It’s time to get ready for 2010. There are a few things you’ve got to do now to make next year a success. It might seem early, but some would argue that it’s pretty late in the game to be gearing up for next year.

These are the three things you’ve got do now –

First, lock in your meeting schedule for the year. Given the nature of attorney scheduling you’ve got to go ahead and lock in dates now for all your important meetings. These dates need to be written in stone. All other activities, vacations, hearings, etc. need to be scheduled around these dates.

What kind of meetings should you have? That depends on your firm and your culture. We hold a quarterly all-hands meeting for the first week of the quarter. We also schedule quarterly management off-site meetings for the second month of each quarter. We have weekly team meetings for management, legal and administrative. Go ahead and commit to dates, time, locations and catering for all of your meetings. The more you plan, the more likely you are to make sure the meetings take place.

Second, prepare your budgets for 2010 now, before the year gets started. It’s time to pull all the data for 2008 and 2009 and build the 2010 budget. Figure out what needs to increase, what needs to decrease and what needs further study. You don’t want to be locking in to your 2010 budget after 2010 has started. Do it now and get it done before December. Realistically, it’s tough to get budget work done once the holidays get rolling.

Finally, establish your goals for 2010. This is the time to establish your objectives for growth, marketing, finances, management, technology, etc. You want a through discussion of these issues among all the key players in your firm and you need time to achieve buy-in before the year starts. Now is the time to get hopping.

2010 is going to be a great year for our industry. My conversations with lawyers across the country keep revealing signs of a recovery even in some of the hardest hit areas. It’s time to build your plan so you can spend 2o10 implementing and executing.