Partnerships are relationships, ideally relationships built on trust and a common goal. Successful partnerships require all parties working together — working together to service a client fully, generate revenue and to build a business. This requires openness and coordination.
A once-in-a-lifetime pandemic caused once-in-a-lifetime expense reductions that could forever alter the business of law. After those cost savings fueled double-digit profit growth for many firms in 2020, don't be surprised if Big Law leaders try to make some of those gains stick.
The current circumstances are giving rise to conversations about pricing, and driving both sides of the law firm-client relationship to seek common ground — both in the form of tried-and-true alternative fee arrangements and those that reflect a more innovative approach.
We all know that business and business development will be different post-pandemic, and we are not sure how. This article discusses the trends that lawyers and firms should be tracking and how they should plan and execute when the future is murky.
Instead of sharing my insights, experience and opinions as a 20-year vet in legal public relations, I went directly to the source – the ALM Media editorial staff. Here is what they had to say about the impact of COVID-19 on the industry as a whole and what they want and expect from law firms and PR pros in 2021.
In the legal industry, transitioning to a culture of care poses more of a challenge to law firms than other businesses. What is needed now is for attorneys to seize the chance to reshape their profession and strengthen their position as leaders of our society.
With a new year and fresh outlook for the future, the time is ripe for legal technologists and innovators to take the delivery of legal services and client experience to the next level. One key is recognizing that successful innovation is equal parts mindset, method and message.
What kinds of firms are best positioned to provide superior value to clients and why this is such a critical consideration in the current economic climate.
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
When a company declares bankruptcy, avoidance actions under Chapter 5 of the Bankruptcy Code can assist in securing extra cash for the debtor's dwindling estate. When a debtor-in-possession does not pursue these claims, creditors' committees often seek the bankruptcy court's authorization to pursue them on behalf of the estate. Once granted such authorization through a “standing order,” a creditors' committee is said to “stand in the debtor's shoes” because it has permission to litigate certain claims belonging to the debtor that arose before bankruptcy. However, for parties whose cases advance to discovery, such a standing order may cause issues by leaving undecided the allocation of attorney-client privilege and work product protection between the debtor and committee.
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
Many U.S. financial institutions that have participated in equipment leasing transactions (particularly in the large-ticket and municipal markets) in the last 20 years will be keenly aware that as the structures grew ever more complicated, Congress and the federal regulatory agencies grew intensely interested. Whether the institution had a major role in the transaction or simply provided a service, some degree of scrutiny could be expected, often in conjunction with a tax audit of its client. The risks to financial institutions from participating in complex structured finance transactions of all types became a source for concern for banking and securities regulators. The principal federal regulators responded in 2004 with a proposal that financial institutions investigate, and bear responsibility for evaluating, the legal, tax, and accounting basis of their clients' complex structured finance transactions. The goal: to limit the institutions' own credit, legal, and reputational risk from such participation.
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
