The Management Side of Sales Pursuits
February 03, 2006
In an increasingly competitive legal services market, where clients are less loyal to their law firms and law firms are competing for business, there is a growing need for law firms to be systematic and disciplined in their approach to business development. Marketing departments are increasingly retooling themselves with client service, business development and sales functions. Attorneys, marketing and sales staff need to work increasingly closely as a team taking on non-traditional roles to ensure continuity in pursuit of business from first contact through the pitching and closing of business.
Introducing The Roth 401(k)
February 03, 2006
Nine years ago, Congress introduced a new savings tool for investors called the Roth IRA. This new version of an Individual Retirement Account was named after the Senator that was instrumental in its creation, and it offered substantial tax advantages to persons seeking to save for retirement. Effective Jan. 1, 2006, legislation extended the tax advantages of the Roth IRA to include 401(k) plans. The "Roth 401(k)" creates a new option for law firms offering 401(k) plans to partners and employees, and gives participants the opportunity to accumulate significant tax-free wealth during their lifetime.
<b>Professional Development University:</b> CLE For The Soul
February 03, 2006
With civility and ethics at the top of lawyers' agendas, it at times seems to some to be a fragile balancing act as the need to zealously advocate for one's client and keep the practice profitable in a very populated profession can bring one close to the ethical bright line. In fact, the inception of the continuing legal education mandate in many states came on the heels of ethics breaches that were grievous enough to demand that ethics, professionalism, and general professional development be mandated. Out of crisis did come opportunity.
Associate Overcompensation?
February 03, 2006
As described in the following article abridgements from A&FP sibling publications, associate salaries and rates are headed up once again, pressures from cost-conscious clients notwithstanding. I have a possibly discomfiting view to offer on this, but first let's take a look at the bandwagon effect now in progress in some major U.S. legal markets.
Flexibility in Flexible Spending
February 03, 2006
The Internal Revenue Service has provided guidance in Notice 2005-86 on the interaction of the 2.5-month grace period for a health flexible spending arrangement (health FSA) (established earlier by Notice 2005-42) and an individual's eligibility to contribute to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).
<b>Commentary: </b>In Law Firm Marketing Today, the Glass Is Half Full
February 02, 2006
When legal marketers are ahead of their lawyers, or when lawyers are ahead of their legal marketers, their expectations of one another are out of sync. These days, the departure of a marketer, whether by choice or with a nudge, presents an opportunity for a firm to reassess where it is, where it wants to go and how it will get there. Each new marketing hire represents an opportunity for more precise alignment of a marketer's skills and characteristics with a firm's strategic and financial objectives.
How Courts Handle Equitable Distribution
January 27, 2006
The equitable distribution of the appreciation in value of the separately owned or separate property marital residence raises some unique issues. Real estate is generally considered to be a "passive" asset that increases in value mainly as a result of passive market forces rather than due to the "active" efforts of either spouse. Accordingly, the passive appreciation of such an asset would likewise remain the titled spouse's separate property, not subject to equitable distribution. Nevertheless, courts often distribute a portion of the appreciation to the non-titled spouse who resided in the separately owned marital residence. Perhaps courts have done so because, were it not for the titled spouse's residence, the parties would have presumably purchased a joint residence -- often one of the most valuable assets in the marital estate -- and would have shared in the appreciation that accumulated during the years of their economic partnership. Thus, courts have often awarded the non-titled spouse a share of the appreciation in a separately owned marital residence even when the non-titled spouse is unable to show that any efforts on his/her part contributed directly to the increase in value. These courts also seem to recognize that the marital "home" is something to which both parties to a marriage contribute simply by virtue of their economic partnership and that the value of certain contributions are difficult if not impossible to quantify.
Advising a Private Equity Fund
January 26, 2006
As anyone who has advised a private equity fund in connection with the potential insolvency of one of its portfolio companies knows, reconciling the duty of the fund's designated directors sitting on the portfolio company's board with the fund's duties to its investors can feel like a high wire act at times. As fiduciaries for its investors, the fund's managers must act in a manner consistent with maximizing the return on invested funds. Yet, these same managers are often directors of the fund's portfolio companies. While a portfolio company is thriving, the duties to the fund's investors and the fund manager's duties as a director of the portfolio company are typically in harmony. However, when the portfolio company's business turns sour, and it approaches insolvency or is insolvent, the shifting of the directors' fiduciary duties to the company's creditors can cause irreconcilable conflicts of interest along with consternation on how to fund ongoing operations. This article discusses possible structural mechanisms to address and potentially avoid these irreconcilable conflicts while still maintaining the ability to manage the fund's investment and fund the portfolio company's ongoing business.
Editor's Note
January 04, 2006
Every year is filled with new opportunity and as Henry Ford said: "If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you are right." So, take a step back as a management team and look at what's happening in the legal market.
Sports Team Models for Law Firm Management
January 04, 2006
Corporate structures have long been likened to military organizations, though this is the less popular style today. In attempts to increase productivity, morale and loyalty, corporate managers and analysts of corporate management have looked to sports models for fresh ideas which go deeper than the cliched sports metaphors. <br>Several models of the organization's operations and culture have been identified: Football as epitomizing managerial control and centralization; baseball as a model of individual autonomy and situational teamwork; basketball and soccer as focusing on voluntary cooperation and shared decision-making. Which characterizes your firm ' or the culture you desire?
