Law Firm Management Beware: Seven Ancillary Business Pitfalls
August 01, 2003
Some law firms create unique, successful ancillary business models that not only boost the bonus pool, but also attract related legal business. Other firms make assumptions about market need, create management teams around partner free time, and generate little or no revenue. How will your firm find a successful model that fits the your own firm culture?
Making Internal Communications Work
August 01, 2003
When a client asks two different people in your firm the same question ' and is given two different and conflicting answers, then you might get the idea that maybe the concept of internal communications is more than just a management clichZ. When an instruction from the managing partner is completely diluted as it goes down the line, then how can we dismiss internal communication as inconsequential? Why is it so often taken for granted? Why does internal communication rarely work to anybody's satisfaction?
Confidentiality Controversy
August 01, 2003
By a slim 17-vote margin, the American Bar Association's House of Delegates during the association's annual meeting changed model rules governing the attorney-client privilege in the hopes of combating corporate fraud.
Counterfeit Drugs: A New Source of Product Liability?
August 01, 2003
Drug counterfeiting robs pharmaceutical manufacturers of their investment in patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade dress. It robs pharmacists and consumers of money, for worthless and sometimes dangerous products. It undermines the integrity of and consumer confidence in the American health care industry and in the government's ability to regulate it. More troubling than all these systemic evils, drug counterfeiting has the potential to allow controllable illnesses to ravage patients unchecked, to spread rather than stop disease, and to injure and kill.
Private Companies Join the Club
July 01, 2003
According to AMR Research, which recently surveyed 60 Fortune 1,000 companies, it is estimated that the Fortune 1,000 will spend $2.5 billion in 2003 alone in costs associated with Sarbanes-Oxley Act (the Act) compliance. How much more will be spent by smaller public companies and by those in the private-company sector is a mystery, but the total costs - in cash, time, consulting fees, lost opportunities, and human resources - will surely be staggering.
Director Liability on the Table
July 01, 2003
Two recent court decisions could have an impact on the future liability of directors at public and private companies.
Flight to Quality: Why Business Plans Don't Get Funded
July 01, 2003
Your business plan is very often the first impression potential investors get about your venture. But even if you have a great product, team, and customers, it could also be the last impression the investor gets if you make any of these avoidable mistakes.
The <i>Ashley Albright </i>Case: A Mixed Message About LLC Business Asset Protection
June 01, 2003
On April 4, 2003, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado rendered its decision in <i>In re: Ashley Albright</i>. In the case of single-member LLCs, the <i>Albright</i> decision seriously weakens an important LLC business organization law feature often referred to by LLC practitioners as "business asset protection." In the case of multi-member LLCs, the decision significantly strengthens this feature. As discussed below, the decision has important implications not only in entity formation practice generally but also for the VC/PE community.
Service With A Smile: Cutting Client Services Means Cutting Profits
May 01, 2003
Faced with the most difficult economic conditions in years, many law firms are looking for ways to maintain a competitive edge ' without negatively impacting cost structures. Investing in client service is a strategy that reaps both long- and short-term benefits.
