Believe it or not, 43% of Americans don’t have an estate plan. While the advantages of a will or trust might seem obvious to you as an estate planning attorney, a sizeable minority of Americans don’t recognize the value.

Even when the topic does cross their mind, misconceptions about estate planning abound. The most common one is that the average person doesn’t need an estate plan. Of the 43% of Americans who don’t have a plan in place, more than one third (37%) haven’t addressed the issue because they don’t believe they have sufficient assets to warrant an estate plan. Another 29% said they weren’t wealthy enough to even consider it.

It’s unlikely that writing legal documents is the most exciting part of your job. That doesn’t mean it’s not critical. In fact, attorneys have been reprimanded for poor writing ability. Consider the case of Patrick Hawkins, whose poor writing skills warranted public reprimand and an order from the court to complete 10 hours of legal writing education. Mr. Hawkins isn’t alone. Legal history is littered with examples of attorneys who have been sanctioned for their poor legal writing skills.

Even if you are a strong writer, no one is immune to typos. But the slightest mistake can cost you clients and your reputation. Additionally, if you don’t keep up to date on legislative changes, you could create tax consequences for your clients and even put yourself at risk of legal action. Here are a few ways to reduce typos and errors in your legal documents. 

Small businesses rise or stagnate depending on creativity. As an attorney, you fully intend to take on projects to help your small business clients grow, but you never seem to find the time. Here are a few tips to get such projects jumpstarted: