<b>Commentary: </b>In Law Firm Marketing Today, the Glass Is Half Full
February 02, 2006
When legal marketers are ahead of their lawyers, or when lawyers are ahead of their legal marketers, their expectations of one another are out of sync. These days, the departure of a marketer, whether by choice or with a nudge, presents an opportunity for a firm to reassess where it is, where it wants to go and how it will get there. Each new marketing hire represents an opportunity for more precise alignment of a marketer's skills and characteristics with a firm's strategic and financial objectives.
How Courts Handle Equitable Distribution
January 27, 2006
The equitable distribution of the appreciation in value of the separately owned or separate property marital residence raises some unique issues. Real estate is generally considered to be a "passive" asset that increases in value mainly as a result of passive market forces rather than due to the "active" efforts of either spouse. Accordingly, the passive appreciation of such an asset would likewise remain the titled spouse's separate property, not subject to equitable distribution. Nevertheless, courts often distribute a portion of the appreciation to the non-titled spouse who resided in the separately owned marital residence. Perhaps courts have done so because, were it not for the titled spouse's residence, the parties would have presumably purchased a joint residence -- often one of the most valuable assets in the marital estate -- and would have shared in the appreciation that accumulated during the years of their economic partnership. Thus, courts have often awarded the non-titled spouse a share of the appreciation in a separately owned marital residence even when the non-titled spouse is unable to show that any efforts on his/her part contributed directly to the increase in value. These courts also seem to recognize that the marital "home" is something to which both parties to a marriage contribute simply by virtue of their economic partnership and that the value of certain contributions are difficult if not impossible to quantify.
Advising a Private Equity Fund
January 26, 2006
As anyone who has advised a private equity fund in connection with the potential insolvency of one of its portfolio companies knows, reconciling the duty of the fund's designated directors sitting on the portfolio company's board with the fund's duties to its investors can feel like a high wire act at times. As fiduciaries for its investors, the fund's managers must act in a manner consistent with maximizing the return on invested funds. Yet, these same managers are often directors of the fund's portfolio companies. While a portfolio company is thriving, the duties to the fund's investors and the fund manager's duties as a director of the portfolio company are typically in harmony. However, when the portfolio company's business turns sour, and it approaches insolvency or is insolvent, the shifting of the directors' fiduciary duties to the company's creditors can cause irreconcilable conflicts of interest along with consternation on how to fund ongoing operations. This article discusses possible structural mechanisms to address and potentially avoid these irreconcilable conflicts while still maintaining the ability to manage the fund's investment and fund the portfolio company's ongoing business.
Editor's Note
January 04, 2006
Every year is filled with new opportunity and as Henry Ford said: "If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you are right." So, take a step back as a management team and look at what's happening in the legal market.
Sports Team Models for Law Firm Management
January 04, 2006
Corporate structures have long been likened to military organizations, though this is the less popular style today. In attempts to increase productivity, morale and loyalty, corporate managers and analysts of corporate management have looked to sports models for fresh ideas which go deeper than the cliched sports metaphors. <br>Several models of the organization's operations and culture have been identified: Football as epitomizing managerial control and centralization; baseball as a model of individual autonomy and situational teamwork; basketball and soccer as focusing on voluntary cooperation and shared decision-making. Which characterizes your firm ' or the culture you desire?
What Lies Ahead for 2006
January 04, 2006
It doesn't take great foresight or a crystal ball to recognize that law firms will face some serious challenges in 2006. Coming events have already cast their shadows. Some of the challenges have existed for several years. Others are new. What they add up to are two basic questions most law firms must answer: "Do we recognize the challenges facing us?" and "How are we going to address them?" This article discusses several of these challenges and, where possible, suggests some alternatives for meeting them.
NEWS BRIEFS
January 04, 2006
Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.
Flexibility in Flexible Spending
January 04, 2006
The Internal Revenue Service has provided guidance Notice 2005-86 on the interaction of the 2.5-month grace period for a health flexible spending arrangement (health FSA) (established earlier this year by Notice 2005-42 and an individual's eligibility to contribute to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).
Domestic Partnership Benefits and the States
January 04, 2006
When the Human Rights Campaign began tracking companies offering domestic partnership benefits in 1989, the list comprised less than two dozen entities. Today, there are more than 8000 American companies offering domestic partnership benefits, including roughly 230 of the Fortune 500 companies. Of these companies, 95% offer domestic partnership benefits to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples, while 5% offer the benefits only to same- sex couples.
