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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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Marketing The Law Firm
Why Law Firms Need to Know About the ‘Excess Share of Voice’ Rule
Michelle Calcote King
Every time a brand is mentioned in the media, authors an article, posts on social media or runs a series of ads, a conversation is happening. The conversation is amplified when the audience engages by sharing the article, commenting on the social media post or clicking on the ads. All of this activity results in a certain share of voice.
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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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Marketing The Law Firm
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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Marketing The Law Firm
Voice of the Client: What In-House Counsel Need from Outside Counsel As Pandemic Landscapes Shifts
Jennifer Simpson Carr
Responses from GCs on what matters most to their companies when hiring outside counsel.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Five Critical Elements of Business Development Success
Aaron Y. Strauss
While acquiring the skills necessary to develop business is certainly a life-long journey, here are five critical elements to consider from the outset.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Competitive Intelligence: How Do You Listen When You’re Not In the Room?
Patricia Ellard
Although we understood how important in-person listening was before the pandemic, the background listening was something we used to take for granted. Here are five ways to practice active listening and remain engaged when we can’t be in a physical environment.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Building Successful Partnerships Requires Collaboration
DeWitt A. Sullivan
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.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Business Development: How & Why Law Firms Should Invest In Associates’ Business Development Efforts
Randi Rosenblatt
Many attorneys don’t actually know how to scale business and require guidance in order to develop and exercise that muscle. This is precisely why law firms should invest in their associates’ business development efforts from the start.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Law Firms Try to Hold On to 2020 Savings
Andrew Maloney
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.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Business Development: When the Road Is Bending
Sheila Murphy
2020 and 2021 have not just been bends in your business development road — it has been more like the road has been placed on top of a roller coaster where you cannot see what the next curve holds.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Utilizing Accountability Partners to Build Business
Randi Rosenblatt
Attorneys can utilize accountability partners to fuel the advances one truly wants to make in their efforts to build books of business.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Scorecards and Client Book Due Diligence Can Improve Lateral Hiring Performance
Eric Dewey
The lateral partner challenge is, essentially, a vetting challenge. And yet, few law firms take a strategic approach to vetting and hiring laterals.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Pandemic Drives Law Firms and Clients to Common Ground on Pricing
Dan Packel
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.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Marketing Analytics: More Is Not Always Best
Penny Paul and Susan Peters
In the past few decades, law firms have made great strides in catching up with the rest of the corporate world and are reaping the benefits of all kinds of marketing. This acceptance by firm management is in great part due to an increased appreciation of analytics, made possible by digital marketing and social media.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
How Legal Tech Can Help Lawyers Protect Privilege and Better Serve Their Clients
Daniel Farris
A recent UK High Court ruling has provided lawyers everywhere with a stark reminder on the scope of privilege for electronic communications.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Leadership in Law: 5 Ways Attorneys Can Utilize Accountability Partners to Build Business
Randi Rosenblatt
As individuals, accountability helps propel us forward. It forces us to prioritize with intention and makes us enhance our efficiencies so that we can…
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Following the Winding Business Development Road
Sheila Murphy
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.
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Marketing The Law Firm
What ALM Reporters and Editors Expect from Law Firms and PR Pros In 2021: Part II
Gina F. Rubel
At the end of 2020, I had the opportunity to interview seven members of the ALM Media editorial staff. This is Part II of a series of questions.
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Marketing The Law Firm
The Effective Act of Listening
Jennifer Papantonio
With GCs and other business leaders facing such incredible challenges, how do lawyers continue to manage clients’ transactional, litigation, compliance and regulatory needs, among others, while simultaneously providing professional, and even personal, support?
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Marketing The Law Firm
Media & Communications: What ALM Reporters and Editors Expect from Law Firms and PR Pros In 2021: Part I
Gina F. Rubel
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.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Sales Speak: 7 Reasons Networking Is Dead — Or Should Be
Eric Dewey
Networking is not the business development panacea many would make it out to be. In fact, I think networking can do more harm than good. To make my point, here are 7 ways “connecting” is better than “networking.”
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Marketing The Law Firm
Digital Dive: The Digital Buyer’s Journey: How to Nurture Your Potential Clients
Spencer X. Smith
Is there an elegant and effective way to use the power of online media to nurture your potential clients? Yes, and here’s a process to follow for each of the steps of that journey:
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Marketing The Law Firm
Voice of the Client: Map Processes and Workflows Together to REALLY Hear the Voice of the Client
Catherine Alman MacDonagh
Clients want better answers than “we are a fabulous, client centered team.” They want to know what you are doing for real and how working with you will actually help them. Process improvement and project management are incredibly effective for this purpose.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Why a Mutuality of Services Mindset In Legal Makes for A Better Post-COVID Culture
Leigh Vickery
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.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Leveraging Data to Drive Innovation in A Post-Pandemic (We Hope) World
Debra Baker
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.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Providing Superior Value to Clients In a Rocky Economic Climate
Roger E. Barton
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.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Firms Adding Financial Analysts to Calculate Profitability
Andrew Maloney
Law firms are increasingly adding new staff members and software to calculate their profitability, helping firms determine partner compensation and make other business decisions.
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Marketing The Law Firm
What ALM Reporters and Editors Expect From Law Firms and PR Pros in 2021: Part I
Gina Rubel
Part I of this series looks at what veteran legal editors want and expect from law firms and PR pros in 2021. Part II will be in the February issue. Part I offers you a head start.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
For the New Year, Copy High Growth Firms by Prioritizing Marketing Investment
Bill Josten
Firms must be cautious as they re-examine budget priorities to not underestimate the harm that can be caused by failing to consider the long-range damage that can be done to a firm’s brand by cutting back too much on their marketing efforts.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
AI Is Calling Time On the Billable Hour
Jason Brennan
The game has changed substantially for law firms today — the evolution of the legal business model is underway and artificial intelligence (AI) is playing a big role in calling time on the billable hour.
