Keeping e-Secrets
e-Commerce and tech firms face constant threats to secrecy and challenges unheard of by their real-world predecessors. Today, for example, businesses that work with data about individuals, whether that data is a record of credit-card transactions or is housed in more complex medical databases, must comply with complex burdens to maintain the confidentiality of the people to whom the data pertains. As the many recent headlines about privacy breaches reveal, protecting against the risk ' and cost ' of worldwide criminals' vigilance to gain instant access to that data must be as much a part of any e-commerce firm's business plan as its marketing strategy.
The Case for Expert Testimony
In equipment leasing industry court cases, one of the challenges lawyers and judges face is simply understanding the nuances and contractual language of the business. That makes credible expert testimony in such legal matters especially critical to winning a case, whether it involves a bank, captive finance company, or independent leasing firm.
Movers & Shakers
Information about the advancement of lawyers in the patent profession.
Who Cares About Japan?
Part One of this series examined several significant changes to both Japanese and U.S. IP-related laws and regulations that have helped empower Japanese firms to effectively utilize IP. This second installment discusses corporate strategies Japanese firms are starting to employ to capitalize on their intellectual capital.
Corner Office: What Every Lawyer Should Know About the Economics of a Law Practice
Why do so many lawyers know so little about the economics of practicing their profession? Not surprisingly, it's because their law school education did not address any of the business aspects of practicing law. So most young lawyers join law firms with little understanding of how they operate and without a clue as to what it takes to make a law practice successful and profitable. Many lawyers, especially those who join large firms, manage never to master these concepts ' and in many cases work hard at avoiding them.
When Private Equity Knocks, Will You Be Ready to Answer?
The wealth-building strategy for the executive team and investors in a franchisor traditionally focused on setting the stage for one of three scenarios: a private sale to a strategic buyer; going public through an initial public offering, with a secondary offering to partially liquidate the group's investment; or establishing an enterprise with significant cash flow available for salaries, bonuses, dividends, and other emoluments of financial success. An attractive option now available is the private equity option, which involves a sale of all or the controlling share of the equity of the business to a financial buyer. This approach reorients financial exit strategy to harvest simultaneously the gain in enterprise value while positioning existing management and possibly investors to participate in future value accretion. This approach usually allows, or even compels, existing management to participate in the equity of the business going forward.
After 30 Years, Law Firm Advertising Is Slow to Change
In the early days of attorney advertising, law firms created ads to demonstrate their unparalleled integrity and resourcefulness. Some three decades later, law firms are creating ads to demonstrate their unparalleled integrity and resourcefulness. Although firms themselves have undergone profound changes since the U.S. Supreme Court decided 30 years ago this month that even lawyers were entitled to free speech, the profession's advertising manner and message ' especially among the larger firms ' have evolved very little in those 30 years, according to many industry observers.
Sales and Service Strategies: Simplicity Is the Key to Selling Legal Services
Keep it Simple. It sounds basic and obvious, but it is easy to complicate even the most important things. And how many things are more important than growing your practice? You certainly can be a good lawyer and provide technical excellence, but how will that help you achieve your goals for financial success and job security? Will it enable you to achieve the professional status you desire? Will you command sufficient respect within your firm and among your peers?
Technology in Marketing: 'Best Practices' in HTML E-mail Design
HTML e-mail (that is, e-mail with images and formatting as opposed to straight text) remains an excellent tool for attorneys to promote their expertise to a targeted group of clients on a recurring basis in a discrete, professional manner. As more and more law firms embrace e-mail as a marketing tool, it is important that they follow 'best practices' in design and coding to ensure that their e-mail communications generate optimal results. While the discussion may be a bit technical, the considerations discussed in this article are every bit as important as the content in your e-mails.
The Practice Group
The popularity of the practice group ' an entity within a firm comprised of those who practice a specific area of law or serve a specific industry ' is well grounded, in that it opens a number of advantages to managing a practice and better serving clients. But so complex and management sensitive are practice groups that they open, as well, the easy propensity to misuse the practice group concept in a classic case of poor management canceling the value of a good concept.
