How A Leader Adds Value To A Law Firm
November 01, 2004
The greatest, and perhaps the most frustrating challenge with which effective leaders of law firms must deal is the approach to follow to provide leadership to their firms. Central to this conflict is whether to lead by consensus or decree. Astute leaders achieve the appropriate balance of building consensus among the partners versus managing as an autocrat.
Tax Bill Makes Major Changes To Deferred Compensation Rules
November 01, 2004
In early October, Congress passed the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (Bill). President Bush is expected to sign it shortly. The Bill includes a number of tax breaks and is primarily directed toward ending export subsidies that were declared illegal in 2002 and that caused the European Union to impose tariffs on certain imports from the U.S. <br>In addition, the Bill includes provisions affecting deferred compensation that have been described as a "sea change" by senior government officials.
Gray Cary & Piper Rudnick: It's A Match!
November 01, 2004
Partners at Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich and Piper Rudnick voted to merge the two firms in mid-October, creating a firm with close to 1400 lawyers in 20 offices and setting the stage for an even larger combination later this year.
Eight Ways To Save Money On Legal Fees
November 01, 2004
Some may wonder why a partner in a major law firm is going to tell you how to save money on litigation legal expenses. The answer is simple. My job, first and foremost, is to obtain the best possible result for my clients. In my view (and the view of my colleagues), achieving the best result includes cost efficiency and cost effectiveness. Over the course of 18 years, I have had a front row seat to a wide range of client approaches to managing ' or not managing ' legal fees.
Around the Firms
November 01, 2004
Movement among major law firms and corporations.
e-Discovery Conference: Some of What You Missed
November 01, 2004
In mid-October, <i>e-Discovery Law & Strategy</i>'s parent company, ALM, joined with the Business Development Institute (BDI) to offer ALM's first e-discovery conference in New York City. The faculty featured several e-discovery luminaries ' here are some highlights in case you missed it.
Bringing Electronic Discovery In-House
November 01, 2004
Is there a pot of gold at the end of the e-discovery rainbow? <br>As the amount of litigation, regulatory and compliance-related e-discovery grows to epic proportions, some law firms are wondering whether it's time to make capital investments to bring e-discovery processing in-house rather than outsourcing it to vendors.
Taming An Unruly Process
November 01, 2004
If information is power, then it's not the amount of information that gives us value, but access to the right information at the right time, and in the most suitable form. <br>This is especially true of e-discovery, which, despite all the supportive tools and technologies, has become a complex, time-consuming, inefficient and often costly process. <br>As a result, litigators and general counsel can benefit greatly from targeted data extraction, a process that compiles and organizes all electronic data associated with a case, then automatically extracts a specified subset of information.