LJN Newsletters

One of the most difficult decisions any partner faces is whether to make a lateral move. Unlike associate lateral moves, which are relatively straightforward and can be accomplished in as little as one week, the issues facing partners are far more complex, and the process can typically take three to four months ' sometimes much longer.
Before making the leap, partners should consider these questions.

Succession planning is one of those management issues that rarely gets much attention until a senior partner or rainmaker announces plans to leave or retire ' and then the firm goes into crisis mode.

Highlights of legal bill auditing cases.

Insurers and auditing firms say that the following types of billing inconsistencies are the most common.

Over the past two decades, the monitoring of legal bills by insurance firms that are paying for outside counsel has become standard practice. Whether using in-house accounting staff or hiring a third party, insurers have put attorneys on notice about what they will pay for, and how work must be documented. In turn, attorneys who defend insurance cases have had to adjust the way they do business.

Attorneys who conduct a large number of insurance defense cases say that they face these problems with the insurance companies that they represent.

Judy Brompster of Accountability Services (New York) says that some auditing firms are too prescriptive in their approach. "How can an auditing firm say that a deposition should take 40 minutes?" she asks. "Some take more, and some take less."

Major setback for same-sex marriage advocates.