Employers On Alert!
July 01, 2004
On June 14, 2004, the United States Supreme Court decided a sexual harassment case that has consequences for nearly every employer, regardless of industry. <br>What the Supreme Court did in <i>Pennsylvania State Police v. Suders</i>, however, was to unequivocally establish that Title VII applies when employees are forced to quit for unlawful reasons (constructive discharges) and that the degree of a supervisor's involvement in a hostile environment may be all that stands between strict liability and a trial over whether the employer had effective policies and procedures to address harassment.
The ICEman Cometh: How to Avoid Being Put On the 'Spot'
July 01, 2004
Concerns about domestic security post-9/11, fear that immigrants are moving here to take jobs away from "real" Americans, worries that foreign workers trained here will then "offshore" their positions ... all of these factors have nudged the federal government to more strictly scrutinize U.S. corporations' use of foreign-born talent. <br>The cornerstone of this scrutiny is the Worksite Enforcement Program, administered by the Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This program is often referred to as the "spot visit program."
Much Ado About Very Little: Revised Overtime Pay Regulations
July 01, 2004
The publicity and Congressional reaction surrounding the United States Department of Labor (DOL)'s proposed changes to the overtime pay regulations suggests that those modifications would result in a radical departure from the existing state of the law. An objective review of the changes, however, as initially proposed and as finally implemented reveals that the DOL actually did little to alter the legal landscape.
Compensating The Unique Practice Partner
July 01, 2004
How do you compensate the partner who has a unique practice within a law firm? Truly unique practice partners should be fairly uncommon, so first it makes sense to ask if a unique practice actually exists?
Boosting Receivables: One Large Firm's Approach
July 01, 2004
Cash flow is the lifeblood of any business. In law firms, where so much is dependent upon maintaining good relationships, getting clients to pay on time can be a delicate, sometimes frustrating, exercise. Smart firms are using everything from technology tools to psychological savvy to improve their realization rates. The efforts are paying off. Firms are getting paid almost 30% faster than in 1995, says Citigroup Private Bank. The challenge today is maintaining that momentum at a time when operations are increasingly dispersed and complex.
Legal Outsourcing Looks to the Heartland
July 01, 2004
Piper Rudnick partner Karen McWilliams is not the first busy lawyer to ask an assistant to arrange a birthday party for her daughter. She may, however, be among the first to have called on an assistant more than 2000 miles away from her office in Reston, VA. "I forget they're in North Dakota," McWilliams says. "I just dial the number and they're there." <br>"They" are the outsourced office staff who work for Piper Rudnick and other law firms out of a support center operated by the CBF Group in Fargo, ND. <br>At a time when discussions of outsourcing focus on possibilities in India, companies like CBF want lawyers to remember there is a "near shore" option as well. Renee Rutter, the president of CBF, is hoping her company will find a niche somewhere between the anonymous document processing work that may go to India and the front-line secretaries whom lawyers interact with every day.
Daubert Challenges: Doubly Interesting To Accountants
July 01, 2004
It's been a decade since the case entitled <i>Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.</i>, 509 U.S. 579 (1993), changed the rules by which federal judges determine the admissibility of expert testimony. <i>Daubert</i> and subsequent opinions refining it have established guidelines for ensuring that expert witnesses use credible methodologies for drawing their conclusions. Many state courts have adopted similar rules. <br>Daubert-related work in some types of litigation is now so costly that attorneys should anticipate it in deciding whether to accept a case. Doing so is aided by a good understanding of Daubert, however, and many attorneys hold a wide variety of misconceptions about the subject.
A Haven For Straight Talk: <b>Mystery Shopper</b>
July 01, 2004
At most firms, the transition to partnership requires that an attorney "buy into" the organization. The amount varies considerably, but it is often more than a year's salary. And partners almost always pay for their benefits out of pocket. And partners' draws are often wildly inconsistent from month to month. The eventual financial rewards of partnership can be huge, but the first couple years aren't easy. <br>And what do law firms do to prepare associates for partnership? If the three stories above are any indication, partners terrify associates, lead them to believe that marketing is a sign of corporate weakness and fail to educate them on the basics of firm finance. All that in preparation for the day when they'll be asked to "buy into" the partnership. If you're asking somebody to buy something, they're a customer. And firms should treat associates like customers from the day they begin interviewing until the day they make partner.