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Marketing The Law Firm
For the New Year, Copy High Growth Firms By Prioritizing Marketing Investment
Bill Josten
In the chaos of this past year, it is easy to lose sight of long-term priorities for the sake of addressing short-term crises. Firms must be cautious as they re-examine budget priorities to not underestimate the harm that can be caused by failing to consider the long-range damage that can be done to a firm’s brand by cutting back too much on their marketing efforts.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
10 Ways to Prepare for 2021’s Collision of Business and Society
Zach Olsen and Ken Kerrigan
As we enter 2021, we should expect the needs of business and society to continue colliding. But if law firms prepare for those collisions, they can drive better outcomes.
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Marketing The Law Firm
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: How to Embrace Virtual Seminars in 5 Easy Steps
Sharon Meit Abrahams
In 2021 everyone in the legal field has a virtual platform, so firms of all sizes can jump in and offer webinars on topics that highlight their firms’ practice areas. Create your own virtual programs by following these 5 steps.
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Marketing The Law Firm
COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE: Powering Nonprofits With Research
Stacy A. Zinken
In a time when many of us are searching for ways to help support others, could we use our research super powers to support nonprofit organizations in their philanthropic work? I think Yes!
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Late Year Collections Could Make or Break 2020 Profitability
Lizzy McLellan
Success in 2020 is likely to come down to who your clients are. If they were hit hard by the pandemic that will trickle down to their vendors, including law firms. But for others, the top line could come out nearly unscathed.
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Marketing The Law Firm
MARKETING TECH: Leveraging Data to Drive Innovation in A Post-Pandemic (We Hope) World
Debra Baker
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 — be it turning best practices into standard operating procedures, or reinventing the law firm business model altogether — is equal parts mindset, method and message.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Is Accountant Malpractice Compensation Taxable?
David E. Kahen and Elliot Pisem
If a taxpayer suffers a loss by reason of errors made by a tax advisor, and the tax advisor makes a payment to compensate the taxpayer for the loss. May the payment be excluded from the taxpayer’s income subject to tax?
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Marketing The Law Firm
DIGITAL DIVE: Right-Resourcing Legal Services
Chase D’Agostino and Andy Banquer
What is the right strategic approach for a legal department to optimize its return on investment for the resources it deploys to render legal services? Of course, there are many ways to get good results, but after helping many corporations navigate their way to a more effective model, here are some lessons learned along the way.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
How to Transform Mailroom Operations for Security, IG and Productivity
Steve Irons
A Permanent Change to How Your Firm Operates
Law firms need a best practice Digital Mailroom operation, not the current scan-to-email workaround, which was a triage solution at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. Attorneys and staff working from home must have reliable, secure delivery of daily mail which is arriving at the main office.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Valerie Pennacchio
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Right-Resourcing Legal Services
Chase D’Agostino and Andy Banquer
What is the right strategic approach for a legal department to optimize its return on investment for the resources it deploys to render legal services?
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Implications of NJ BAIT for Law Firms
Edward J. Sadowski
NJ Senate Bill 3246 established the “business alternative income tax” (BAIT), an elective business tax regime for pass-through entities. Law firms are left wondering if electing to pay the BAIT is the right choice. This article summarizes how the NJ BAIT works, as well as its pros and cons.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Marketing Tech: When COVID Came, Law Firms Delivered Important Messages in Perilous Times
Nick Gaffney and Lauren Gard
Determining what to say to whom, and when to say it, was anything but obvious to law firm leaders and marketing departments at the start of the pandemic. But nine months in, some clear strategies have emerged for successfully navigating external communications when the future is uncertain and the stakes are high.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Media and Communications: Cision State of the Media Report Provides Better Pitching Tips
Carlos Arcos
Cisions recent State of the Media Report included some useful insight and guidance for PR professionals when dealing with the media, including ways to build positive relationships with journalists and best practices for pitching.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Why Lawyers Stink At Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Valerie Pennacchio
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
With Expenses Expected to Rise in 2021, Will Demand Match?
Dan Packel
Budget season is in full swing at firms whose fiscal year matches the calendar year, and leaders are exercising a newfound scrutiny over every component of next year’s spending as they prepare for an uncertain 2021.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Defending Your Career: Self Advocacy at Review Time
Sharon Meit Abrahams
Firms have taken a hit due to COVID-19 and some will use this review cycle to pinpoint underperformers and reduce compensation. This is why it’s even more important for you to make a case for yourself.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
COVID-19 Dispels Long-Held Law Firm Operations Myths
J. Mark Santiago
During the COVID-19 pandemic, law firms have learned that a large number of “essential” services and Standard Operating Procedure rules and assumptions about how an office works are 1950’s myths that need to be identified, examined and re-engineered or discarded.
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Marketing The Law Firm
Professional Development: Three Essential Muscles Law Marketers Must Flex While the COVID-19 Crisis Continues
Debra Baker
During times of uncertainty lawyers can hunker down and wait it out, hoping that an opportunity to reengage with clients will present itself. Or they can lean into their discomfort and suspend their self-interest, meeting clients where they are even when there may be no immediate billable work or new business to be had. The latter approach creates a meaningful opportunity for lawyers to deepen relationships and set themselves apart from the pack.
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