms, static templates, and one-size-only offerings. Some of the offerings today rival the output you'll receive from lawyers who also rely on form generation software (but without the actual legal guidance involved). Some are trash. You likely can't tell the difference, though you likely can't tell the difference between a good lawyer and a bad lawyer who presents well.
The biggest issue is that you don't know what you don't know. You don't know if you've missed an issue because you didn't think of it, you don't know if something you wrote is unclear, you don't know if you didn't fill it out correctly, etc. Hiring an estate planning attorney means someone is ensuring that everything is done correctly. Another mod disagrees with me, and I respect that, but personally, I believe nobody is better off paying an online provider for a DIY estate plan - if your situation is so simple a DIY is sufficient, then you probably don't need a Will so there's no need to spend money on one, and if your situation requires you to have a Will then it's probably more complicated than DIY can handle.
Do not DIY a Trust. There is no such thing as a "basic" Trust or a "simple" trust, no matter what you read online. Furthermore, the documents are only half the package. Trust Funding is just as important, but not only that, the guidance and recommendations from an experienced attorney are far more important.
Don't do this, ever. At best, they can simply fill in blank forms for you.
If your financial advisor is providing any kind of legal advice, and is not admitted to practice law in your state, they are violating the law; depending on the state that's either a misdemeanor or a felony. I don't know about you, but I don't want to trust my money or my estate with someone who so casually breaks the law.
More importantly, would you trust your car mechanic to provide a medical diagnosis? These are completely unrelated skills.
At a bare minimum, from start to finish an estate plan involves:
#4 in many states needs to be done physically, and even in states where it can be done, still requires human involvement, no way around that, sorry.
#2 and #5 are the same whether you use AI (e.g. Claude) or an attorney. Your experience might vary based on the individual attorney or AI that you use, and that is important, but conceptually that part is the same. Used correctly, an AI can be just as good as an attorney.
#1 AI is only as good as its prompts, and you don't know what you don't know. A good attorney will ask you questions you might never have thought of, and see if there's something you haven't considered that might be important for you. If you're not aware of something, you won't be able to add it to your prompt. Just as importantly, AI won't talk you out of doing something you shouldn't be doing, and might not caution you about potential issues.
#3 is the other one where we see issues. AI might miss important clauses, include clauses that shouldn't be there, might use ambiguous language, out-of-date forms, things not applicable to your state, etc. The quality I've seen is... not good. I've had clients ask AI to review my documents, and come back with revisions that would cause problems - including one that would have resulted in significant unnecessary taxes.
the problem isn't that AI can create something that's good enough, it's just that you don't know if it's right, or if it just looks right.
Estate planning is preparing for the inevitable - determining who will take care of you if you become incapacitated, who will get your stuff when you pass away, as well as when or how they get it. The key components of an estate plan are:
- Healthcare authorizations, so that if you become incapable of making your own medical decisions, someone else can make those decisions for you. Closely related are end-of-life decisions, which may be in the same document, or a separate document.
- Power of Attorney, so that if you need help managing your financial affairs, someone can act on your behalf
- Will or Trust, to determine who will receive your assets after you pass away
- Probate avoidance devises, such as transfer on death deeds or beneficiary designations
- Funeral Authorization, to establish who is in charge for decisions regarding your final disposition
- Guardianship paperwork for any minor children
Then the state's default rules kick in. For some people that's fine, but others may not like the results.
- healthcare: nobody can make a decision on your behalf without a court order allowing them to do so. That's an expensive undertaking, and the person the court appoints may not be the one you would want. More importantly, the decisions they can make will be limited, particularly where end-of-life is concerned (i.e. the ability to "pull the plug")
- power of attorney: nobody is authorized to access your bank account, learn about your mortgage payments, etc. Again, they'll need a court order, again it might not be who you want, and that person will probably need to report to the court on a regular basis
- funeral authorization: I once saw a brother and sister in court over a year whether to bury or cremate their mother while the body remained on ice.
- guardian: do you want the court deciding who should raise your children?
- assets: this varies by state. [SOMEONE FILL IN THE GENERAL RULES FOR COMMUNITY PROPERTY]. In states that do not have community property, generally speaking if there are separate children and a surviving spouse, half will go to the surviving spouse and half will be split among the children. If there's no separate children, in many states it'll all go to the surviving spouse, but in some states the surviving spouse only gets half even if there are no separate children. If there's no surviving spouse, the assets will be split among the surviving children. If any child predeceases, then the descendants of those predeceased children will receive a portion, but the way that's calculated depends on the states. If there's no spouse or descendants, typically the parents will inherit, or if none, siblings or their descendants. It can get messy and go to more distant relatives.
If you're ok with the state's default laws, you do not need a Will (or any of the other documents).
Probate is a court-supervised process to transfer assets from someone who is gone to someone who is alive. While state law varies in the execution, the purpose of probate is to ensure the assets of the decedent go to the right people. The process involves gathering all the assets, paying off any valid debts, and distributing the rest of the funds to the appropriate people.
In some states probate is generally simple and fairly quick, in other states, probate is more complicated and takes longer. What really makes a probate complicated are (a) unknown heirs, (b) minor children as heirs, (c) disabled heirs, (d) complex assets, (e) uncooperative heirs, and (f) disputes.
To clarify: the legal definition of probate is the process by which a Will is proved (declared valid) but colloquially refers to the court supervised process of administering an estate. All estates need to be administered, but not all estates require court supervision.
A Will does not avoid probate, it is merely instructions to the court regarding what you want. Without a Will, your assets will be distributed according to state law. With a Will, your assets will be distributed to the people/organizations that you choose. Same goes for who will administer your estate.
At its simplest, a trust is where a person (Settlor/Grantor) gives assets to a person (Trustee) to hold and manage for the benefit of another person (Beneficiary).
Some ways to look at it:
There are many types of trusts, and names are not always consistent. There are generally three categories of Trusts:
- Testamentary Trust is created under your Will, it does not come into existence until you pass away. Simplest example: When I die my assets will go to my children, but until they turn 18, the assets will be managed by my sister.
- Revocable Trust is a Trust you create today, and you can make any changes at any time. The primary purpose of a revocable trust is to avoid probate. Typically, at the time of creation, the Grantor is also the Trustee and the Beneficiary.
- Irrevocable Trust is a Trust you create today, but you are limited in what you can change later.
There are many kinds of irrevocable Trust, and they can be created for many different purposes.