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LAW FIRM MERGERS - Part 1.: A Strategic Checklist
January 11, 2012
LAW FIRM MERGERS – Part 1 : A Strategic ChecklistWe are bringing back an earlier series on law firm mergers since the number of mergers jumped 65% in 2011, according to the American Lawyer. The focus will be on why most underachieving law firm mergers share one fundamental deficiency. Over the next several columns, I'll identify a checklist to be used by the negotiating partners and marketing leadership to deal with it.The failure to work a practicable marketing strategy into the very soul of the merger – before it happens, while it hapens and after it happens. Keep in mind that marketing is not just self-promotional activity but the process by which the institution actually defines itself. It is also used by others, such as in recruitment and business development to define the firm externally. Marketing likewise has an immediate impact on internal perceptions.The first of the strategic questions from both firms' marketing leadership should include:1. Who is going to care about the merger? The answer, of course, is anyone directly affected by it, mainly clients and internal stakeholders. So marketing leadership must provide for direct and well-timed outreach to both constituencies, by phone whenever appropriate.Stay tuned for more.
LAW FIRM MERGERS – Part 1 : A Strategic ChecklistWe are bringing back an earlier series on law firm mergers since the number of mergers jumped 65% in 2011, according to the American Lawyer. The focus will be on why most underachieving law firm mergers share one fundamental deficiency. Over the next several columns, I'll identify a checklist to be used by the negotiating partners and marketing leadership to deal with it.The failure to work a practicable marketing strategy into the very soul of the merger – before it happens, while it hapens and after it happens. Keep in mind that marketing is not just self-promotional activity but the process by which the institution actually defines itself. It is also used by others, such as in recruitment and business development to define the firm externally. Marketing likewise has an immediate impact on internal perceptions.The first of the strategic questions from both firms' marketing leadership should include:1. Who is going to care about the merger? The answer, of course, is anyone directly affected by it, mainly clients and internal stakeholders. So marketing leadership must provide for direct and well-timed outreach to both constituencies, by phone whenever appropriate.Stay tuned for more.
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?
Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.
The Anti-Assignment Override Provisions
UCC Sections 9406(d) and 9408(a) are one of the most powerful, yet least understood, sections of the Uniform Commercial Code. On their face, they appear to override anti-assignment provisions in agreements that would limit the grant of a security interest. But do these sections really work?