Have you ever wondered why, when everyone in your firm supports the concept of business development, you just can't seem to get initiatives implemented? While business development inside a law firm isn't a new concept, many directors and CMOs have so far failed to recognize just how significant an impact these initiatives will have on the basic structure and organization of the firm.
Employer brand is top of mind for many firms. The way a firm's brand is perceived by staff and potential employees is a critical success factor. There was once a time when marketing and HR were very different schools of thought; people from each discipline had very little in common. Now, HR professionals are beginning to put on marketing 'thinking caps' and utilize marketing principles and strategies to brand their firms; therefore, successfully attracting talent ' and not just fee-earner talent!
You might be forgiven for concluding that the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines were largely a thing of the past following the Supreme Court's decision two years ago in United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005). The Court held that the Guidelines were purely advisory ' not mandatory ' and just one among many factors to be consulted in meting out a sentence under 18 U.S.C. ' 3553(a). Other factors specified in ' 3553(a) include such…
Over the past several years, the Department of Justice ('DOJ') has expanded its tools and efforts to gather evidence from abroad and reciprocate by helping foreign prosecutors gather evidence in the United States. For a client whose primary presence is in this country, cross-border cooperation among law enforcement organizations raises distinct and difficult issues. An effective defense requires knowledge of treaties and criminal law in two or more jurisdictions, and collaboration among defense counsel in different countries.
A new department centering on key cases.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada granted summary judgment in part for Nevada-based entertainment attorney John Mason on his claim of breach of legal-services agreements by a film-production company.
Summit Entertainment's $1 billion movie financing deal ' which created a new production and distribution studio ' all started with a group of bankers and lawyers sitting around and talking about how to get more money from movie-financing deals. In recent years, investors have invested in films that are distributed by studios, which take a distribution fee of about 10% to 15%. With the Summit deal, the investors for the first time cut the middleman in this process.
After years of lobbying, the Employee Free Choice Act was introduced in 2003, but did not advance. Similar legislation was proposed again in 2005, co-sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. George Miller (D-CA). While it did not pass either the House or Senate, it attracted widespread notice by gaining the support of 44 Senators and 215 Representatives (only three short of the 218 House votes required for passage). Predictably, in early February 2007, with the new Democratic Congress now in power, Rep. Miller, in his role as Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, reintroduced this proposed legislation (H.R. 800) containing all three items on the labor movement's wish list.
Each year, the federal government spends several hundred billion dollars to obtain goods and services from corporations and other nongovernmental entities. Under the critical eye of the nation's taxpayers, the federal government has amplified its own scrutiny of the ethics and integrity of its procurement officers and those companies with which it contracts. Via new national legislation and investigative initiatives, the attention of Capitol Hill and federal law enforcement offices across the nation is keenly focused on the prevention, detection and punishment of procurement fraud. It is a brand new day ' and a potentially dark one for the unwary governmental contractor.
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