The increasing competition in the legal industry highlights the importance of differentiation and adding value beyond the work product. Face-to-face interactions with clients are a critical component in differentiation because they provide the opportunity to understand better the nuances of clients' businesses, develop deeper relationships, and drive productive collaboration.
How the Recent Heller Ehrman Case Impacts Lawyer Mobility and Clients Choice of Counsel
The law of unfinished business, as applied to cases billed on an hourly basis, has been the subject of much commentary and case law. In Heller Ehrman, the high California court, like the New York Court of Appeals, found that a dissolved law firm did not have a property interest in hourly matters for work performed after dissolution. The case is worth exploring as it impacts, among other things, lawyer mobility and clients choice of counsel.
It's now been 10 years since the economic crisis of 2008, and just under 10 years since we saw the greatest dip in demand for services experienced by the legal market. The market has stabilized since then, but growth has remained, year-over-year, flat. The Thomson Reuters 2018 Report on the State of the Legal Market shows this trend will continue as we see a market characterized by flat to sluggish growth, a continued decline in productivity, modest rate increases and the continued downward pressure on realization.
The new law offers two obvious potential benefits: a 20% deduction for pass-through entities such as partnerships, and a 21% tax on corporations.
This article describes the provisions of the Act most likely to impact law firms.
Under the Tax Cut and Jobs Act, should certain employees of a tax-exempt organization receive compensation greater than $1,000,000 during the tax year from any combination of a tax-exempt organization and/or its related organizations, the organizations would be subject to an excise tax on that employee's compensation in proportion to their payments to the employee.
Stop Obsessing About the Millennials (for Now)
For decades, members of Generation X have been stuck between two behemoth, attention-draining generations, wondering if they would forever be relegated to back-bench leadership — mere seat-warmers for ambitious millennials waiting for baby boomers to retire. Now, as boomers slowly face their own mortality and aging bodies after a lifetime of devotion to work, there is no longer a need to question whether Gen X will have an opportunity to lead.
When it comes to law firm business, not everyone is depressed about the slow growth that plagued many firms in 2017, and that's predicted to persist into the new year. Or at least they won't admit it.
As law firms and legal departments finalize their 2018 budgets, many lawyers in both the United States and Canada plan to increase cybersecurity spending.
The Rolling Stones Were Wrong — Time Isn't on Your Side
Almost every business owner loathes worker's compensation insurance — costs are high and can go up significantly in the event of a claim or multiple claims. Also, worker's comp can be a cost center that is heavily impacted by fraud and abuse. If employers can control the number and severity of claims and lower worker's comp costs, they can put the money to better use.
