Law Firm Management

  • Insurance Limited Partnerships As An Alternate Estate Planning Tool

    Valuation discounts in estate planning has permitted the transfer of assets from one generation to another in an economically efficient manner. Two of the various discount methods claim lack of control (minority interest discount) and lack of marketability. The IRS has traditionally objected to these approaches in intra-family transfers, while Congress has attempted to legislate away these "loopholes" unsuccessfully and the Treasury Department is contemplating new regulations to accomplish this goal.

    November 30, 2015Lawrence L. Bell

  • How to Show a Partner the Door

    The practice of law is a business. Typically, partners in a law practice are responsible for keeping the firm afloat through bringing in business. Because partners are expected to bring in money for their firms, making partner in a law firm is no longer the lifetime guaranteed 'employment it once was.

    November 02, 2015Randy Evans and Shari Klevens

  • Billing Scrutiny Creates Tension

    Legal bill scrutiny in its many forms ' internally by legal departments, by nonlawyer staff elsewhere in the company, by third-party auditors, or via e-billing software ' has the potential to affect how and when law firms get paid, but the practical effect is up for debate.

    November 02, 2015David Gialanella

  • Professional Development: Trust: Addressing The Issue In Business Development Training

    If your Professional Development program does not include a component focused on the importance of trust and isn't engaged with firm leadership on how best to overcome the two most prevalent types of trust in a professional services firm, that may be the reason why the firm's client team program isn't as successful as everyone would like it to be.

    November 02, 2015Bruce Alltop

  • Hit It Out of the Park: Lessons Learned in Practice Group Management

    This article reviews a methodology that has transformed our practice group leaders and our firm's approach to practice group management. What follows are some best practices and lessons learned from one midsize firm's year-long endeavor.

    November 02, 2015Jennifer G. Gallinson

  • Business of Branding: Seven Signs You Should Be Thinking About a Rebrand

    Just because you want a new "look and feel" doesn't mean you should enter into a lengthy, complex and potentially expensive rebranding project. There are a number of "signs," though, that might indicate you should consider rebranding or at least refreshing your firm's brand.

    November 02, 2015John Buchanan

  • The Global 100

    The Global 100 appears to have found its groove. After the turbulence of the financial crisis, which in 2009 caused the world's 100 highest-grossing law firms to collectively suffer their first-ever fall in aggregate fee income, the group has now settled into a pattern of slow, steady growth.

    November 02, 2015ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Data Sharing In the Cloud

    Storing and sharing data "in the cloud" has become, in many instances, a business necessity. The practical and economic advantages of cloud computing are clear ' it eliminates the need to send client data via traditional, costly methods, and is significantly less expensive than building and maintaining the same data storage capacity in-house.

    November 02, 2015Gregory Mottla and L. Elise Dieterich