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Tried & Proven: 10 tips for better law firm staff evaluations
By NANCY BYERLY JONES, Special to Lawyers Weekly [email protected] Too many law offices have sloppily put together employee-evaluation systems. These mostly ineffective systems are typically used haphazardly, inconsistently and hurriedly. This means that they result in unfair and inaccurate results. Does it really matter in the big scheme of things? The answer is a […]
Web 2.0 adds new ethics twists to legal marketing
By CORREY STEPHENSON, Lawyers USA, the national sister paper of Lawyers Weekly [email protected] While many lawyers are taking advantage of abundant networking and marketing opportunities using Web 2.0 platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, they should be aware of a number of ethical pitfalls. From concerns about breaching client confidentiality on Facebook to the [[...]
Coach’s Corner: When ‘protecting the public’ goes to the grave with the lawyer
By ED POLL, Special to Lawyers Weekly [email protected] An earlier column about sole practitioners’ succession planning noted that those lawyers who fail to do such planning face significant ethical consequences. This concern needs be reviewed in more detail. The ethical implications of failing to plan for a practice’s future when the lawyer retires or dies […]
To plan your revenue, plan your clients
Law firms seem compelled to focus marketing time and resources on where the money is not - constantly dispatching teams to give new business pitches for a wide variety of prospective clients, most of whom will not pan out. Certainly looking for opportunities with new clients is important. But it is far more essential for any firm to assess the clients it has, define the clients it wants and foc[...]
‘Work ’til you drop’ is not a succession plan
By ED POLL, Special to Lawyers Weekly [email protected] The simple fact is that a lawyer who is a sole practitioner owns a family business – the law practice. And studies regularly document that small business owners do not plan well for the future of their businesses. A survey several years ago by the Family Firm […]
Figure the rent that’s right for you
I recently advised a very bright lawyer who was having difficulty with the math of seeking new office quarters. He wanted to understand the interplay between basic rent, common-area charges (charges for maintenance, taxes, etc. that the landlord assesses at the end of each lease year to cover the cost of operating the building [...]
Coach’s Corner: Making all the right (lateral) moves
Even as firms were laying off and otherwise letting go of associates and partners during the Great Recession, they were also hiring laterals from other firms. In fact, one major legal industry publication reported that lateral hiring at the country’s 200 largest law firms was at a record high in 2009. The firms apparently saw […]
Leisure time: At a conference or removed from everything law-related, attorneys schedule summer relaxation
North Carolina attorneys say they try to leave the job behind them when they go on vacation. But sometimes when they fight the law, the law wins. Lawyers find themselves calling time-out on time off as client emergencies pop up and e-mails keep sailing into their inboxes. And then there’s the lure of a convenient […]
Tried & Proven: Staff should play key role in tough times
Many law firms are still trying to recover from the economic chaos of recent years. Others are in the midst of different challenges. They may be defending against allegations of ethical violations or malpractice, in shock and grieving over the unexpected death of a co-worker, or trying to stabilize after the departure of key employees […]
Coach’s Corner: There’s more than one way to add a lawyer to your firm
A coaching client recently asked for help with a dilemma. He had the opportunity to enhance the profitability of his practice by adding the services of a lawyer who focused in a very specialized field of health law. The problem was how best to add these services: by direct hiring or through a contract arrangement? […]
Guest Commentary: Cloud computing — If the sky's the limit, what's not to like?
Simply stated, cloud computing is Internet-based computing. Shared software and information are provided to customers on demand. I recently heard a great explanation on a radio program during which the reporter responded to the question, “What is cloud computing?” by saying: “Just think of warehouses all over the world filled with servers on which information […]
Top Legal News
- O’Connor paved way for women on high court
- New laws toughen penalties for rioting, power station attacks
- Judge dismisses environmental racism lawsuit
- Former US ambassador arrested in counterintelligence probe
- O’Connor, first woman on US Supreme Court, has died at 93
- Judicial activists subpoena vote splits Judiciary Committee
- Judges block GOP’s election board changes
- Federal judge blocks first TikTok app ban
- Wisconsin unions sue to reverse bargaining limits
- Justices seem doubtful of SEC’s authority
- $120M judgment entered against failed dam’s owner
- Minneapolis stores where Floyd was killed sue city
Commentary
- Name game can end up being blame game
- Stericycle decision forces evaluation of policies, practices
- Are workplace DEI policies still legal after SCOTUS decisions?
- N.C. justices to decide many interesting cases
- Amotion sees resurgence after almost a decade
- The flip side of generative AI in law and how to address it
- The fight for equal educational opportunity continues
- Court’s term was rough on big business
- Ex-president, bar association have made their choice
- Ruling sharpens boundaries in attorney-client privilege
- Lawyers Weekly debuts new and improved web experience
- US Supreme Court bites back at parody’s use of the First Amendment
