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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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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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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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Marketing The Law Firm
Accountability Questions for Business Development Coaching Success
Vivian Hood
Working with a business development coach is an investment in yourself that can bring about career success by having a deliberate strategy in place.
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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
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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Cybersecurity Law & Strategy
Virtual Reality or the New Reality of Virtual Practice?
Mark Sangster
In response to the worst period on record for cyber attacks, the ABA published Formal Opinion 498 to address practicing law outside of the traditional brick-and-mortar office environment. It reminds lawyers that while the ABA Model Rules permit virtual practice, they provide minimum requirements and recommendations for virtual practice, particularly in the areas of competence, confidentiality and supervision.
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Cybersecurity Law & Strategy
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
Emil Sayegh
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
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Cybersecurity Law & Strategy
The Queen’s Gambit: A Proactive Approach to Reducing Technology Vendors’ Contracting Risk
Abeer Abu Judeh
There are numerous “gameplays” to reduce risks when selecting and hiring a technology vendor. Whether you are able to accept a risk and to what extent are not always clear. Just know that, like in chess, your opening move to an IT deal can be your most powerful.
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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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Cybersecurity Law & Strategy
Work from Home Could Lead to Higher Cyber Insurance Claims
Yakir Golan
A look at the main software and application categories that increased during remote work and the vast implications for user privacy, corporate cybersecurity and cyber insurance.
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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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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Make Law Firm Culture Part of the Equation In a Potential Career Move
Sharon Meit Abrahams
When you are looking to make a career move, be sure to learn about the potential employer’s culture before you accept an offer. It is important to select not only a great place to work, but a place that is the right choice for you as an individual.
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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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Commercial Leasing Law & Strategy
Legal Sector Insights: The Current Status and Future of the Law Firm Workplace
Ryan J. Hoopes
Most industries are navigating the effects of rapid forced changes caused by the pandemic. What sets the legal sector apart is that the pandemic served as a catalyst to accelerate trends ahead at lightning speed which have been predicted for over a decade.
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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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Cybersecurity Law & Strategy
Closing the Information Security Gaps In the New Operational Model
Kyle Reese and Nathan Curtis
In 2020, law firms did what they had to do to continue serving their clients. 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
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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Cybersecurity Law & Strategy
Why Untangling the CISO from IT Can Improve Governance and Security Outcomes
Jake Frazier
Despite the fact that the CISO’s duties are growing in scope and importance, and data protection has become a board-level concern, many security leaders still do not have a direct line to the CEO.
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Cybersecurity Law & Strategy
Cybersecurity 2020 Year In Review — And A Look Into 2021
A new administration in the U.S., ransomware, ALSPs, new regulations in the U.S. and abroad, and the long-lasting impact of working remotely are just some of the factors that respondents say will factor in to how law firms need to prepare for 2021.
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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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Cybersecurity Law & Strategy
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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Marketing The Law Firm
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
Undercutting the Cost of Underperforming Attorneys Is Your Responsibility
Sharon Meit Abrahams
As a firm leader it is your fiscal responsibility to address underperforming attorneys. With COVID-19, are your underperformers flying under the radar? The cost to a firm is not only to the bottom line, but to your reputation as a leader.
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Cybersecurity Law & Strategy
Technology Investments for Law Firms Moving Forward Post-COVID
Christopher Zegers
Our forced experiment in change and technology adoption caused increasing technology investments. We’re never going back the way we were — and this will be to the benefit of firms, profitability, clients and lawyers if we make the right technology investments. Here are some specific ways firms can capture these benefits.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Undercutting the Cost of Underperforming Attorneys
Sharon Meit Abrahams
As a firm leader it is your fiscal responsibility to address underperforming attorneys. With COVID-19 are your underperformers flying under the radar? The cost to a firm is not only to the bottom line, but to your reputation as a leader.
