Louis S. Harrison, specializing in sophisticated tax, corporate, and estate planning, is proposing a new rule for planners: the 90/10 rule. While many are familiar with the 80/20 rule, 80% of revenue comes from 20% of clients, the 90/10 rule is designed to increase attorney/planner happiness rather than revenue. The 90/10 rule underlies the idea that 90% of aggravation in a firm comes from 10% of clients. Harrison advocates for the idea that this 10% should be avoided and offers a few bits of advice on how to do so. His basic premise depends on attorneys and planners using their common sense. If a client has burned through multiple attorneys, disparages former attorneys, or is hiring you in order to avoid paying a previous attorney, it may be better to simply say “no” and avoid the aggravation.
See Louis S. Harrison, Avoiding the Dark Side: Darth Vader and the 90/10 Rule, Wealth Management.com, May 18, 2017.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.
