Practice Tips for Document Comparison
November 29, 2006
There are a variety of products and tools available for comparing Microsoft Word documents. Within native Word, edits can be tracked using the track changes tool that, by default, marks document edits with an underline as text is inserted and a line through text that is deleted. However, many firms have a policy against using the track changes feature because of concerns about metadata. As each edit is marked, Word also notes the author of the change and the date and time the change was made. Additionally, a record of the last 10 authors is embedded in the document as well. However, metadata scrubbers have eliminated this issue by allowing users to retain tracked changes but eradicate the metadata they contain as well as remove the complete author history. Tracking changes is finding new popularity in law firms because of the metadata cleaning capability.
<b>Professional Development University: </b>Feedback Made Easy For Partners
November 29, 2006
Partners are saddled with one of the most important yet difficult tasks related to managing a team of lawyers: providing constructive feedback. Feedback is a partner's tool to improve performance, efficiency and service quality.<br>The objective in giving feedback is to enhance performance by supplying information to guide the individual toward the level and quality of work that is expected.
Are We Approaching a Profitability Plateau?
November 29, 2006
As we turn the calendar to 2007, law firm leaders will once again be able to tell their partners that their firm hit ' or exceeded ' budget and that their income will increase. That's the good news. <br>The bad news is that, as firms have grown more profitable and pushed harder on the drivers of their firms' economics, it is becoming difficult to identify ways to ensure that the double-digit increases in profitability will continue. After all, the economic model of law firms has only a handful of levers (rates, realization, leverage, utilization, expenses). Once firms pull as hard as possible on each lever, there is not much more they can do. For law firm leaders, managing the expectations of their partners will become a more difficult challenge, particularly since a good portion of those partners have come to expect double-digit increases in profitability each year.
Courts Step Up to Plate in Battle Against Spyware
November 29, 2006
Several months ago, the New York attorney general filed suit in a New York state court seeking an injunction against Direct Revenue LLC enjoining the firm from secretly installing spyware or sending ads through already installed spyware. <i>New York v. Direct Revenue LLC</i>, No. 401325/06 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co.). The suit has resulted in public disclosure of some of the most reviled Internet marketing tactics by a company that recently claimed it had changed its evil ways and has resulted in allegations of financial connections to some 'good guy' Internet behemoths such as Yahoo, Vonage, MySpace and others.
When Is a Settlement Not a Settlement?
November 29, 2006
In April 2006, setting off in a new direction, the Appellate Division held that settlement agreements that favor a tenant can be unenforceable. <i>Drucker v. Mauro</i> 814 NYS 2d 43 (1st Dept. 2006). There was a two-justice dissent, but the appeal to the Court of Appeals was recently dismissed due to non-finality. Thus, Drucker needs to be looked at to gauge when a settlement is indeed a settlement in landlord-tenant disputes.
Drug & Device News
November 29, 2006
The latest information from the pharmaceutical world.
ERISA Amendments Effective Dec. 31
November 29, 2006
On Sept. 26, the Employee Benefits Security Administration of the Department of Labor (department) issued proposed regulations implementing amendments to ' 404(c) of the Employee Retirement Income Securities Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA).(The proposed regulations are at 29 CFR ' 550.404c-5.) These amendments were made by ' 624 of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (the act) and provide relief to fiduciaries of participant-directed individual account plans where, in the absence of investment directions from a participant, the plan invests such participant's assets in a 'qualified default investment alternative.'
Targeting New e-Commerce Customers
November 28, 2006
Today, no one can ignore our society's commitment to provide the disabled as much access to public life as possible. From user-friendly parking spots to Braille-enabled touch pads to omnipresent curb cuts ' to cite just a few common examples ' the American ideal (if not always the practice) is clearly equal access.<br>In this holiday season, certainly that commitment extends to shopping. Major retailers, from Wal-Mart to Target to Toys R Us, all proclaim the accommodations available to the disabled at their stores in their print ads. Toys R Us even trumpets a special catalog for 'differently-abled kids' on its home page; after all, children enjoy presents ' and fantasizing about them ' whether or not they have a disability
The Virtual Taxman Cometh?
November 28, 2006
In <i>South Park</i>'s 147th episode, 'Make Love, Not Warcraft,' Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny dedicate weeks of their lives playing World of Warcraft, determined to defeat a rogue player who keeps killing their online characters. Just when it appears that the boys will be defeated by this online evildoer, World of Warcraft executives rush in and deliver the Sword of a Thousand Truths, a superpowerful magical weapon that allows the boys to win their battle and carry the day. <br>But, wait, was that a taxable event?
Base Salaries Up; Bonus Levels Mixed
November 28, 2006
The recently released 2006 Altman Weil Law Department Compensation Benchmarking Survey of U.S. corporate law departments, published in partnership with LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell, shows base salaries up across the board for in-house lawyers in 2006.
