Year-end cleanup most firms postpone

Plus: A holiday true crime podcast | 'Judicial Hellholes'

Your calendar may be full, but the holiday lights are twinkling and year-end is in sight. It’s the perfect moment to tidy up loose ends and steal a little inspiration before all those circle backs catch up to you.

We’re starting with the least festive, but still necessary, year-end task: taking a hard look at your receivables and figuring out which unpaid invoices are truly dead and ready to be written off before December 31.

We’ll wrap things up with a round-up of smart, creative holiday marketing examples. They’re proof that seasonal outreach doesn’t have to be generic.

But first, the gift you didn’t know you needed: The People’s Court has put together a THREE-HOUR-LONG collection of its top Christmas-related cases.

These hit a little too close to home.
Over on Instagram, @thehoa.i satirizes HOA meetings. Its posts on holiday decorations are lit. If you watch enough, you may even find yourself feeling personally attacked by the angle of your neighbor’s inflatable snowman.

Someone out there just ordered a product liability lawsuit.
And surprise, surprise, Amazon doesn’t want any part of it.

The naughty list.
The American Tort Reform Association dubbed these eight jurisdictions “Judicial Hellholes.”

You may be entitled to compensation.
Grinch & Sons Attorneys at Law is soliciting clients “involuntarily infected with the Christmas spirit.”

What we’re watching.
The single greatest courtroom scene in any holiday movie. Are you watching the 1947 or 1994 version of "Miracle on 34th Street" this year?

‘Tis the season to tackle bad debt

With average law-firm collection rates hovering near 91%, uncollected receivables are a problem virtually every firm needs to deal with. This article explains why managing bad debt isn’t just about bookkeeping, it’s also a key part of firm management and tax planning.

It includes a step-by-step guide to identifying, documenting and executing write-offs. And it explains what documentation the IRS expects you to have on hand in case you’re ever audited.

Why this matters: Whether you manage finances directly or partner with your firm’s CPA, this guide shows you how to turn a headache into a tax advantage. It’s also got some info on how practice management systems can help you avoid bad debt in the first place. (Lean Law)

Treat yourself

If you have room in your budget to get yourself a little something extra this holiday season, a new computer monitor (or monitors!) is an upgrade you should consider. Even if your existing set-up works “just fine,” improvements in display quality and the sheer variety of options available make browsing the latest recommendations from Wirecutter or PC Mag worthwhile.

The big debate is not whether a new monitor is worth the cost (since, like with televisions, prices continue to trend downward) but whether you go for dual monitors, a curved ultrawide monitor or a setup that allows you to have one vertically oriented monitor for reviewing documents.

Why this matters: Compared to other tech purchases, monitors are relatively inexpensive, last for years and can benefit almost every person at your firm. If you’re looking for a practical, low-risk upgrade that boosts productivity, this is a smart place to start. (Wirecutter / PC Mag)

You had me at holiday homicides

"The Lawmas Podcast" is, as its name implies, a mixture of law stuff and mom stuff. But for the month of December, it is all true crime, all the time. Hosts Lauren, an estate planning attorney, and Lacey, a criminal defense lawyer, get into the gory details of heinous crimes committed during the holiday season.

Thanks to their legal background, the hosts do more than appeal to your morbid curiosity. They talk about prosecutorial discretion, the real cost of justice, and lament the fact that most holiday violence is perpetrated by close family members.

Why this matters: This is a satisfying listen because the hosts are good at mixing their legal analysis into their storytelling. And that holds in the non-holiday episodes as well, where they offer candid conversations about building sustainable practices, setting boundaries and parenting as a professional. (The Lawmas Podcast)

Firms spreading the holiday spirit

Last week’s marketing tip encouraged firms to do more than post a generic holiday greeting this season. This week, we are highlighting some firms that are already doing this, and doing it well.

Su Kang at the Kentucky-based McBrayer law firm authored a blog post on co-parenting during the holidays.

LinkedIn was the logical place for employment law attorney Stefanie Costi to post some tips for holiday party goers.

The Ooten Law Firm in East Tennessee gets a lot of publicity by sponsoring the Christmas parade in the town where one of its offices is located.

This blog post on “How to Juggle Grief and Estate Administration Over the Holidays” is a great resource for Littleton Legal’s clients in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

Amir V. Adibi at the Adibi IP Group made a short video about copyright law viewed through the lens of Mariah Carey’s mega hit “All I Want for Christmas is You.” The firm cross-posted the same video on all its social platforms.

The New York Traffic Ticket Lawyers are going niche. Their blog has tips for drivers ticketed for passing a snowplow.

The criminal defense attorneys at Chambers Law celebrate the season and support local artists by commissioning custom window art. They hired a different local artist to do the windows at their Conway, South Carolina office.

Why this matters: Successful marketing builds your brand and targets your ideal clients. These examples manage to do this while also showing some holiday spirit.

You're all caught up!

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Raise the Bar is written and curated by Emily Kelchen and edited by Bianca Prieto.