Morgan Hops Over China's Hurdles
April 05, 2006
When Morgan, Lewis & Bockius announced that it had landed the right team of lawyers to open an office in Beijing and the permission of Chinese authorities to do it, it was a double coup. <br>While obtaining a license to practice in China isn't the mystery it used to be for U.S. firms, it's still an arduous process. Firms can wait as long as a year to get an answer from local officials and the Chinese Ministry of Justice, as Morgan, Lewis did. And that's after completing the lengthy application that must be notarized, approved by U.S. agencies and then translated into Mandarin.
Littler Moves into Shanghai, Bangalore
April 05, 2006
Employment and labor boutique Littler Mendelson is dipping a toe into the warming Asia market. Its three-person Shanghai office opened in March and an office in Bangalore, India, is expected to accept business as early as October.
Focus on China: Critical Issues Affecting U.S. Businesses Today
March 30, 2006
For U.S. companies today, it seems as if all eyes are on China. That country has vaulted past Japan to become the world's second largest economy and the United States' third largest trading partner ' and it's just getting warmed up. With over 1.3 billion consumers ' more and more of whom are middle class ' and a strong and rapidly growing economy, full and fair access to the Chinese market is critical to the future success of U.S. businesses and workers. Yet many companies find getting over the Great Wall and into the Chinese market to be fraught with challenge. This article highlights some of the recent developments in areas that most concern our clients with operations in China: the protection of intellectual property rights, the promulgation of national standard-setting provisions, and the adoption of a new antimonopoly law.
Building A Law Firm Intranet
March 30, 2006
The intranet has developed into the preferred platform for internal communication within many law firms. <br>Similar to the Web, there is a lot of value to be gained from a strong intranet presence. Everyone had his or her own ideas on what should be included and posted on the intranet. After a number of group meetings with IT, each department was given a page with basic components.
Translating Professional Development Into Business
March 30, 2006
How do you get the highest and best use out of your firm's professional development investment, over and above the clear benefit to your own lawyers and staff? Odds are there is a huge amount of intellectual property already in existence as a result of your firm's internal programs. Consider turning what is a valuable cost center into an invaluable business development resource.
Growth Potential: Law Firm Earns $900,000 Selling Services Online to Clients
March 30, 2006
London-based Eversheds recently won the 2005 'Best Use of Technology' award from the European Managing Partners Forum. The annual practice-management competition is open to law, accounting, property management, management consulting and other professional services firms. Categories cover marketing, human resources programs, diversity efforts, financial management and more.
<b>Media & Communications Corner</b>Securing Media Coverage in Key Publications
March 30, 2006
Over the next few months in our monthly column on media relations, Jaffe Associates' media relations team will take a closer look at several of the top publications for legal coverage. We will interview the editors and reporters who cover the news and bring you their perspective on what is important to them and the direction in which they think legal reporting is heading.<br>Our first article in the series looks at the Wall Street Journal Law Page. In January of this year, the WSJ greatly expanded its online coverage of legal issues with a new page dedicated to law-related content and launched a legal industry blog, the only one of its kind by a major daily. We sat down with <b>Ashby Jones</b>, the editor of the page, and <b>Peter Lattman</b>, a WSJ Online legal reporter and the primary writer for the blog, to learn more about the page and its content.
<b>Meyerowitz on Marketing:</b> Lawsuits Too Bad To Be True
March 30, 2006
Lawyers have long been the subject of jokes and put downs, but apocryphal anecdotes demeaning lawyers, the courts, or the legal system particularly irk Karen M. Balaban, a Harrisburg attorney and one of three chairs of the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Public Relations Implementation Task Force Committee. Lawyers, she believes, 'should not allow these urban legends to proliferate' to the detriment of lawyers and judges and the public's opinion of the profession. Instead, Balaban says, lawyers, who are trained to help adjudicators find the truth, 'should be more conscious about getting at the facts of the matter.' Balaban emphasizes that faux facts make all lawyers look bad, and asserts that lawyers should investigate and then, when they discover that some stories are false, should say, 'these things are not true.'
Use Marketing Technology to Get a Foot in the Door
March 30, 2006
'Who knows whom?' That's the question. <br>In today's hypercompetitive legal marketplace, the need to leverage information is at an all-time high. It's no longer sufficient to rely solely on law school, a golf club or other social affiliations to get new business. While relationships are still key to opening doors, winning the work requires more.
