Age Diversity
December 28, 2006
The challenge of embracing age diversity is building up to be the talent employment issue of the next five years ' and beyond.<br>With the pressure for 'more, better, faster,' and with more money at stake and people wanting more control in their work and personal lives when there seems to be increasingly less, inter-generational issues in the workplace are causing more sleepless nights than ever for firm leaders and managers.
Sustaining a Client Service Initiative
December 28, 2006
Most client service improvement initiatives fail to produce sustained results. While such a statement may seem harsh, I think that most would agree with the statement based on their own experiences. After investing significant amounts of time, effort, and money in service improvement initiatives, most organizations do not attain the sustained results they were hoping for. Failure is usually not due to a lack of creativity or resources, but most often the result of a lack of long-term commitment to the hard work that sustainability requires. The 'launch' phase of an improvement initiative can be challenging, but it is also energizing. Top management is involved in the launch, frontline employees join improvement teams, and service communication abounds. There are skeptics, of course, but most are hopeful that this time things will actually get better. The launch phase may last several months, or even a year, depending on the organization.
Just-in-Time Benchmarking
December 22, 2006
Benchmarking has long been a difficult undertaking for private service providers and for law firms in particular. While firm partners historically have tracked firm-wide metrics such as billings, profits per partner and individual productivity, firms have until recently not had the means or opportunity to benchmark performance at the practice group, office location and timekeeper level with any accuracy or currentness.<br>This article, as the title implies, discusses how refined performance measures are made possible by a new benchmarking tool, West Peer Monitor' from Thomson West
Policy and Regulatory Outlook: 2007 ' Franchise Industry Eyes New Congress
November 30, 2006
With the recent Congressional elections returning leadership of the U.S. Senate and House to Democrats for the first time in more than a decade, the business community is keenly interested in the priorities of the new Congress. While it is apparent that Congress will initially focus on issues outside the direct domain of franchising (Iraq, Congressional ethics, etc.), numerous matters of importance to franchisors and franchisees are on the table, too.
<b><i>From the Second Annual MLF 50:</b></i> Two Standout Firms Focus on Client-Centric Marketing
November 30, 2006
Two firms from the MLF 50 are standouts in the area of client-centric marketing activities and for different reasons. <br>The first, Winston & Strawn, led by Director of Business Development and Marketing Partner Barbara C. Sessions, embarked on an overall visibility campaign with an overarching theme on client-focused service and they did this via their Web site.<br>No less outstanding in harnessing client-centric based marketing is the firm of Holland & Hart. In 2006, the marketing department, led by Director of Marketing Mark Beese (or as he refers to himself the 'Marketing Guy') engaged in several new initiatives; each of them intimately involving the firm's clients, with the goal of deepening Holland & Hart's relationship with current clients and attracting new ones. The firm's advertising campaign has evolved to highlight innovative and successful clients as part of the Holland & Hart trademark western wilderness.
The Best of MLF 2006
November 30, 2006
As 2006 comes to a close ' and in keeping with tradition ' we will take a look back at the topics that defined this past year in the areas of marketing, business development, media and, most recently, management issues.
Knowledge Management and Portal Technologies
November 29, 2006
Knowledge management (KM) as a discipline is simultaneously relatively new and very old. We, as people, want to share ' or rather we acknowledge that it is vital; societies were built on the interchange of information and knowledge. Historically, apprenticeships and livery companies ensured the transfer of tacit expert knowledge. We still do this in our personal lives; we share happily with friends and strangers. Yet at work, and particularly in professions, the lack of sharing and capture of contextualized knowledge is so extreme that an entire industry has arisen to help us relearn and apply what should be natural to us.
<b>Professional Development University: </b>Feedback Made Easy For Partners
November 29, 2006
Partners are saddled with one of the most important yet difficult tasks related to managing a team of lawyers: providing constructive feedback. Feedback is a partner's tool to improve performance, efficiency and service quality.<br>The objective in giving feedback is to enhance performance by supplying information to guide the individual toward the level and quality of work that is expected.
At the Tipping Point
November 29, 2006
In Part One, last month, the authors examined the <i>EEOC v. Sidley Austin</i> case and the issues raised therein. Part Two continues the discussion with the implications of being designated a 'bona fide' partner.
Severance Waivers Become Endangered Species
November 29, 2006
When involuntary employment terminations become necessary, employers often seek protection from possible post-employment claims by conditioning severance pay on the signing of a general release and agreement not to sue. As a general rule, such waivers are enforceable if they are 'knowing and voluntary.' Less clear, however, is under what circumstances an employer may condition severance payments on a promise by the departing employee that he or she will not pursue a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in connection with an allegation of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation. <br>Recently, increased litigation activity by the EEOC signals renewed agency focus on severance arrangements that seek to limit a former employee's ability to participate in any manner in EEOC administrative proceedings.
