Features

On a recent visit to Altman Weil management consultants in Newtown Square, PA, I met with James D. Cotterman, a longtime contributor to (and just-retiring Editorial Board member of) this newsletter. Jim was the lead author and editor of both the 2nd and 3rd editions of the ABA-published book <i>Compensation Plans for Law Firms</i>. Regrettably I can't share with you Altman Weil's excellent hazelnut coffee, but I hope you'll enjoy the following condensed excerpts from our conversation about Jim's book. With Jim's concurrence, I've also prettied up my sketched notes on some compensation system and profitability interrelationships explained in the book; these flow diagrams appear on pages 2 and 5.

The early days of 2003 have brought a stark reminder to the leaders of law firms: While strong law firms have experienced an exceptional level of prosperity and growth in a consolidating market, continued expansion and ever increasing profitability are not the only potential destinies for law firms today. As the high profile closures of long established firms such as Brobeck; Peterson &amp; Ross; Hill &amp; Barlow and others demonstrate anew, firms can fail.

The legal and accounting professions have made significant strides in defining standard invoice data codes as well as formats for law firm electronic invoices. The standards bandwagon has been in no danger, however, of tipping over from too many community members hurriedly jumping on it.

Features

Our legal department at Atlantic Bank of New York was looking for an electronic invoicing system to make our outside counsel billing process more manageable. What we found was new technology and software that enabled us not only to improve the overall efficiency of our system but also to implement an invoice discounting policy that saves us money and gets our outside counsel paid quickly. Because the new invoicing system lets us turn invoices around so quickly, we have achieved such significant savings that we expect the invoicing system to pay for itself within just a few years.

As argued in the accompanying article on one corporate law department's initiatives, implementation of electronic invoicing software should ideally be a win-win improvement benefiting outside law firms as well.

<b><i>The Quest for Uniformity in a Mobile Society</i></b>"The chancellor in exercising jurisdiction upon petition does not proceed upon the theory that the petitioner, whether the father or mother, has a cause of action against the other or indeed against anyone. He acts as parens patrioe to do what is best for the interest of the child. He is to put himself in the position of a 'wise, affectionate and careful parent' and make provision for the child accordingly." <i>Finlay v. Finlay</i>, 240 N.Y. 429 (1925), citing <i>Queen v. Gyngall</i>, 1893, 2 Q.B.D. 232, 238 (Judge Cardozo).

<b><i>How to Deal with Negative Custody Evaluations and Guardian Ad Litem Reports</i></b> In terms of the art world, a designer "tames the material to an application." That is exactly analogous to the lawyer's purpose when a Custody Evaluator or Guardian <i>Ad Litem</i> (CE/GAL) is brought into a case. Using certain practice and trial techniques, you can minimize the negative impact of a report from a "less-than-neutral" CE/GAL in a custody dispute.

New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, threw a lifeline to abused and neglected children with a powerful ruling that streamlines the adoption process and makes it easier to terminate parental rights in the most severe cases.