Gentle Reader,

Writing a monthly column is a peculiar thing. It’s like sending a letter to future me, but with only the knowledge of past me. No sense discussing the news cycle. It will be old news by the time you get this. Then again, the news cycle is measured in hours now instead of weeks so even a daily commentary would feel dated.

I look forward to this time of year for football season, but by the time you get to this the season will be decided for a few teams. I’m ahead of the curve there, my team has already stunk up the joint and we are talking about next year.

Things have been weird around here and I could use a break. I went to a funeral recently, and the funeral home had a gift shop. Not exactly gifts, more like a showroom of caskets, urns, and keepsakes. Someone in the funeral union must have been to a marketing conference. I showed my wife the camo casket, saying she could just leave it in the woods somewhere and save money on my burial. I can’t print what she said.

I am off to the annual law firm marketing and management conference, this year in my old home state.  I haven’t been to Oklahoma in over a decade but I am guessing it is different there now. Everything else is.

I started going to this conference when I first opened my law firm.  It showed me how little I knew about running a business but fortunately helped me fix that. Back when I was in law school, we didn’t discuss what to do with a law license after we got one and that included (excluded?) how to manage a law practice.

Learning to run a law practice is much different from learning to practice law. Not that law school gave a lot of guidance there either, but at least we had some practical coursework. Bungle a motion or a case, take an appeal. Bungle the firm’s finances, take bankruptcy. Still in a courthouse at least.

 I learned how to practice law from watching my mentor and other lawyers in the courtroom. They were glad to share. But no one wanted to let a young associate look over their shoulders when they planned the firm’s future or wrote the checks. I started my practice with less knowledge about business than I had about the law which didn’t seem possible.

I tend to get excited at the management conference and not just because the accommodations are top shelf. The law moves like a glacier,  business practices change on the hour. It is exciting now, but past me remembers when it was terrifying.

The agenda for the conference is a list of the usual suspects, artificial intelligence, advertising, hot topics in the law. Hot is of course a relative term. Much of the agenda is geared toward television advertising. Those sessions will be my cue to take a nap.

The last day of this conference features a round table where participants share what they have tried in the past year that worked, and what didn’t. I always enjoy that part although I rarely have anything to offer. This year may be different. My law firm doesn’t yet have a gift shop, but I may add one. Who wouldn’t want a giant novelty check to commemorate a win? Some foam fingers with my firm name on them?  I’ve already decided against half off coupons for appeals. I’m still spitballing some ideas, but pretty sure I won’t come up with worse ones. Or camo ones.

©2025 With All Due Respect. Spencer Farris is the founding partner of The S.E. Farris Law Firm in St Louis, Missouri. Comments or criticisms about this column may be sent c/o this publication or directly to him via email at farris@farrislaw.net. Foam fingers coming soon.