Quarterly State Compliance Review
August 30, 2005
This edition of the Quarterly State Compliance Review looks at some legislation of interest to corporate lawyers that went into effect during a very active summer of 2005. This edition also examines three recent Delaware Chancery Court decisions dealing with the increasingly important statutory right to inspect books and records.
Corporate Compliance And How It Relates To Litigation Data-Management
August 30, 2005
If we counted a penny for every general counsel, chief information officer or information-technology director who laments the passing of the regulatory-agency laissez faire policies of old, we'd give Donald Trump a run for his money. The simple truth is, there is no going back -- Sarbanes-Oxley, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, the Safe Harbor Protection Act and European Data Protection Directive -- they're all here to stay.
CD: High-Powered Recruiting
August 18, 2005
Recruiting is War. The competition for candidates is intense -- law students, lateral associates, partners with business -- it's brutal. But some savvy firms, large and small, are using aggressive marketing tools and tactics to double, even triple their hiring success. Computer games and giveaways, differentiation and direct mail, micro-sites and mailers -- the sky's the limit, and expert marketers are working in close partnership with Hiring Partners and Recruiting Directors.
Reconciling Different Outlooks
August 01, 2005
What does a firm do when differences in philosophy and management style threaten its very existence? How do you begin to deal with the issues that have accelerated to the crisis stage? Following is the experience of one firm that had to face some difficult decisions about its future. We were requested to step in and sort out the problems with a view towards proposing solutions and providing a basis for reconciliation. This scenario presents the case of a fictional law firm, Mason & Logan, and is a composite of the types of problems encountered by a firm in transition.
State Of Law Firms Now
August 01, 2005
The legal industry faces powerful and rapid changes. Mergers and acquisitions have increased the number of national and international mega law firms ' and this trend is expected to increase. Competition in local markets is fierce as large law firms open satellite offices or buy mid-sized or small firms in cities across the nation. Accounting firms are big competitors. They employ hundreds of attorneys to serve their many existing clients and to hunt for new prospects. The shrinking number of companies created by mergers and acquisitions in the business sector makes getting new clients more competitive. With a limited client base, everyone is targeting everyone else's clients and clients are demanding better service at lower prices. But most leaders are beginning to really understand this is where the profession stands. Staying at the top in such a competitive and challenging market, however, may be something that is new to many of today's law firm leaders.
Differences Of Opinion
August 01, 2005
In most complex commercial transactions ' mergers, acquisitions, loans and other financings ' the seller's or borrower's counsel is called upon to provide an opinion letter. The letter typically addresses various matters of interest to the buyer or lender, including any exposure to litigation, government inquiry or other proceedings that might have an impact on the value or viability of the client's business. Increasingly, when something goes wrong with the transaction, aggrieved buyers and lenders are seeking recourse, not just against the seller or borrower, but also against the law firm that wrote the opinion letter. <br>What happens when a law firm provides an opinion letter that is later found to have errors or omissions?
Inside The Rules
July 28, 2005
The proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) may be among the most significant changes ever to the code, simply because electronic…
Am Law 100's New Metric: Value Per Lawyer
July 28, 2005
For 20 years, The American Lawyer has measured the economics of law firms, first with The Am Law 50 and 75, more recently with The Am Law 200. Throughout, we've kept to the same metrics: gross, revenue per lawyer, profits per partner, and the Am Law Profitability Index (API). These lists helped inform and change the profession. (Note that we didn't say ruin.) We published them again this month with one significant addition that we think reflects the changed nature of the business of law: Value Per Lawyer (VPL).
