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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Tax Implications of Budget Reconciliation Bill
Lawrence L. Bell
In this two-part article, we look at the proposed tax law changes in the budget reconciliation bill — the major legislation in 2021.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Bringing 5-Star Hospitality to Law Firms
Anthony Davies
The law firm office cannot remain unchanged, therefore, as if frozen in time set to some date prior to the onset of pandemic, when all the terms and meaning have all changed. In fact, the office must now provide benefits or an experience the lawyers and staff cannot get at home.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Highlight Client Service Skills In the New Year
Sharon Meit Abrahams
Attorneys need their clients to see them as a trusted advisor and partner in their legal solutions. If the lawyer takes time at the beginning of the relationship to establish expectations, then future conflicts can be avoided or resolved more quickly.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Legal Ops Tech: Tips for Success with Cloud-based Practice Management In 2022
Tomas Suros
While functionality and features are important, there are a number of additional considerations when evaluating a practice management solution. Will your platform provider serve as a partner that will offer expert guidance and be invested in your ongoing success?
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Marketing The Law Firm
Equity, Inclusion, and Individual Engagement Principle (EIIEP)
Frank L. Douglas
Employee engagement is becoming vital to successful businesses, however, that hasn’t translated to significantly wider adoption of meaningful diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices in workspaces.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Leading Through Disruption
Julia Mercier
The pandemic has brought into focus the need for law firms and law firm leaders to be strategic about fostering the connections, engagement, learning, and innovation that will allow them to both attract and retain top talent.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Opportunity and Outsourcing In a Post-COVID World
Rob Mattern
2020 was a lesson in forced change management. Today, law firms are at a crossroads triggered by the transformational impact of the pandemic, and wondering…
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
How Law Firms Can Gain a Competitive Advantage With Financial Intelligence
Ari Kaplan
The results of a new report — Implementing Financial Intelligence to Give Law Firms a Competitive Advantage in 2022 and Beyond — revealed a striking shift in the role of law firm finance leaders, both in their value and impact. Many are using data to drive change in their organizations, amplifying the power of profitability, and leveraging their skill to fuel innovation. Ultimately, they are helping their firms gain a competitive advantage.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Build Back Better: Considerations for Tax Advisers & Planners
Lawrence L. Bell
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed by the President on Nov. 15, 2021, presents a number of issues for advisers, planners and taxpayers to consider.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Messaging on Growth Important to Attract Top Talent and Prospective Clients
Jesse Dungan and Nicole Tackley
By keeping these communication tips in mind, firm leaders can ensure that their most important stakeholders understand the significance of their expansion and why it is a win-win for the firm, its people and its clients.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Rate Hikes Threatening Trusted Status with Clients
Dan Packel
After years of clients working to trim their roster of firms to a trusted group that understands the specific challenges of their businesses, rate hikes are threatening to upset these delicate relationships.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
How Should Law Firms Use Their Windfall of Profits?
Patrick Smith
After many firms experienced a highly profitable 2020 and sky-high demand levels in 2021, they found themselves with more cash than usual. While more than enough Big Law money has been lavished on associates and laterals recently, those aren’t the only ways firms are spending their riches.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Report: Talent War Heating Up to ‘Boiling Point’
Andrew Maloney
Law firms are paying more for talent than ever before. But like other industries that’ve been hit by a so-called “Great Resignation,” they’re also hemorrhaging it like never before, and the result is a diminished return on investment that could reach a “boiling point” in the near future.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Lessons from 2021 That Will Help Prepare for 2022
J. Mark Santiago
Many firms are projecting that 2021 will be an improvement over 2020’s average revenue growth and PPEP growth, which in January was not the common wisdom. But we have also learned some things in 2021 that should not be forgotten or overlooked in the rush to year-end.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Disruption, Opportunity and Outsourcing In a Post-COVID World
Rob Mattern
Law firms are at a crossroads triggered by the transformational impact of the pandemic, and wondering whether the mandate for change will continue or shrink back to pre-2020 operations. For most firms, the answer is to continue on the road for change, including reengineering the delivery of legal services.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Leading the Return to the Office
Mark Beese
Many firms are shifting to a hybrid work model, where lawyers and staff will divide their time between in-office and outside-the-office work, making management and leadership tasks more challenging.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Biden’s Economic Road Map Includes Benefits for Government Contractors
Lawrence L. Bell
The Biden Administration and the Democratic controlled Congress is rolling out a robust spending plan that will provide benefits and burdens for the defense and government contract community. This article provides a road map that will assist in providing permissibly selective benefits for the qualifying government contractors and employees.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Five Things Law Firm Leaders Need to Do As People Return to the Office