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Commercial Leasing Law & Strategy
New Strategies for Renegotiating Office Leases Post-COVID
David Leffler and David Jacoby
Current circumstances present an opportunity for tenants to use new strategies to renegotiate or even terminate leases. This article looks at conventional legal strategies that may provide grounds for lease termination before turning to consider another, third, approach.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Davis Wright Forms Entertainment Industry Reopening Advisory Group
Dylan Jackson
As millions of Americans turned to television and movies for diversion and comfort amid the coronavirus pandemic and resulting business shutdowns, the companies that create that content were left scratching their heads about how to resume business safely when they are allowed. Davis Wright Tremaine launched a new group in hopes of providing the answers.
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Cybersecurity Law & Strategy
Legal Analytics and the Evolving Practice of Law
Josh Becker
While we may use analytics differently in our respective companies, one thing is certain: Legal analytics is the future and it’s time to jump on board.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Law Firms Adopt a Legal Operations Perspective
Megan Miller
Law Firms Are Following the Lead of Their Corporate Clients In Implementing Legal Operations Methodologies
By understanding legal operations approach, law firms can gain a better appreciation of client needs, share the client’s vision and contribute to client satisfaction, while creating a competitive advantage for the firm.
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Cybersecurity Law & Strategy
Law Firms Adopt a Legal Operations Perspective
Megan Miller
Law Firms Are Following the Lead of Their Corporate Clients In Implementing Legal Operations Methodologies
Legal operations as a discipline within corporate legal departments is receiving more attention, funding and staffing over the last few years.
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Commercial Leasing Law & Strategy
What is the Difference Between Flexible Space Models and Traditional Office Leasing?
Elizabeth Kluger Cooper and Zach Boroson
Market forces — such as workplace design, demographics and urbanization, capital flow and technology — are driving the growth of flexible space.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Reimagining Business Development Training and Coaching
Debra Baker
Six Pillars of a Successful Bus-Dev Program
For firms wanting to thrive through the next economic downturn and beyond, mastery of business development fundamentals is as essential as mastering legal skills. Yet training and coaching — whether done internally or through outside consultants — requires an investment in time and resources.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
The ‘Silly Season’
J. Mark Santiago
That term refers to the months of October through December. It's a way of pointing out to partners that the necessary activities of practice management that so many of them had avoided for the first nine or 10 months of the year now had to be addressed. Clients that had not been billed now had to be invoiced. Outstanding invoices, many issued in the cold days of early March and April, now had to be collected and current work would not only have to be billed but collected as well.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Producing Breakthroughs in Client Development
Arnold Keiser
It is easy to understand why many lawyers feel that only certain special individuals are blessed with the qualities necessary to be rainmakers. But almost anyone willing to develop the qualities necessary can become a rainmaker.
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Cybersecurity Law & Strategy
When Key Employees Quit: 5 Things You Must Do to Keep Control of Critical Data
Michael Ciaramitaro and Sarah Brown
Losing a key employee is never easy — they often take with them institutional knowledge, great internal and external relationships, and critical skill sets. There is also a risk that they’ll take some information or data with them when they go, either inadvertently or on purpose.
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Cybersecurity Law & Strategy
Expanding Your Digital Strategy with RPA
Arup Das
Beyond improving efficiency, new advancements in Robotic Process Automation, or RPA, are helping lawyers do more billable work without hiring more people.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
“Don’t Do Stupid”
J. Mark Santiago
6 Common Law Firm Accounting Practices That Need to Be Re-evaluated
There are a number of tried and true practices in law firms that need more thinking. Not because law firm managers are stupid; it’s just that some practices need to be periodically re-evaluated and adjusted to reflect the changing times.
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Accounting And Financial Planning For Law Firms
Lawyers: Being Paid Shouldn’t Be Like Pulling Teeth!
Peter A. Johnson
What Lawyers Can Learn From Dentists
Nobody enjoys visiting the dentist, but everybody knows you still must pay him or her on the day of service. Attorneys, however, have historically let the client lead the payment dance. Lawyers do the work and hope/expect to be paid without waiting too long or discounting the invoice too steeply. What can we do differently?
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