At least 30,000 attorneys in the U.S. claim that they're practicing employment law. Statistically speaking, what holds true for any profession is true for employment lawyers: Half are above average and half are below average. How do you distinguish one from the other? How can you find out which lawyers or firms are in the top 5%? Don Phin discusses the questions you should be asking.

FINDING A COMPATIBLE BUSINESS COMBINATION by Catherine Oak Over the past few years, many firms have entered into a merger, acquisition, or some type of cluster arrangement with...

FIVE STEPS TO MARKET RESEARCH by Patricia Berry Patricia Berry offers five market research tactics that can help ...

Through the years I have seen Life policy applications and agents' reports with erroneous information. You probably have, too. I don't mean judgment calls with room for honest disagreement; I mean downright wrong information. One of the most common untruths may be the statement that a new policy will not replace an existing policy, when in fact it will. The agent may save the trouble of bothering with replacement forms, but he or she also may be buying a big problem.

FRIENDLY COMPETITION by Don Phin In his book No Contest: The Case Against Competition, Alfie Kohn stresses that competition in an organization can become destructive unless it results in ...

GEORGE, THE ETERNAL OPTIMIST by Chris Burand This object lesson shows how NOT to grow your agency. A few years ago, an agency principal let...

GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS WITH REFERRAL PROSPECTS by Bill Cates During a referral seminar last week, a participant came up to me at the break with a question. He told me that our Referral...

GIVE A lsquo;THANK YOU' GIFT by Bill Cates Giving a Thank You gift is a simple strategy that will have people saying good things about you and generating ong...

GROWTH-LOADED PRODUCER COMPENSATION by Al Diamond Use this plan to give your producers an incentive to target growth, while protecting the agency from financial losses. Ev...

GUIDELINES FOR FIRING EMPLOYEES by Don Phin When employers ask if they can terminate employees, theyre really asking, If I fire them, can they sue me? Before y...