Partnerships are relationships, ideally relationships built on trust and a common goal. Successful partnerships require all parties working together — working together to service a client fully, generate revenue and to build a business. This requires openness and coordination.
A once-in-a-lifetime pandemic caused once-in-a-lifetime expense reductions that could forever alter the business of law. After those cost savings fueled double-digit profit growth for many firms in 2020, don't be surprised if Big Law leaders try to make some of those gains stick.
The current circumstances are giving rise to conversations about pricing, and driving both sides of the law firm-client relationship to seek common ground — both in the form of tried-and-true alternative fee arrangements and those that reflect a more innovative approach.
We all know that business and business development will be different post-pandemic, and we are not sure how. This article discusses the trends that lawyers and firms should be tracking and how they should plan and execute when the future is murky.
Instead of sharing my insights, experience and opinions as a 20-year vet in legal public relations, I went directly to the source – the ALM Media editorial staff. Here is what they had to say about the impact of COVID-19 on the industry as a whole and what they want and expect from law firms and PR pros in 2021.
In the legal industry, transitioning to a culture of care poses more of a challenge to law firms than other businesses. What is needed now is for attorneys to seize the chance to reshape their profession and strengthen their position as leaders of our society.
With a new year and fresh outlook for the future, the time is ripe for legal technologists and innovators to take the delivery of legal services and client experience to the next level. One key is recognizing that successful innovation is equal parts mindset, method and message.
What kinds of firms are best positioned to provide superior value to clients and why this is such a critical consideration in the current economic climate.
At the Oscars in March, Best Actress winner Frances McDormand made “inclusion rider” go viral. But Kalpana Kotagal, a partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll had already worked for months to write the language for such provisions. Kotagal was developing legal language for contract provisions that Hollywood's elite could use to require studios and other partners to employ diverse workers on set.
The law firm office cannot remain unchanged, as if frozen in time set to some date prior to the onset of pandemic, when 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.
The legal implications of branding generally arise initially for companies during the process of selecting a company name and any initial product or service names. For drug development companies, however, careful consideration should also be paid to the implications of branding a clinical trial.
'Disconnect Between In-House and Outside Counsel is a continuation of the discussion of client expectations and the disconnect that often occurs. And although the outside attorneys should be pursuing how inside-counsel actually think, inside counsel should make an effort to impart this information without waiting to be asked.
