LJN Newsletters

When companies like AT&T, MCI, WorldCom and Sprint provide long-distance services, they almost always use the telephone networks of local exchange carriers, or 'LECs' (eg, Verizon, BellSouth, Qwest, and SBC) to originate and terminate those calls. This use of local networks is a service generally referred to as exchange access, which is subject to regulation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

When the government is a creditor, it cannot exercise self-help remedies that may be consistent with regulatory policies but are in violation of the specific provisions of the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. '' 101 et seq. In Federal Communications Comm'n v. NextWave Personal Communications, Inc., No. 01-653, 2003 U.S. LEXIS 1059, at *7-8, 71 U.S.L.W. 4085 (Jan. 27, 2003), the Supreme Court held that Bankruptcy Code Section 525, which prohibits a governmental unit from revoking a license to a debtor in bankruptcy, prevents the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from revoking spectrum licenses that were bought on credit, but not paid for when due by NextWave Personal Communications, Inc.

In the March quiz on 'Firm Structure Gotchas,' questions 7 and 8 did not admit of a crisp yes/no answer with respect to the S-Corporate structure.

The 7th Law Firm CFO Institute, held annually in the late winter, visited Miami for its most recent conference. The event, co-sponsored by Accounting and Financial Planning for Law Firms and organized by Northstar Conferences, attracts some 75 Chief Financial Officers, Executive Directors and others with an interest in law firm financial matters. The topics were timely and focused, and the speakers knew their subject matter well and kept the discussions moving.

The Supreme Court of the United States has rescued Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts (IOLTA) programs from a vigorous constitutional attack, ruling 5'4 that states may pool clients' escrow funds in bank accounts and give the interest to legal aid programs.

The Enron examiner is back. And a few law firms can't be too happy about it. R. Neal Batson, the court-appointed examiner investigating the exotic financing schemes that contributed to the Enron Corp.'s bankruptcy, publicly released his much-anticipated second report on March 5.

For a closer look at these recent accounting-financial items, take a quick trip to the Web.

In Part One, the author introduced the overall challenge of fiscal management in a law firm, and explained key metrics for understanding cash flow, cash gaps and revenue (collected fee receipts). This article's explanation of key performance metrics for law firms continues with measures for productivity, pricing and profit margin. We'll conclude with a brief discussion on where to focus in addressing profitability concerns, plus a few general comments on the effective use of numerical results in the larger context of organizational management.