Service With A Smile: Cutting Client Services Means Cutting Profits
May 01, 2003
Faced with the most difficult economic conditions in years, many law firms are looking for ways to maintain a competitive edge ' without negatively impacting cost structures. Investing in client service is a strategy that reaps both long- and short-term benefits.
The Attorney, Unemployed
May 01, 2003
Ask Lee Feldshon, a 33-year-old entertainment lawyer who lives in New York. He graduated from Columbia University Law School in 1994, worked at New York's White & Case and several other well-established law firms in the 1990s, then landed a job as director of legal affairs for Madison Square Garden in 2001. He got laid off in 2002.
Is Your Firm Using Pirated Software?
May 01, 2003
Recently, in selected metropolitan areas, law firms and their clients, began receiving letters from the Business Software Alliance (BSA), an industry watchdog group that cracks down on the illegal use of the world's software. The letter warned its recipients of the risks and implications of pirating software. It may have been dismissed as a veiled threat by some, while others were left scratching their heads, asking, "Can anything really happen to us from pirating software?"
Understanding The Rights and Obligations Of Your Military Reservist Employees Part 1 of 2
May 01, 2003
With the recent conflict in Iraq and the country's ongoing focus on homeland security, many employers find themselves confronting for the first time a significant body of employment rights and obligations imposed by the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). As of April 1, 2003, the Department of Labor estimated that 220,000 reservists and National Guard members were on active duty, and that roughly 280,000 reservists and Guard members had been called up since September 11, 2001, surpassing the total number called to active duty for the first Persian Gulf War.
Miss Your Codes? A CrossEyes Product Review
April 01, 2003
In 1999, two law firms, Piper & Marbury and Rudnick & Wolfe, merged to form Piper Rudnick, a business law firm that today consists of over 925 lawyers. One of the challenges the merger presented was the unification of our word processing applications. Piper & Marbury was using MS Word and Rudnick & Wolfe primarily used WordPerfect. Our internal IT staff was charged with transitioning this newly formed union into a predominately Word organization. To help with the physical conversion, our team turned to Levit & James Inc., a software company that specializes in document conversion and add-in products for Microsoft Word. Levit & James suggested CrossWords, a WordPerfect to MS Word conversion utility.
Can the Innocent Survive Rescission? The Innocent-Insured Exception to the Wrongful-Acts Exclusion
April 01, 2003
Professional liability policies typically exclude coverage for claims arising out of an insured's knowing, wrongful acts, but, in recognition of the fact that a single policy may extend coverage to multiple insureds working together in association, insurance companies sell the policies with language reinstating coverage for innocent insureds, those of the insureds who had no knowledge of the allegedly wrongful acts of their colleagues. Recently, this innocent-insured coverage has received scrutiny.
Avoiding Extinction in A Turbulent Legal Market: The Other Side of Consolidation
April 01, 2003
The early days of 2003 have brought a stark reminder to the leaders of law firms. While strong law firms have experienced an exceptional level of prosperity and growth in a consolidating market, continued expansion and ever increasing profitability are not the only potential destinies for law firms today. As the high profile closures of long established firms such as Brobeck; Peterson & Ross; Hill & Barlow and others demonstrate anew, firms can fail. And with failure come career interruption, client uncertainty and financial distress for many.
Professional Development Comes of Age
April 01, 2003
As law firms grow in size and complexity, they are increasingly realizing that professional development of their lawyers can no longer be left to the haphazard of on-the-job experience. Competing effectively today requires strategic thinking about cultivation of the law firm's primary business asset: its lawyers.
The Contingent Workforce: Employer Expectations and Legal Realities
April 01, 2003
When individuals are not considered to be employees, employers are often insulated from various discrimination suits. While this is not the main reason an employer hires contingent workers, it can be an added benefit. However, just as it is important to classify individuals properly for benefit and tax purposes, law firms also need to classify individuals properly to ensure they understand the possible discrimination issues up front and will not be unwittingly blind-sided by someone whom they thought was a contingent worker, but who is subsequently determined to be an employee. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held in Eisenberg v. Advance Relocation & Storage, Inc. that when determining whether a worker is an employee for Title VII purposes, the analysis needs to focus on the "extent to which the hiring party controls the manner and means by which the worker completes [his or] her assigned tasks, and not on how [he or] she is treated for tax purposes or whether [he or] she receives benefits." The factors used by the court were derived from the 13 factors set forth in the U.S. Supreme Court case, Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid, 490 U.S. 730 (1989). The court in Eisenberg focused on how the "anti-discrimination laws were not intended to be skirted by the terms of individual employment contracts."
Effective Communication In The 21st Century
April 01, 2003
How many times have you heard it? It's the little things that count. Trite as this axiom might sound, nowhere does it hold more truth and power than in the competitive world of business - where the little niceties and social amenities, these things I call the half-percents, can mean the difference between simply existing and gaining the edge so necessary for success in today's fiercely competitive business environment. Whether you are dressing down, communicating via voice-mail or e-mail, 21st Century business etiquette should be followed.
