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?
COURT WATCH
January 04, 2006
Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.
NEWS BRIEFS
January 04, 2006
Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.
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.
International Franchising 2006: Why Attorneys Need to Know the Laws in Other Countries
January 04, 2006
In many countries around the world, concepts that are common in the United States are considered exotic to the local populace. Furthermore, as more and more Americans travel abroad, they welcome the sight of a familiar brand from "back home." As a result of these two factors, when U.S.-based franchisors seek to expand abroad, they often find a ready audience. In fact, many franchisors get their first taste of international franchising when they are approached by a potential franchisee, asking for the opportunity to obtain franchise rights to a particular country or region of a country. It is only later that the franchisor actually begins to focus on active development of franchises outside the United States.
Testimony from Life Partners
January 04, 2006
Attorneys representing clients in same-sex, committed relationships sometimes are unprepared to deal with opposing counsel's efforts to seek testimony disclosing the content of communications between a client and his or her same-sex life partner. In many jurisdictions, the non-client partner will be unsuccessful in asserting a privilege not to disclose this information, and forced at deposition -- and maybe at trial -- to divulge statements made by the client. Clients challenging the harms of negligence, medical malpractice, and even intentional torts have experienced a second round of harm as they watch a loved one testify about what they believed were secret exchanges.
New York Marriage Challenge Moves to Highest Court
January 04, 2006
Same-sex couples have no constitutional right to marry, New York's Appellate Division, 1st Department, ruled on Dec. 8, in the first decision by a state appeals court to address the issue. Rejecting a constitutional challenge, Justice Milton L. Williams wrote for a 4-1 majority that the state's limitation of marriage to a "union between one man and one woman" is based upon "innate, complementary, procreative roles, a function of biology, not mere legal rights." Joining in the majority decision were Justice James M. Catterson, George D. Marlow, and John W. Sweeny Jr.
Same-Sex Marriage As an Issue of 'Tolerance,' Not 'Acceptance'
January 04, 2006
When it comes to same-sex marriage and related issues, proponents of equality often are divided over how they should make their case politically, socially, and in the courts. Some LGBT advocates believe that direct challenges are necessary to highlight the inequities faced by same-sex couples, while others counsel a more incremental and/or indirect approach. One of America's most prominent analysts of social change considered this issue recently, and he came down solidly on the side of a less-aggressive approach, arguing that many Americans who are now considered in the category of opposing same-sex partnerships actually would support them if the issue was properly framed.
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.
