Progress in Automated Benchmarking
October 03, 2005
Law firm strategic and operational planners commonly use data from periodic law firm surveys to "benchmark" their own firms' performance. Many law firms now also employ business intelligence (BI) technology to extract more value from their internally collected financial data. Recently, interest has grown in a convergence of these two capabilities: using BI software to combine internal and external data streams, making benchmarking more standardized, sophisticated and reliable.
S. Ct. Authorizes Disparate Impact Age Discrimination Claims
October 03, 2005
The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued an important decision concerning the Age Discrimination In Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA). In <i>Smith v. Jackson, Miss.</i>, the Court held that employees aged 40 and over can assert claims for age discrimination under the ADEA based on the disparate impact of a facially neutral employment policy, even in the absence of discriminatory intent on the employers' part. In so doing, the Court reconciled a split in the federal circuit courts of appeal and aligned its view concerning the scope of the ADEA with its view of the scope of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, according to prior Court decisions, permits employees to allege discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex and national origin based on the disparate impact of a facially neutral employment policy. An increase in the amount of litigation in respect to these types of claims under the ADEA will likely result from the <i>Smith</i> opinion.
Substance Over Style As a Winning Combination
October 03, 2005
It is unfortunate that firms do not fully understand or appreciate the importance of marketing and communications, but nevertheless continue to throw money at their programs without analyzing their needs. The firms that made the list were chosen on the basis of their accomplishments and not as much about their staffing or budgets. While these aspects were taken into consideration, the number of staffers and the budgets did not affect the final listing. Some firms actually do quite a bit more with less staff and less money. As a veteran of law firm marketing and communications, I felt extremely confident in including these firms because I know what they are about and I know their people. The valuation of all the firms is reflective of programs that are differentiators in the world of law firms and in many ways mirror Corporate America's marketing programs. <br>Some of the more important aspects of several marketing and communications programs that struck a chord as having well thought-out and meaningful programs that provide a glimpse into the substance over style world of law firm marketing and communications programs.
Third Circuit Cuts Substantive Consolidation Risk
October 03, 2005
Lenders won a victory on Aug. 15 when the Third Circuit limited the equitable remedy of substantive consolidation in the Owens Corning reorganization case. <i>In re Owens Corning</i>, ____ F.3d ___, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 17150*1 (3d Cir. 2005), amended by 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 18043 (3d Cir. Aug. 23, 2005); further amended Sept. 2, 2005, <i>petitions for reh'g en banc filed</i> Aug. 29, 2005. Reversing the district court, the court held that "affiliated [debtor and non-debtor] entities" could not be "substantively" consolidated on the facts of the case before it. According to the court, the debtor and its allies sought substantive consolidation, a "last-resort remedy," in order to "deprive one group of creditors [ie, the unsecured lenders] of their rights while providing a windfall to other creditors." Id. at *5-*6. The future claimants' representative and a creditors' committee filed petitions for rehearing <i>en banc</i> on Aug. 29. Answers to those petitions were due to be filed by Sept. 12.
Developing Effective Information Security Programs
September 20, 2005
For many years, financial institutions and other entities that collect personal information focused on privacy as an emerging legal doctrine presenting compliance challenges and an array of business implications. These issues, while still important and subject to ongoing debate and tinkering, have become, for many financial institutions, an automatic component of ongoing business activities. Now, with all of the attention focused on security of customer information driven by the recent flood of news stories concerning security breaches in numerous industries, privacy's ugly stepchild — the security of consumer information — has moved to the forefront of concern, both for financial institutions and the various entities that regulate and oversee them. News stories reporting security breaches are an almost daily occurrence. New legislation is being introduced almost constantly, at both the state and national level. While financial institutions already face a raft of security-related compliance obligations, including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and others, financial institutions and their important business partners have been a focus of many of the most highly publicized breaches.
Delivering Actionable Information To Front-line Lawyers
September 06, 2005
Accounting and other enterprise systems amass information that is, almost by definition, not actionable by front-line lawyers. Volume of data is inherently at odds with actionability, and a good enterprise system must accommodate volume. It must account for every circumstance, every variable, every iteration. Much of this volume is chaff to lawyers. To be useful, the wheat must be winnowed out and presented to the pricing and staffing decision makers themselves (<i>ie</i>, not just to green eyeshade types deep in the firm).
Up From Report Writers: How BI Excels
September 06, 2005
So what's all this excitement about Business Intelligence? You already have a pretty good report writer built right into your time-and-billing system. Your vendor provides over 50 pre-designed reports, each with selection options. Moreover, you have someone on staff that knows Crystal Report Writer. Isn't this all you need? <br>No, it's not. Today's law firm managers need more powerful and flexible access to financial information than canned or even custom-programmed report writers can deliver.
Basics Revisited: Attributes of Intelligent Decision Support
September 06, 2005
With a multiplicity of advanced decision support tools now available to law firm managers, it's important not to lose sight of key criteria for appraising all such systems. To facilitate effective decision-making, the designers and implementers of any reporting or BI system should aspire to these attributes: decision usefulness, relevance, reliability, timeliness and understandability.
Where Are the Gaps In Professional Development?
September 06, 2005
The legal profession is experiencing a renewed interest in professional development at many levels, as we predicted would occur when the situation changed from a buyers' to a sellers' market in the pursuit of talent. Not only are firms and their clients seeing an increase in work with a better economy, but also the change in the demographic picture as the large cohort of baby boomer senior lawyers start to transition out is significantly influencing the demand and requirements for professional development. More is happening on the training front; however, important gaps between what is being offered and what lawyers need in terms of skill and fulfilling of client needs are still evident.
