Dave Maxfield
Dave Maxfield is the three-time Chairman of the Consumer Law section of the South Carolina Bar and a member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) and Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA). He is Immediate Past President of the Richland County Bar Association, South Carolina’s largest with over 1900 members.
Over the last 20 years, he has represented thousands of individual consumers in cases against banks, credit reporting agencies, and insurance companies.
Dave has taught nearly 100 Continuing Legal Education (CLE) programs to other lawyers, and speaks regularly in the media and to law students on issues affecting consumers both locally and nationally, most recently at the National Consumer Law Center’s 2017 Consumer Rights Litigation Conference. Dave frequently trains other lawyers on the use of technology, and was a speaker at the ABATechshow in 2011, 2012 and 2013. He has also trained law students at the University of Colorado, UCLA, William & Mary, and Harvard Law School on technology use. Articles by and about him have appeared in South Carolina Lawyer Magazine, ABA Magazine, and Lawyer’s Weekly newspaper.
A self-described “Systems Geek” Dave is co-author with Larry Port of the The Lean Law Firm, published by the American Bar Association in early 2018.
Larry Port
Larry Port has worked with thousands of law firms worldwide since 2008 when he started the first cloud-based legal practice management software company, Rocket Matter. Rocket Matter has since remained a leader in the industry, boosting law firm’s revenues by more than 20%.
In Larry’s role as founder and CEO of Rocket Matter, he has become a speaker and award-winning writer at the crossroads of the attorney wellness, legal profession, cutting edge technology, and law firm marketing. Larry speaks to an international audience on technology, productivity, and the business of law. He was recognized by Fastcase as one of the 50 top innovators in the field of law.
Larry writes extensively for legal publications, including the ABA’s Legal Management, Law Technology News, Law Practice Today, ILTA’s Peer to Peer, FindLaw, Chicago Lawyer, and Legal Productivity. He frequently discusses design and efficiency and quality techniques that lawyers can leverage.
Prior to founding Rocket Matter, Larry built software applications for finance industry, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the human resources industry. Larry is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he received his Bachelor of Science in Radio, Television & Film and New York University, where he completed his Masters of Computer Science from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences.
Larry is married with two kids, two dogs, and one cat. He loves to ski and hike as much as possible —not an easy feat when you live in Florida.
The Lean Law Firm is the first book that helps lawyers incorporate all the lean practices that have proven so successful over time. The book covers the most pressing issues facing law firms today, from daily meetings and building a client base to yearly strategic planning and time and billing management.
The Lean technique, employed successfully by businesses of all kinds, emphasizes a culture of continuous improvement, identification of value, minimization of waste, and prepares a law firm to successfully adapt to a rapidly changing market for legal services.
The Lean Law Firm covers everything from what new law firms need to consider, how to increase the number of clients, and manage time and billing to effective communication with staff, strategic planning and maintaining a competitive edge. The Lean Law Firm is always easy-to-read yet each page is packed with helpful advice and insights.
The Lean Law Firm incorporates not just the research and experience of the authors: we include stories from Dave’s live, practicing law firms which has implemented the techniques discussed in the chapters. The book is not simply theoretical business advice but real, pragmatic advice employed by actual lawyers.