Law Firm Management

When was the last time you had to sign a document or collect signatures as part of a larger business process? Or wait on someone else for a signature? Did you opt for the old-fashioned "wet signature" or the new-fashion electronic version?

In recent years, as client fee pressure has increased and client loyalty has decreased, law firms are investing significant time and money in business development programs ... in an often-futile attempt to turn everyone into a capable rainmaker.

The cloud is everywhere, raining down apps and digital services on companies. The potential benefits are clear: more storage and portability of company information and customer data, as well as time and cost savings for management and employees.

Even though lawyer management in most mid-size firms recognize the importance of developing and implementing principles of practice management as a means to insure the high quality service to clients and to improve profitability, the extent to which practice management may be implemented varies greatly from firm to firm.

A number of scholars have studied relationship development and the science/psychology around building relationships. This article looks at a perspective on four stages of relationship-building, and provides some insight into each.

Leadership. It's an accidental career. Yet, too many leaders are leaving their leadership to chance. They have not sought out the skills to lead intentionally and confidently.

Last month, in Part One of this article, we explained that two judges sitting in the District Court in the Northern District of California had issued decisions with respect to unfinished business claims. The rulings on all these cases (one of which was updated after press time) favored the law firm defendants. We continue this discussion herein.

For employers, social media sites present a potential treasure trove of information on applicants, but mining this information for use in recruiting, hiring, firing and monitoring of employees is fraught with risk. Nonetheless, some studies show that 40% of employers search social media during the hiring process. While there are not currently any laws in the United States forbidding employers from gleaning information from social media, improper use can get them into trouble.