The Cultural Calculus of Competitive Advantage
April 28, 2008
Mapping and measuring a firm's culture and core competencies is undoubtedly an exhaustive process with numerous stages of analysis. Done correctly, it will likely challenge many of the firm's longest held beliefs and assumptions. For those willing to undergo this rigorous analysis, the result will be a strategic framework that identifies the sources of its competitive advantages and enables the firm's management to focus its efforts on manufacturing and perpetuating the cultural attributes that will sustain the core competencies of the firm.
LAW FIRM MERGERS - THE ROLLOUT
April 25, 2008
LAW FIRM MERGERS - THE ROLLOUT is the final chapter in maximizing the input of marketing leadership. Tell your business targets what they actually need and want to hear. Don't wait until after the merger to think about the similarities and differences in the marketing cultures of the two firms. They are as potentially decisive to business development as your respective financials are to the individual partners.…
Spring-Loading Options
April 25, 2008
Delaware courts are beginning to analyze claims concerning the controversial practice of spring-loading options. Spring-loading is the granting of options just prior to the release of favorable company information (in the company's possession at the time of the grant). The options are granted at a market price on the day of the grant. They are said to be 'spring-loaded' because upon release of the favorable news, the stock price is expected to rise and the options would then become 'in-the-money.'
Rediscovering Chapter 9
April 25, 2008
Even though Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code has been in effect for over 30 years, fewer than 100 cases have been filed during that time. Municipal bankruptcy cases ' or, more accurately, proceedings involving the adjustment of a municipality's debts ' are a rarity, compared with reorganization cases under Chapter 11.
LAW FIRM MERGERS - SHOWING ALL!
April 17, 2008
LAW FIRM MERGERS - SHOWING ALL is the third chapter on law firm mergers and the importance of early involvement of marketing leadership. The next question is: How do you show - not tell- the marketplace that your intellectul and professional platform is indeed broader and deeper? New subspecializations can be defined and marketed. Articles on legal or client industry issues should be co-bylined by lawyers from both merging firms. Talk about mergers in general, using…
LAW FIRM MERGERS - WHO CARES?
April 09, 2008
LAW FIRM MERGERS - WHO CARES? is the second in our series on law firm mergers and the importance of integrating the marketing leadership from both firms as early in the process as possible. Since clients and internal stakeholders will be the most impacted,how should a firm get more people to care? Well, what do people care about? While marketing in a merger situation is not conceptually unique, it is exponentially more complicated because now…
LAW FIRM MERGERS - WHO SHOULD CARE?
April 01, 2008
LAW FIRM MERGERS - WHO SHOULD CARE? - We begin a new series on why most underachieving law firm mergers share one fundamental deficiency. Over the next several columns I'll identify a checklist to be used by the negotiating partners and marketing leadership to deal with it. The failure is to work a practicable marketing strategy into the very soul of the merger - before it happens, while it happens and after it happens. Keep in…
Book Review
March 28, 2008
A Review of "The Little Black Book on Law Firm Marketing and Business Development.
Educating Marketing Professionals on Key Financial Metrics and Measurements
March 28, 2008
Today, marketing and business development professionals need to understand law firm finance and economics. Likewise, law firm chief financial officers need a better understanding and appreciation of marketing strategies. The success of your firm will depend on how well these two disciplines work together.