No matter how conflicted inside counsel may be in their expectations of outside counsel, they all want you to be client-centric. Simply by taking tangible steps to clarify their priorities on an ongoing basis, you send a powerful message about yourself. Caring is the crucial first step.
Affinity groups are groups that are sponsored and supported by an organization and consist of people with a common set of characteristics. Common affinity groups in larger law firms include ones involving women attorneys; attorneys of color; reduced-schedule attorneys; and people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender ('GLBT'). Affinity groups are effective tools that organizations have used successfully to improve retention and promotion, and to enhance recruiting efforts.
In the real business world, marketing and business development functions co-exist ' albeit uncomfortably at times ' in a more or less equitable partnership that sees them working toward common objectives but living on separate islands. In the somewhat more surreal world of BigLaw business, the functions tend to live together but, all too often work at cross-purposes. And therein lies a budding tale. Who is best suited to lead the firm, at least until the next, next thing comes along? The answer seems clear. There's a new sheriff in town. Its name is business development.
Dewey Ballatine LLP, with 12 offices worldwide, 550 lawyers, and a history of legal service since 1909, is a well-known brand whose lawyers are consistently visible in the press and at conferences. Leading the firm's efforts in marketing is Jason 'Jay' Dinwoodie, long known in the legal marketing industry as a cutting-edge marketer and strategic innovator.
The deadline for submissions to the Third Annual MLF 50 has been extended to Monday, Oct. 1, 2007.
With corporate scandals, terrorism and economic chaos appearing regularly in the headlines of major newspapers and on broadcast news, now more than ever it seems that American business is in need of good crisis communications. No company is immune to crisis ' so no company should be without some kind of plan to communicate in the midst of that crisis. Organizations that have good plans in place will weather crises far better than those that don't ' or those that believe that not communicating will insulate them in some way from the effects of the crisis.
The latest hot topic in corporate executive abuses may be manipulation of trades under prearranged trading plans established pursuant to Rule 10b5-1. Little has been said about the red flags that could indicate abuse of 10b5-1 plans. This article attempts to offer some practical guidance to corporate counsel to ensure that their 10b5-1 plans steer clear of SEC enforcement scrutiny.
Being a white-collar defendant is very expensive. Just the cost of putting up a serious defense is more than most business executives can bear, and whether companies must pay their ex-employees' legal fees has been hotly litigated in the much discussed KPMG tax shelter case in the Southern District of New York. Meanwhile, an important en banc decision of the Ninth Circuit addresses the financial impact on individuals at the other end of the criminal process: whether pension trust funds may be reached to satisfy a criminal judgment of restitution.
Two-and-a-half years ago, the Supreme Court ruled in the remedial portion of its bifurcated decision in U.S. v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005), that the system of federal Sentencing Guidelines established by the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 could pass constitutional muster only if the Guidelines were treated as having advisory, rather than mandatory, effect. But Booker left open the question of how much weight the now advisory Guidelines should henceforth be given in a district court's sentencing calculus. Last November, the Supreme Court granted writs of certiorari in two cases ' Rita v. United States, and Claiborne v. United States, that seemed likely to resolve this question.
Last month, the Department of Justice (DOJ) celebrated the five-year anniversary of the Corporate Fraud Task Force with a press release and a party at which then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, in a prepared statement, hailed significant changes in the way white-collar cases have been prosecuted. Gonzales praised the Task Force's role in breaking 'large investigations into smaller, less complex pieces,' and bringing those cases faster. But expedited investigations mixed with quick charging decisions have not been a reliable recipe for success.
