The Untapped Potential of IP Finance
September 02, 2003
Over the past few years, business, legal, and accounting authorities have quite rightly pointed out that corporate IP has far greater potential than its owners usually exploit. The consultancy McKinsey & Company has offered that, as a rule of thumb, a company that owns at least 450 patents and spends $50 million or more a year on R&D should possess enough intellectual property to bring some of it to market. Typically, 10% of the patent portfolio could be put to work in this way. McKinsey also suggests that IP assets could generate 5% to 10% of a company's operating income with little initial capital investment. Thus, effective IP-asset management can be equivalent to the improvement that might be expected from a 20% cut in expenses or from a successful acquisition. See Elton JJ, Shah BR, and Voyzey JN, 'Intellectual Property. Partnering for Profit,' The McKinsey Quarterly, 2002, Number 4 Technology.
IT Security: It's Now or Never
September 01, 2003
Information technology security is a critical issue for all law firms. Yet, security initiatives are often dismissed as high cost/low return and put on the back burner. This low priority status persists despite the significant operational and financial impact a security breach would have on a firm. It is only when a major event such as the recent confluence of the Northeast blackout and the Blaster and SoBig worm attacks, or the nefarious actions of a disgruntled employee hit the public consciousness that attention rapidly re-focuses on security matters.
Sarbanes-Oxley: A Wake-up Call for Labor
September 01, 2003
Legislative winds are now stirring to strengthen financial accountability in labor organizations by amending their financial disclosure requirements and by arming the Department of Labor with greater enforcement tools. Labor leaders should learn from the failures of their business counterparts, and not wait for labor scandals to cause a legislative backlash like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Getting the Most from Survey Participation
September 01, 2003
In an insightful Dilbert" cartoon, the boss is reviewing the results from a recent survey with two employees. The survey results being less than desirable, the boss states, "Managers' bonuses are linked to these results. You can be sure we'll make big changes ... to the survey. " Surveys can be a strategic asset and viable financial tool when assessing certain aspects of your firm. Surveys can also be useful in evaluating merger opportunities. Perhaps the best use for survey information is to identify needed improvements and illustrate the benefits of change. Improperly utilized, however, survey data can cause more harm than good. Survey results taken out of context can create unrealistic expectations among partners, foster unhealthy and divisive comparisons between practices or offices, promote unachievable strategic objectives, and generate broad-based anxiety and apprehension.
Moving to LEDES 2000
September 01, 2003
Introduced in 1998, the Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard (LEDES') format rapidly became the de facto US standard format for moving legal invoices from law firms to corporations. LEDES has been embraced by law firms and corporate legal departments, time-and-billing system vendors, corporate matter management vendors, and electronic invoicing and cost management vendors. It's been estimated that more than 90% of legal invoices moving electronically today are formatted according to LEDES 1998B, the first released version of the standard.
Jumping Through Hoops: Discovery of Records under HIPAA
September 01, 2003
When medical malpractice defense counsel first heard of the new privacy regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (the HIPAA privacy regulations), most probably thought that these detailed and complicated laws would affect only their regulatory health care colleagues. How great an impact the HIPAA privacy regulations will have on medical malpractice litigation, in general, is yet to be seen, but it is clear that these regulations have immediately affected discovery of medical records in med-mal cases.
Selecting New Partners
September 01, 2003
Over the past year and a half, the recession has sparked a dramatic rise in lateral partner moves as law firms have tried to expand active practice areas and partners have sought safety in ever-larger firms.
COURT WATCH
August 26, 2003
Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.
Hotline
August 19, 2003
Recent developments of interest to corporate counsel.
Bye Bye Billables?
August 19, 2003
The concept of value-based fees for legal services is generating a steady buzz in the legal marketplace. Debate, discussion, reports and articles abound as attorneys and their law firms try to figure out if there is a better compensation model than the billable hour.