Mark Beese
Slowly, ever so slowly, lawyers and staff are making their way back to the office. While we all look forward to returning to normal, the normal we left…
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Online Extra: Talent Crunch Triggering Alarm Bells for Law Firms
Andrew Maloney
The talent crunch has triggered alarm bells about law firms’ long-term viability, as epic workloads and existential upheaval continue to rain on a generation that’s less interested in the traditional benefits of Big Law life.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
COVID-19: Economic Stimulus and SBA Loans
Jacob Weichholz, Daniel Mayo and Chris DeMayo
A summary of information on the various provisions under the new federal economic stimulus package.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Leading Through Disruption
Julia Mercier
Some tried and true leadership practices for firms and partners who are focused on retaining and developing top talent in the current context.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Registered Nurses In a Top Hat Plan
Lawrence L. Bell
As the healthcare industry is emerging from the pandemic they are looking for ways to reward, retain and recruit a very important segment of its people — Registered Nurses. Employers are looking for ways to provide benefits in an economically efficient fashion that does not create an immediate and punitive tax on the participant.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Obstacles to Overcome So Attorneys Can Train Others
Sharon Meit Abrahams
This article delves into what firms can do to support their attorneys who lead training initiatives such as on-boarding new associates, delivering substantive knowledge, designing skill development training or any other aspect of professional development in the legal field.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Managing Outreach Is the Most Important Task for Practice Group Leaders
Eric Dewey
No other job of a practice group leader does more to solve the many challenges of running a practice group than does a steady flow of new work from new clients.
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Marketing The Law Firm
The Most Important Task Practice Group Leaders Fail to Manage
Eric Dewey
There is one task that practice group leaders prioritize above all others: the management of the group’s outreach. No other job of a practice group leader does more to solve the many challenges of running a practice group than does a steady flow of new work from new clients.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
How Many Is Too Many? Billable Hours Can Reach Diminishing Returns
Dylan Jackson
By now, it is well known that this year has been defined, at least in part, by the furious pace at which lawyers have been working. At what point do high billable hours mean diminishing returns for both the lawyer and the firm?
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
How to Cut IT Costs and Streamline Operations with Leasing
Scott McFetters
While analysts predict firms will still see savings from expense cuts in 2021, these savings won't be as dramatic as in 2020 and, moreover, recommend that firms should use profit gains to invest in long-term strategies for growth — like technology.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Understanding Your Clients’ Changing Needs In a Post-Pandemic Legal Market
Marci Krufka Taylor
If it was challenging to get facetime with clients pre-pandemic, that challenge has only multiplied in the post-pandemic world. As firms look for creative ways to reconnect with clients, client interviews and surveys have become more important than ever for ensuring client satisfaction, loyalty and profitability.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Stakeholders: How to See Things from the Client’s Perspective
Catherine Alman MacDonagh
Without hearing the Voice of the Customer (or Client), we risk missing the mark in our strategy, messaging and positioning, as well as delivery of work, product and service, operations, technology, staffing and so forth — in short, we potentially miss on everything.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
The Queen’s Gambit: Vetting Costs and Other Factors In Hiring a Tech Vendor
Abeer Abu Judeh
There are numerous “gameplays” to reduce risks when selecting and hiring a technology vendor. With each mitigating factor you incorporate into your contracting playbook, prepare to incur additional costs.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
The Future of Litigation Workflow: Reimagining Technology and Process in the Next Decade
Ari Kaplan
Hear what a cross-section of law firm leaders say about how the pandemic has impacted litigation in the short- and long-term.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Hoteling: What Can Law Firms Learn from the Big 4?
Anthony Davies
The success of the decentralized law firm depends in some part on how well firms can shift “hoteling” from the negative connotation of “losing my desk” to the positive connotation of “having a hotel-like experience” as is the case in the Big 4.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Biden Administration Budget 2022: Employer Sponsored Death Benefits a Forgotten Planning Tool
Lawrence L. Bell
Part Two of a Two-Part Article
Part Two provides more scenarios under which an Employer-Sponsored Death Benefit plan may be assigned, based on IRS memoranda.
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Marketing The Law Firm
COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE: Competitive Intelligence On a Dime
Michelle McCormick
Simple and Cost-Effective Ways to Help Your Firm Harness the Power of Competitive Intelligence
Many products and trainings promise to help with or automate your competitive intelligence research, but getting good data does not have to be so complicated or expensive. Here are some tips for how you can leverage competitive intelligence in your marketing efforts without a significant cost.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Biden Administration Budget 2022: Employer Sponsored Death Benefits a Forgotten Planning Tool
Lawrence L. Bell
Part One of a Two-Part Article
While providing a current benefit for employees, an employer sponsored death benefit is an asset that may create needless taxation if not properly handled. Taking prudent steps will avoid the problems of loss of control and flexibility while minimizing income, estate, transfer and capital income taxes.
