Avoiding Extinction in A Turbulent Legal Market: The Other Side of Consolidation
The early days of 2003 have brought a stark reminder to the leaders of law firms. While strong law firms have experienced an exceptional level of prosperity and growth in a consolidating market, continued expansion and ever increasing profitability are not the only potential destinies for law firms today. As the high profile closures of long established firms such as Brobeck; Peterson & Ross; Hill & Barlow and others demonstrate anew, firms can fail. And with failure come career interruption, client uncertainty and financial distress for many.
Effective Communication In The 21st Century
How many times have you heard it? It's the little things that count. Trite as this axiom might sound, nowhere does it hold more truth and power than in the competitive world of business - where the little niceties and social amenities, these things I call the half-percents, can mean the difference between simply existing and gaining the edge so necessary for success in today's fiercely competitive business environment. Whether you are dressing down, communicating via voice-mail or e-mail, 21st Century business etiquette should be followed.
Professional Development Comes of Age
As law firms grow in size and complexity, they are increasingly realizing that professional development of their lawyers can no longer be left to the haphazard of on-the-job experience. Competing effectively today requires strategic thinking about cultivation of the law firm's primary business asset: its lawyers.
Moseley Revisited: What the Victoria's Secret Case Means
The Supreme Court's recent Federal Trademark Dilution Act (FTDA) opinion, <i>Moseley et al. dba Victor's Little Secret v. V Secret Catalogue, Inc. et al.</i>, has a number of practical consequences. It settled an issue that had split the Circuits for years: whether actual dilution or a "likelihood of dilution" must be shown to establish an FTDA violation. Dilution law seeks to prevent the diminution or whittling away of a famous trademark's value through another's commercial use of the same or a similar mark. That somewhat abstract harm suggests the less concrete "likelihood of dilution" standard would more logically apply.
IP News
Highlights of the latest intellectual property cases from around the country.
The Latest Threat To E-Commerce : The PanIP Patent Litigation
As if the recent attacks on the tax-exempt status of Internet transactions were not enough for e-commerce vendors to worry about, a new problem has come to light for companies that sell goods or services via an Internet Web site. PanIP, LLC (PanIP), a company based in San Diego, has initiated lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California against over 50 companies transacting business over their Internet Web sites, alleging that such activity constitutes infringement of two patents owned by PanIP.1 The patents asserted by PanIP are generally directed to "data processing systems designed to facilitate commercial, financial and educational transactions between multimedia terminals"2 and to "a system for filing applications with an institution from a plurality of remote sites, and for automatically processing said applications in response to each applicant's credit rating obtained from a credit reporting service."3
Equity Compensation Structures for Venture-Backed Companies Post-Enron
Equity compensation structures at venture-backed start-ups and other private companies have followed a standard pattern for many years - restricted common stock or time-vested common stock options. The traditional principal structuring considerations for employee equity compensation have been business incentives, accounting impact and tax minimization. Although significant accounting changes have occurred over the last couple of years and perceptions have changed with respect to non-cash compensation, little has changed in equity compensation structures. That is unlikely to continue to be the case, with increasing awareness among sophisticated entrepreneurs and managers of the potential adverse impact on their equity from down-round pricing and deal structures such as multiple liquidation preferences.
Secondary Private Equity Funds: The Perfect Storm
The recent growth and maturity of the private equity market has generated significant secondary market opportunities. In a maturing private equity industry, the secondary market has become increasingly viewed as a tool for private equity portfolio management and a source of liquidity, in a relatively illiquid market.
What's New in Private Equity Fund Deal Terms
There may be nothing new under the sun but there are a number of new wrinkles cropping up in the private equity fund universe which deserves some comment. Herewith a few from a fund term sheet I have recently been reviewing.
