Features
Practice Building Skills: Can I Really Learn How to Be a Rainmaker?
The authors note: "It is amazing to us how often we meet attorneys who have the self-limiting belief that they will never be successful rainmakers. We constantly hear things like, 'I didn't go to law school to sell something,' or 'the people I know who develop business can do so only because it comes naturally to them.' These are excuses that may make us feel better when we say them, but they will not ever help us move out of our comfort zones to become well-rounded professionals.
Features
Title Inflation: What's in a Name?
Like many organizations, title inflation has befallen law firms. Clearly, titles are important. Despite the temporary de-emphasis during the 'dot-com' era, titles are fundamental to any organizational design especially in a law firm setting where a more hierarchical model has always been valued. Used correctly, it can represent a way to reward, and in theory retain, talent. Positioning the marketing function at the 'C' level seems to make good sense, for the firm and certainly the executive. Despite this, before taking on the title ask yourself; am I getting a seat at the table or on the edge of a cliff?
Features
Creating a Successful Summer Associate Training Program
It's not a secret that a strong summer associate program is essential to attracting and retaining talent. Aside from providing good work assignments and networking opportunities, a summer program would not be complete without a training component. Whether your firm provides a few seminars or a formal Summer Associate Academy complete with workshops, guest speakers, and opportunities to attend off-site conferences, the following provides an overview of some easy steps for creating an effective summer associate training program.
Features
Family Responsibilities Discrimination in Law Firms
Sex-based stereotypes still play a role in workplace decisions in what has become one of the fastest growing areas of employment discrimination law: Family Responsibilities Discrimination ('FRD'). While overall the filing of employment discrimination cases has declined in recent years, FRD lawsuits have increased by 400% in the last decade; and FRD cases have a 50% success rate, compared with a 20% success rate for other employment discrimination cases.
Features
Deal Season 2008: Outlook for Transaction Support Services
Many global firms that provide transaction support services for law firms are exceedingly worried about the 2008 deal season. But is the anecdotal evidence of a drying pipeline true? A quick look at the data suggests that law and accounting firms are right to be worried about a decreased deal flow, with only a few highlights in sight.
I'LL FOLLOW YOU ANYWHERE <i>When You Learn How To Lead Me There</i>
Gerry Riskin, who is undoubtedly one of the anointed few among clear thinkers, recently sent out a small video (http://www.gerryriskin.com/law-firm-leadership-law-firm-leaders-heres-3-minutes-53-seconds-from-tom-peters.html) of Tom Peters on the subject of leadership. It was an important piece, and certainly worth the few moments it takes to view it. The subject of leadership is intriguing, obviously. There are a vast number of books on the subject, and people in all walks of life seem to spend more time and concern on…
INVISIBLE MARKETING II.
INVISIBLE MARKETING II. Last column we startged discussing "permission marketing" by recognizing opportunities given to you by clients and prospects for future client generation. This time we will add two more business development openings. "WHAT'S NEW?", when asked by a past contact or by a good client, opens the way to talk about: * A recent firm success * An highly regarded article written by a colleague * Or asking if they have heard about a…
INVISIBLE MARKETING I.
INVISIBLE MARKETING I. is a comcept requiring a sharp eye and ear. It is a component of "permission marketing" where a client or prospect provide you with an opportunity to sell to them. For example, we all know that great work and referrals are the 2 best sources of future business development. But complaints, yes complaints, are another great source of business by building a strong relationship. If a client calls with a problem in…
Features
Lawyer or Laborer? Value Billing Helps Lawyers Convey the Worth, Not Just the Cost, of Their Services
Cash cannot be realized until clients understand the benefits they have received from the lawyer's services — and agree to pay the bill. The key is to understand and convey value to the client, expressed in clear and understandable terms.
Need Help?
- Prefer an IP authenticated environment? Request a transition or call 800-756-8993.
- Need other assistance? email Customer Service or call 1-877-256-2472.
MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Artist Challenges Copyright Office Refusal to Register Award-Winning AI-Assisted WorkCopyright law has long struggled to keep pace with advances in technology, and the debate around the copyrightability of AI-assisted works is no exception. At issue is the human authorship requirement: the principle that a work must have a human author to be eligible for copyright protection. While the Copyright Office has previously cited this "bedrock requirement of copyright" to reject registrations, recent decisions have focused on the role of human authorship in the context of AI.Read More ›
- Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult CoinWith each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.Read More ›
- Sender Beware: Jurisdictional Risks of Pre-Litigation CommunicationsThe Federal Circuit recently clarified — and lowered — the threshold to exercise specific personal jurisdiction over an out of state declaratory judgment defendant.Read More ›
- Beach Boys Songs Written Decades Ago Triggered Current Quarrel With LawyersThere's current litigation in the ongoing Beach Boys litigation saga. A lawsuit filed in 2019 against Nevada residents Mike Love and his wife Jacquelyne in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada that alleges inaccurate payment by the Loves under the retainer agreement and seeks $84.5 million in damages.Read More ›
- Supreme Court Rules Rejection of Trademark License Does Not Rescind Rights of LicenseeMission Product Holdings, Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC The question is whether a debtor's rejection of its agreement granting a license "terminates rights of the licensee that would survive the licensor's breach under applicable nonbankruptcy law."Read More ›