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Marketing The Law Firm
LEADERSHIP IN LAW: Rapid Innovation Is Scary, But Necessary for Law Firm Leaders
Marcie Borgal Shunk
To achieve the goal of accomplishing the seemingly insurmountable task of preparing leaders to shepherd firms in the post-pandemic world demands an approach similar to what enabled society to create the COVID vaccine in record time: a unique set of circumstances, dedicated focus and sufficient resources.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Process Automation: Increase Competitiveness By Going Paperless
Adam Levithan and Laura Whitman
This last year has brought an ever-increasing pressure to be competitive and retain the margin that pays salaries and powers growth. One outlet to maintain and increase competitiveness is the reduction of paper processes and increasing the use of technology.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Rapid Innovation Is Scary, But Necessary for Law Firm Leaders
Marcie Borgal Shunk
To achieve the seemingly insurmountable task of preparing leaders to shepherd firms in the post-pandemic world demands an approach similar to what enabled society to create the COVID vaccine in record time: a unique set of circumstances, dedicated focus and sufficient resources.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Closing the Information Security and Governance Gaps In the New Operational Model
Kyle Reese and Nathan Curtis
In 2020, information governance may have been sacrificed in the face of an urgent, global crisis. As understandable as that is, it’s time now to step back and assess best practices for the new operational model that is here to stay.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
The CAA’s Impact on Health and Welfare Plans
Lawrence L. Bell
In addition to funding the government and further COVID-19 relief, the recently signed Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) included significant provisions impacting health benefit coverage.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
How to Motivate Attorneys to Be Successful Rainmakers
Jaimie B. Field
How to motivate attorneys to do rainmaking activities has become a critical question during the pandemic because the usual avenue that the predominance of attorneys used to build books of business of in-person networking had been eliminated for almost 15 months.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
How to Create a Law Firm Culture That Supports ‘The Hustle’
Randi Rosenblatt
Whether they practice at global firms consisting of thousands of lawyers or decide to hang a shingle and put their name on the door, lawyers chose a path requiring continuous, never-ending hustle. Not only do they need to master the practice of law, they need to master the art of driving revenue.
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Marketing The Law Firm
How to Create a Culture In a Law Firm That Supports ‘The Hustle’
Randi Rosenblatt
Whether they practice at global firms consisting of thousands of lawyers or decide to hang a shingle and put their name on the door, lawyers chose a path requiring continuous, never-ending hustle. Not only do they need to master the practice of law, they need to master the art of driving revenue.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Despite Pandemic, Profits At Am Law 100 Firms Leapt to New Heights
Brenda Sapino Jeffreys
The past year posed new and unusual challenges for U.S. law firms, rattled by economic uncertainty, remote work, stay-home orders and social distancing. Despite the turmoil, profits at the Am Law 100 leapt to new heights.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
How Do Business Development Efforts In High-Performing Law Firms Differ?
Meghan Frank
As firms and their clients continue to navigate ongoing business challenges in 2021, BD and marketing professionals first need to understand how mature their efforts are in specific areas. Then, they can look at what the successful firms are doing differently, so they can position themselves to join those ranks.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Law Firms Need to Look At Partnership Behaviors to Manage Profitability
Hugh A. Simons
In the decade ahead, the mechanism for offsetting the effects of external market forces on profitability will shift from changing partnership composition to transforming a partnership’s behavioral norms, centering on how partners behave toward each other and help each other become the best possible version of their professional selves.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Who Benefits, and Who Doesn’t, from Returning to the Office
Patrick Smith
When the pandemic sent everyone home in March 2020, it was a seismic shift in work, but one that had a clear reasoning behind it, and, oddly, was remarkably uniform in execution for all involved. The return to the office is much more complicated, and it isn’t just about logistics.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
‘Staying Bonuses’ Can Help Keep Associates, But More than Cash Is Needed
Andrew Maloney
While bonuses have kept some associates from moving to midsize firm competitors or outside Big Law entirely, large firms must also be more creative and holistic in the long run to retain top associates when the barriers between home and work life are eroding.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Is Your Firm Prepared for the ‘Silver Tsunami’?
J. Mark Santiago
A Silver Tsunami of aging partners is threatening the legal profession. There’s a way to higher ground.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
What In-House Counsel Need from Outside Counsel As Pandemic Landscape Shifts
Jennifer Simpson Carr
The global COVID-19 pandemic forced lawyers — individuals whose relationships formerly depended upon firm handshakes and looking their clients directly in the eye — to build client trust through a tiny camera lens. Here's a Q&A with GCs to discuss what matters most to their companies when hiring outside counsel.
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