Non-Compete Clauses In California
January 01, 2017
Non-compete clauses in employment contracts typically seek to preclude employees from working for a competitor for a specific period of time and within a specific geographic area. Most states allow non-competition agreements, provided they are reasonable in scope and justified by the employer's legitimate business interests. California, however, generally prohibits covenants not to compete, subject to limited exceptions.
<b><i>Online Extra</b></i><br>Twitter Faces Surge of Securities Suits
December 02, 2016
The company was hit with the latest in a string of lawsuits alleging that the social media company misled investors about the growth of its user base, and that senior executives raked in hundreds of millions of dollars by selling their stock before the market learned about it.
Will Ascertainability Split Finally Be Resolved?
December 01, 2016
Despite requests for change, the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules declined to include ascertainability in its proposed changes to Rule 23. In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court recently rejected two petitions for certiorari earlier this year that would have addressed ascertainability.
CMO Best Practices: Some Tips to Make a Really Tough Job a Little Easier
December 01, 2016
The issues that I confronted a dozen years ago when I became a CMO for the first time are very much the same issues that my CMO brothers and sisters face today. Irrespective of whether you've had decades of experience or not, the job is tough. Well, the job is relatively easy, but ensuring that your team members get all the credit and your firm hits its success metrics, while maintaining your visibility and growing your perceived value, remains very much a challenge to even the most seasoned professionals.
<i>Leadership</i><br>Executive Presence
December 01, 2016
Lawyers who exhibit "executive presence" are more likely to make partner, to gain clients' trust and loyalty, and to receive referrals from others. Executive presence is easy to spot, but difficult to define. A lucky few are born with it, but, in most cases, it is learned. This article discusses what executive presence is and how you can learn it.
How to Fail at Collaboration
December 01, 2016
For firms or teams with historically non-collaborative cultures (and that describes 99.9% of them), this "whole collaboration thing" has become a huge annoyance, an attempted interference with "how we've always practiced law." For these folks, the challenge is thorny: Convince everyone that their culture is changing with the times while continuing to conduct business as usual. When they fail, there is often a huge — and demoralizing — gap between the cup and the lip.
<i>Professional Development</i><br>Survey: Today's Am Law Chief Marketing Officer
December 01, 2016
<i><b>Dramatic Change Defines the Position</i></b><p>
Perhaps no non-practicing lawyer position has changed as dramatically as that of the leading marketing professional, which bears no resemblance to the position in the 1990s. Twenty-five years ago, law firm marketing executives were asked to put together brochures and prepare seating charts for client and partner functions. It's a different world today.
<i>Media & Communications</i><br>Getting Quoted on Breaking News
December 01, 2016
When news breaks, reporters want a source immediately — not in an hour, later that day or first thing the next morning. Reporters who can get to a source first and fast — and are confident that source will provide reliable and insightful analysis — win the day. If you want to be considered and quoted as a thought leader on timely topics, understanding the compressed timing of the news cycle is critical. To get on a key reporter's speed dial, here are three tips you can incorporate into your PR and marketing activities.
Retiring Boomers Pose Big Challenges For Firms
November 01, 2016
The boomer generation — 75 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 — and a tiny cadre of over-70s Silent Generation lawyers currently make up just under half of partners at Am Law 200 firms. As partners with the greatest seniority, they constitute a majority in the equity and management ranks, and control an outsize share of client relationships. The impacts of retirement are amplified because a long surge in hiring and promotion that began when boomers entered law firms has halted since the financial crisis.
