Law Firm Management

LAW FIRM MERGERS - WHO SHOULD CARE? - We begin a new series on why most underachieving law firm mergers share one fundamental deficiency. Over the next several columns I'll identify a checklist to be used by the negotiating partners and marketing leadership to deal with it. The failure is to work a practicable marketing strategy into the very soul of the merger - before it happens, while it happens and after it happens. Keep in…

Today, marketing and business development professionals need to understand law firm finance and economics. Likewise, law firm chief financial officers need a better understanding and appreciation of marketing strategies. The success of your firm will depend on how well these two disciplines work together.

It's not a secret that a strong summer associate program is essential to attracting and retaining talent. This article provides an overview of some easy steps for creating an effective program.

Few firms evaluate the long-term growth of competitive intelligence (CI) in firm business development, and even fewer have sought to build systematically on current efforts to create an intelligence function that can predict opportunities. This article seeks to illustrate how a law firm can build a robust intelligence function ' gathering both competitive and business intelligence ' that will provide the greatest strategic benefit over the short and long terms.

With the ever-increasing focus on security, wage and hour class actions create potential liability for a variety of employers, from airport vendors to power plants to retailers. Fortunately for these employers and others, the recent, yet limited, case law has held that such time is not compensable. Moreover, general wage and hour principles support this conclusion.

Who's going where; who's doing what.

In December 2007, Lucent Technologies Inc. secured a non-prosecution agreement from the Department of Justice and settled an enforcement action with the SEC for conduct related to travel and entertainment expenses incurred on behalf of Chinese government officials and for the manner in which these expenses were booked. The Lucent settlement adds to a number of existing guideposts regarding permissible interactions with foreign officials under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. This article examines the Lucent settlement, prior FCPA enforcement activity related to travel and lodging, and offers some practical advice for compliance counsel.

Turning over the reins of a law firm is an art form. A well-staged plan that allows for a seamless transition from current leaders to the next generation — in both client relationships and management responsibilities — is crucial to the health and longevity of your partnership.