Technology in Marketing: 'Best Practices' in HTML E-mail Design
July 31, 2007
HTML e-mail (that is, e-mail with images and formatting as opposed to straight text) remains an excellent tool for attorneys to promote their expertise to a targeted group of clients on a recurring basis in a discrete, professional manner. As more and more law firms embrace e-mail as a marketing tool, it is important that they follow 'best practices' in design and coding to ensure that their e-mail communications generate optimal results. While the discussion may be a bit technical, the considerations discussed in this article are every bit as important as the content in your e-mails.
The Practice Group
July 31, 2007
The popularity of the practice group ' an entity within a firm comprised of those who practice a specific area of law or serve a specific industry ' is well grounded, in that it opens a number of advantages to managing a practice and better serving clients. But so complex and management sensitive are practice groups that they open, as well, the easy propensity to misuse the practice group concept in a classic case of poor management canceling the value of a good concept.
Professional Development:: Careeer Success and Life Fulfillment
July 31, 2007
I have always enjoyed trying to understand why some people are very successful and why others are not. Interestingly, I have found many of the most successful people also have greater fulfillment in their personal and family lives. How can this be so? Put simply, they understand both their career and life priorities, they develop a plan based on these priorities, and they use their time wisely. Most of us start our law careers with great enthusiasm and then, to borrow a phrase from a new Seth Godin book, 'we hit the dip'. This clarity of career and life priorities helps successful lawyers get through the dips.
The Place to Network: Innovative Networking Strategies for Women Attorneys
July 31, 2007
If pressed, undoubtedly any woman attorney could come up with a litany of reasons why she cannot be a rainmaker or proactive networker, ranging from responsibilities at home to discrimination or being underestimated in terms of capabilities by bosses or clients, both male and female. The good news is that rather than searching for excuses, many female lawyers are aggressively and successfully networking to develop their client rosters despite challenges they face.
Career Journal: Looking at Law-Firm Marketing Depts. in 2007
July 31, 2007
The first half of 2007 revealed some new trends in law-firm marketing, including structural shifts in departments that are yielding the addition of new job functions. This has made the quest for talent to fill these roles exceedingly difficult.
Announcing the Third Annual MLF 50
July 31, 2007
Once again, it is time for law firm marketing and communications departments to start thinking about their submissions for consideration to earn a spot on the coveted MLF 50 ' The Top 50 Law Firms in Marketing and Communications.
Lease Financing of Solar Power
July 31, 2007
Hardly a day goes by without major media attention to global warming and the need to develop and invest in sources of alternative energy. Legislation to encourage investment in renewable energy has bipartisan support. Tax legislation passed in 2005 and 2006 extended the renewable energy production tax credit and the energy investment tax credit to facilities placed in service before Jan. 1, 2009. Further extension and expansion of these credits is expected from the current Congress. The extension of the tax credits, the adoption of minimum alternative energy requirements by many states, and greater public and political support for alternative energy resources have increased interest in the development and financing of wind, biomass, geothermal, and solar facilities. An active financing market has developed.
Perfect 10 v. Google: Ninth Circuit Sanctions Web Site Framing, Online Thumbnail Displays
July 31, 2007
How fast do things change in 'Internet time'? That was in substance one of the questions posed in a recent Ninth Circuit decision in <i>Perfect 10 v. Google</i>, No. 06-55405, 2007 U.S. App. Lexis 11420 (9th Cir. May 16, 2007), which considered, <i>inter alia</i>, whether a less-than-four-year-old fair use precedent validating an image search engine had been overtaken by subsequent events. Not so fast, answered the Ninth Circuit in a lengthy decision destined to provide important guidance to online enterprises on a range of Internet copyright issues.
<b><i>Commentary: </b></i>Reject Demands for Unbundling
July 30, 2007
If the 'unbundling' advocates have their way, the Federal Communications Commission ('FCC') might as well change its name to the Federal Unbundling Commission. These advocates are pushing the FCC to adopt new rules to require more intrusive supervision of cable operators' interactive digital products. Unless a majority of the five-member commission indicates clearly that it rejects the injurious notion that broadband service providers must engage in ongoing unbundling of their networks ' separating the provision of Internet access service from Internet content ' the agency should start printing new stationery.
Taxes and the Internet
July 30, 2007
Famous 18th-century technology geek Benjamin Franklin once complained that 'nothing in this world is certain but death and taxes.' These days, perhaps it's certain that this quote will appear in any tax article, but if taxes were a problem for inventors in Franklin's era (and he was an accomplished inventor himself), it shouldn't be surprising that they continue to confound experts on the Internet and e-commerce today.
