LJN Newsletters

As discussed in Part One last month, a tenant may be able to apply for and have its bank issue to its landlord a letter of credit ("L/C") to secure the tenant's obligations under a long-term lease. From the tenant's perspective, an L/C may be preferable to a large security deposit. An L/C will not necessarily tie up large amounts of the tenant's cash or other liquid collateral, as would a security deposit. Instead, the cash can be deployed as working capital in the tenant's business. Part One discussed six tips for drafting an L/C: 1) Use the ISP (International Standby Practices 1998) instead of the UCP (Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits); 2) Keep the Draw Conditions Simple; 3) Avoid Documents Not Within the Landlord's Control; 4) Allow Partial Draws; 5) Avoid Specification of Use of Funds; 6) Provide for Coverage of a Settlement Period After Lease Termination. This conclusion provides six more tips that address issues such as providing coverage of the settlement period after lease termination, shortening the time period to honor the letter and using a transferable L/C. It also discusses matters of concern to the issuing bank.

While a law firm's internal media communications plan should be developed at the highest levels of the organization, the finalized program should not be limited to the activities of a select few partners and executives. It is important to remember that media inquiries can come to any staff member at any time. For this reason, it is critical that the entire firm ' from the managing partner to administrative assistants and other support staff ' be on board with the internal media communication program.

With so many efficiency-boosting technologies available today to help you manage and grow your law firm, it is sometimes difficult to identify the right ones to implement. Given recent trends, it is abundantly clear that law firms are focusing their investments on technologies that can have the greatest impact on growing their bottom line. Due to its numerous benefits, including significant productivity gains, cost savings and employee safety, video conferencing is at the top of the list.

Although the vast majority of large law firms and indeed perhaps every single large law firm may already have a Web site, and although most medium-sized firms have them as well, there still are many solo practitioners and smaller firms that do not. The failure to have a Web site already is, at the least, unusual; lawyers and firms that do not remedy that situation in the very near future will certainly be making a serious and perhaps fatal business and tactical mistake. So get cracking!

As every good business developer knows, the majority of new business and referrals comes from existing clients; and law firms are increasing their commitment to meet with their clients. The goal of a client interview program is to garner information that will enhance a law firm's business-development and marketing efforts by gaining insights into client needs and objectives. This information is essential to gaining new business, while at the same time providing specific recommendations (from the eyes of the client) as to how the firm can ensure client retention and enhance the client relationship. Interviews provide data that can be used to determine and develop specific strategies related to client retention and business development.

In my continuing effort to present as many of the firms that were listed in the MLF 50, I am pleased to profile Baker & McKenzie (No. 6) and Carlton Fields (No. 22) in this issue of Marketing The Law Firm.

In recent years, business development has meant different things in different segments of the American legal community. To some attorneys, extensive media campaigns and billboards are the preferred method. To others, in the mass tort context for example, the aggressive pursuit of victims and their families has been all too commonplace. Elsewhere, Web sites and computer chat rooms have supplemented or supplanted the traditional firm brochures and client seminars.
In reaction to these trends, a number of jurisdictions have revamped their business development ethics rules in recent years. Unfortunately, the necessarily "one size fits all" approach to explicit rules has led to some curious and counterintuitive results. In states that forbid direct in person contacts with non-clients who aren't lawyers, for example, it may make sense to prevent attorneys from badgering widows and orphans. But these same rules likewise prevent lawyers in such states from telephoning a sophisticated, educated company president.

In his preliminary analysis of this emerging subject in the August 2004 edition our sibling newsletter, Accounting & Financial Planning for Law Firms, Rick Stieglitz noted several key advantages of HSAs for employees: the account accumulates tax-free growth; funds are immediately available for qualified medical expenses; any unused remainder at year's end carries over, rather than being lost; and an employee's account is portable to another employer. HSAs offer tax advantages to employers as well ' if implemented properly. This updated report suggests that HSAs have gotten even more attractive.