Brand Identity for Law Firms: Why Is It Necessary?
September 01, 2006
Today's law firms, like many other businesses, are struggling to stand out in an increasingly crowd-ed and competitive marketplace. When it comes down to brand differentiation — or creating a brand image in the first place — most law firms struggle with how to creatively market what boils down to mostly an intellectual property service business.
Adventures in Modern Marketing
September 01, 2006
A few months ago, I was having dinner with an acquaintance, a world-famous professor at one of the most eminent business schools, who asked me: 'What's a blog?'
LexisNexisMergers: A Microsoft-esque Monoculture?
September 01, 2006
Use the once-chilling phrase 'vendor consolidation' around anyone who has been watching the enterprise software market for the past few years, and chances are you'll barely elicit a goose bump. Headline-grabbing deals such as Oracle Corporation's 2005 takeover of PeopleSoft, Hewlett-Packard's recently unveiled plan to acquire Mercury Interactive, and a host of less splashy mergers and acquisitions have gotten us used to the idea that the marketplace may well coalesce around a handful of large vendors. But in the legal-tech sector, this already long-in-the-tooth IT trend has just started teething.
CRM: Not an 'Ancient Chinese Secret'
September 01, 2006
The wisdom of Confucius enlightens. although it usually takes a very long time to figure out the meaning of a select Confucianism, you know the wisdom is there somewhere. But it takes a lot of thinking to figure out the benefits of his wisdom. The same has been said about client-relationship management technology (CRM).
ERM: Firms Leverage Innovative Technology
September 01, 2006
Pre-existing relationships ' whether with clients, former colleagues, or law school classmates ' are every law firm's number-one source for new client development. As large firms know firsthand, the strength of having a vast network is offset by the struggle to effectively search and access those relationships. Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton is a full-service AmLaw 100 firm with 1000 employees in nine nationwide offices. To support our business development and marketing efforts, we must be able to leverage our strong network of contacts and immediately identify everyone within our firm who has a valuable pre-existing relationship and can make an introduction.
Practice Tip: Demystifying Document Assembly
September 01, 2006
The phrase document assembly can refer to the automated process of creating a simple letter from a letter template to a more complex series of interview questions that assemble a multi-page document, complete with content that is ready to deliver. The industry definition refers to compiling documents from a re-pository of stored paragraphs, clauses and document packages that are selected based on interview responses. Document assembly products provide users with marked improvements in turnaround time, consistency, accuracy and quality.
In the Marketplace
September 01, 2006
Highlights of the latest equipment leasing news from around the country.
Hedge Funds Target Film Productions
September 01, 2006
Hedge funds have gone Hollywood. Chasing high returns, money managers are plunking down hundreds of millions of dollars to finance films such as 'Superman Returns' and 'Nanny McPhee.' At the same time, the influx of money from hedge funds and private-equity firms is reshaping film-financing deals, leading entertainment lawyers toward lucrative transactions and new clients who might want a little glamour-by-association.
Film Industry Faces Complex Issues in Move to Gain Digital Revenues
September 01, 2006
Like other sectors of the entertainment industry, the film industry is looking to the digital age for new revenue streams. Even with digital-piracy concerns, film studios are positioning themselves to capitalize on Internet sales of their products. This summer, for example, motion pictures from several major studios and key independent providers became available on CinemaNow for downloading and copying by consumers for DVD-machine play. In the following interview ' conducted by Entertainment Law & Finance Editor-in-Chief, Stan Soocher ' George A. Cooke, a law partner in the New York office of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, discusses distribution of motion pictures in the digital age.
EDD Market Growth Will Continue
September 01, 2006
Our survey covered the 2005 calendar year. Based on our research, we estimate that 2005 commercial EDD revenues were nearly $1.3 billion, up 56% from 2004. We estimate that the top 30 providers collected about $450 million. An additional 360-plus providers accounted for another $455 million, while 'do-it-yourself' firms (law firms and companies handling EDD work themselves that otherwise would have been sent to a provider) represented $90 million.
