Resolving Fee Disputes: It's in Your Best Interest, Too
November 01, 2019
Lawyers should know that they ignore clients with questions at their peril. The first thing to remember is the client is entitled to an accounting of the fee and costs. No matter how exasperating the client, or how stupid the question appears to be, client questions need to be resolved.
Podcasts Are the New Black for Law Firm Business Development
November 01, 2019
Before jumping into the podcast foray, law firm leaders must think strategically about podcasting as a tool for marketing and business development. Resources, bandwidth and buy-in are needed to produce a successful podcast — along with patience as podcasting success is determined by long-term results.
Marketing Innovative Law Firms
October 01, 2019
Law firms today are increasingly looking at innovation to help distinguish their practice offerings, strategy, and leadership, and need inspiring marketing to develop meaningful campaigns that resonate with their audiences.
Lawyers Win Contingency Fee Fight Against Estate of Blues Icon's Son
October 01, 2019
There have been disputes over rights to the two existing photographs of blues icon Robert Johnson as well as over who was his rightful heir. The latest court decision involves a contingency fee agreement originally entered into by a law firm hired by Johnson's son, who died in 2015. The case offers an example of what rights counsel may gain from such an arrangement following the death of the signatory client.
Increasing Client Requirements: Securing Law Firms for the 21st Century
October 01, 2019
Gone are the days of "basic security." What used to be optional is now standard: two factor authentication, complex passwords, clean desk policies, data encryption at rest and in transit, mobile device management and up-to-the-minute patching. Clients expect these items to already be in place and are further expanding their expectations.
The 'Silly Season'
October 01, 2019
That term refers to the months of October through December. It's a way of pointing out to partners that the necessary activities of practice management that so many of them had avoided for the first nine or 10 months of the year now had to be addressed. Clients that had not been billed now had to be invoiced. Outstanding invoices, many issued in the cold days of early March and April, now had to be collected and current work would not only have to be billed but collected as well.
"Mismarking": Developments in Valuation Fraud
October 01, 2019
As the DOJ expands its mismarking inquiries beyond stocks and bonds and into areas like private equity, recent cases illuminate the increasing need for robust internal controls designed to eliminate the incentives for an employee or manager to overvalue assets.