Client Speak: Understanding the Client
April 28, 2008
As someone who has operated extensively on both the buyer and seller sides of the legal profession, I'm naturally prone to preaching the 'understanding your client' doctrine as a key best practice for all marketing and business development efforts. While I've taken some pains, in this publication and elsewhere, to define what 'understanding your client' actually means, it's important to remind ourselves that the process of getting to know your client requires really in-depth listening ' and that it often presents a few genuine surprises and problems along the way.
Practice Building Skills: Straight from the GC's Mouth
April 28, 2008
One of the major mistakes the authors see attorneys and law firms make when they pitch business is that they spend too much time outlining their experience and what they can do for their client (the pitch), and they don't spend enough time asking their potential client what is important to them when hiring an attorney.
The Power of Storytelling in Your Legal Practice
April 28, 2008
So the question arises, how do attorneys when giving speeches and business presentations connect with their audience without losing themselves in legal-speak? Here are the answers.
The Pheromone of Client Service
April 28, 2008
Statements like, 'We pride ourselves on delivering outstanding levels of client service' sound great. They are the Pavlovian pablum we whip out when we meet new clients, promote ourselves on our Web sites, write the openings of our RFPs, and attract laterals. The problem is, they're just not true.
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.
