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On April 12, 2006, the Federal Trade Commission ('FTC') published in the Federal Register (Business Opportunity Rule 71 Fed. Reg. 19054 (proposed April 12, 2006) (to be codified at 16 CFR Part 437)) a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the FTC's long-awaited business opportunity rule ('Bus Opp Rule'). The Bus Opp Rule will cover business opportunity sellers who now are covered by the FTC's franchise trade regulation rule ('Franchise Rule'), as well as sellers of certain business opportunities who are not now covered by the Franchise Rule. The FTC has long believed that the same regulation was not the best way to regulate both business opportunity sellers and franchisors. More specifically, the FTC has concluded that each group's special characteristics (such as history of consumer protection problems, sophistication of its target purchasers, required investment commitment, and complexity of business system) required a different regulatory approach. The Bus Opp Rule is designed to create a regulatory scheme to focus on the special characteristics of business opportunities. Until the Bus Opp Rule is promulgated, business opportunity sellers must continue to comply with the current and, if and when adopted, amended Franchise Rule.

Imagine fielding all those unsolicited calls and referring them to a professional whose full-time job involves learning your audience requirements and branding strategy, finding research or personally conducting ongoing market and competitor analysis, providing you with data-rich 'Point-of-View' (POV) assessments on how the possible media buys fit into your firm's priorities ' maintaining arm's-length but informed relationships with the myriad publications you might consider, but recommending only those publications that meet a sophisticated test of audience reach vs. cost. This professional then negotiates advantageous terms and specifics, such as date and page placement, and executes the details of the media plan, day-in and day-out. And who keeps the payments and discounts straight and sends you frequent updates for budget-tracking purposes.<br>That professional is a media planner/buyer. No stranger to corporate America, outside media planning and buying services are relatively new to law firm marketing, but their presence is increasing among the larger, more media-savvy firms. Just as the legal profession lagged in accepting and building marketing departments, it has been slow to appreciate the value of these media professionals. That's changing, however, as national and global law firms are recruiting more non-legal professionals to high-level positions; and that new blood is carrying over some well-known best practices found in other industries with longer track records in branding and advertising than law firm marketing.

As firms strive to differentiate themselves through marketing techniques and stave off mergers through network affiliations, they are gearing up alumni programs to net referrals and maintain positive relationships with former employees.

Confronted by increased competition and changes in the way expense conscious corporate clients procure legal services, law firms are responding by building capacity ' increasing their size through aggressive lateral hiring and acquisition. It is an appropriate response; driven by the market perception that in order to compete today for global corporate business, it is imperative that the modern law firm be large enough to handle both commoditized work as well as provide high end counsel, deep enough to handle any and all matters that a company may face, and streamlined enough to take advantage of technological and other economies of scale. But the myriad of market-based arguments that enable the creation of these large partnerships with hundreds of partners beg the question: 'Now that we've built the infrastructure, how do we truly distinguish ourselves in a manner that actually confirms these assumptions and secures the business?'

Practice management is gaining strength as a discipline in many mid-sized firms. Long adhered to in large firms as a way to interact most effectively with clients, produce the client's work in the most timely and cost-effective manner, and generate collegiality among lawyers, in mid-sized firms many managing partners have relegated the practice of law to individual partners, reluctant to impose their judgments on how individual client matters were being performed. This results from their belief that lawyer management should not have to follow up on partners responsible for performing client work or for managing substantive practice areas.

It has become an increasingly common fact pattern: An employer discriminates against an employee, for example, because of her gender. She files a claim of discrimination against the employer with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In a matter of days, the employer finds out about her charges and decides to make her work life miserable. This might create a straightforward claim for unlawful retaliation, that is if the employer's actions made her life 'miserable enough.' The question of what is 'miserable enough' has divided the courts, and thus there may not be a clear answer to questions on adverse employment actions for employers or employees.

Because information has become increasingly easy to obtain and transfer, employers must take precautionary measures to ensure that confidential data is adequately protected. This applies not just to proprietary business information, but also to confidential employee data. <br>This article provides an overview of statutory, constitutional and common law concerns with res-pect to obtaining and maintaining confidential employee information, and penalties that employers may face for failing to protect the security of confidential employee records.

A growing number of lessors exhibiting cautious optimism are slowly, but successfully, knocking down the 'great wall' that separates them from turning lease financing into a mainstream financial product in China. Investing in the Chinese leasing market can be a sound decision for lessors whose customers are asking for leases there; who can effectively manage the risks; and who are equipped to deal with major differences between the United States and China, which include language, culture, and the number and nature of business regulations.

Trial lawyers, especially in civil litigation, have found that challenging the manner in which electronic discovery was handled can lead to favorable rulings and influence the outcome of litigation regardless of the merits of the action.<br>Fortunately, sound project management can identify and minimize such risks before they result in adverse effects.

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