Realization ' Another View
August 27, 2008
For many managing partners, the practice of law is easy compared with the challenges associated with "realization": an 11-letter word that is the bane of all managing partners everywhere. And 100% realization? Well, that's the Holy Grail of law firm management. Given the choice of winning a Supreme Court case or solving the riddle of meeting their firm's realization goals, many managing partners might just tell the Chief Justices to take a hike.
Reasonable Compensation for Law Firms and Attorneys
August 27, 2008
This article is intended to provide some fundamental guidance for attorneys and law firms whenever employee-owner compensation is at issue. In many instances, this focus will relate to ownership decisions regarding the overall allocation and character of enterprise profits, but the same concepts and analytical framework can be of benefit in the assessment of reasonable compensation for other purposes, such as the valuation of a non-compete agreement and in the segregation and measurement of personal/professional versus enterprise goodwill for dissolution of marriage purposes in jurisdictions where this aspect is in play.
Prosecution of Subprime-Mortgage Fraud
August 27, 2008
With the meltdown of the U.S. housing market, many players in mortgage lending now face the triple threat of criminal, civil, and administrative legal action. But the scope of federal action against questionable lending practices will depend on the answer to a key question: What funding will be made available to law enforcement agencies?
Revised PhRMA Code Provides a New Roadmap
August 27, 2008
Providing physicians with up-to-date, accurate information about the medicines they prescribe clearly improves patient care and advances health care in general. Nonetheless, the public health need for informed and educated HCPs may, at times, create tension with the pharmaceutical industry's perceived drive for profits.
New Marketing Technology Awaits Your Firm
August 26, 2008
See an intriguing ad for a law firm but no pen and paper on hand? Joseph Mitchell, president of textMyCity, is hoping that soon you'll reach for your cell phone. TextMyCity, which Mitchell started seven months ago, is part of a new movement pushing for marketing strategies built around technology. Mitchell's service uses text messaging to advertise and spread information, also known as "mobile marketing." With textMyCity, companies sign up to become members and are issued a tag; when an interested person sees a member company's ad and sends a text message to textMyCity with the tag, the service sends the customer back a text message with contact information.
Financial & Practice Management Upgrades: Squire, Sanders & Dempsey Up Close
August 26, 2008
Since firm attorneys are placed strategically in key global markets, and support staff and firm leaders are spread out among the global office network, it has always been paramount to have not only reliable, but also current, technology to keep everyone connected, ensure seamless business operations and enable firm attorneys to focus on their clients.
More Bad News for Structured Finance?
August 25, 2008
While politicians scramble to preserve <i>Fannie Mae</i> and <i>Freddie Mac</i>, more trouble for financial markets looms on the horizon. Proposed changes to accounting rules for securitization vehicles could decrease the significant role of structured finance in providing the liquidity that sustained recent economic expansion.
Competing Definitions of 'Mass Layoffs' Under the WARN Act
August 25, 2008
The Retraining and Notification Act ("WARN" or The Act) creates some uncertainty for employers because it contains two potentially conflicting definitions of the term "mass layoff" ' one that looks to a 30-day period and another that aggregates layoffs over a 90-day period. This article analyzes a recent ruling that addresses the problem.
DIVERSITY DOES NOT MEAN "PREFERENCES
August 22, 2008
DIVERSITY DOES NOT MEAN "PREFERENCES": In my last post, I described a very surprising reaction from a well respected AGC about diversity meaning preference. Again, I do not believe he is racially or gendered biased. But he appears not to be receptive to the message that diversity and business development consultants deliver about the need to foster a nurturing environment that will increase female and minority retention rates. He believed that diversity initiatives involve preferences.…
