Internet Privacy: Do You Know Who's Collecting Information About You?
June 15, 2006
While savvy users of the Internet may be aware of the multitude of ways that personal information can be monitored and collected on the Web, most users are likely oblivious to the information trail they leave behind. How many readers of this publication, a population plainly concerned with privacy issues, have read the privacy policies of their favorite Web sites? If you have not, you may be surprised to learn about the amount of information collected by even the most popular and mainstream sites. For example, when a user requests and views a Web page from Yahoo!, that request is logged on Yahoo!'s servers with information including the IP address of the computer that requested the page. Even if information is not purposely collected, just about everything a person does on the Web is stored somewhere for at least some period of time.
China's Great Leap In-House
June 12, 2006
These days China is full of Silicon Valley wannabes, but Alibaba.com, headquartered in Hangzhou, is way ahead of the pack. In a headline-grabbing deal last August, the company acquired Yahoo Inc.'s China business (it now operates the Yahoo brand in China), plus a $1 billion investment from the venerable Internet company. Now a $4 billion privately held concern, Alibaba.com is best known for its business auction site (www.alibaba.com, which the company claims is the leading Web site for business-to-business trade in the world) and Taobao.com (www.taobao.com), a consumer auction site that's giving eBay.com a run for its money in China. (Alibaba.com is in English, Taobao.com is in Chinese.)
First Global IP Forum in China Sparks Interest
June 06, 2006
Just days before the U.S. government declared China one of 2005's worst infringers of intellectual property, two Needle & Rosenberg attorneys traveled to Beijing for what they say is the country's first-ever international intellectual property rights conference.
<b>Practice Building Skills:</b> I Need to Grow My Client Base: What Now?
May 31, 2006
Our experience working with attorneys and law firms tells us that the pressure to develop new business is on the rise. It is no longer good enough to be an excellent attorney; you are now expected to develop new business as well. Many attorneys that we coach want to develop more business; they are just not sure how to do it, or where they will find the extra time.<br>We've found that skilled and well-networked attorneys can utilize several methods to grow their business without taking much time away from billing clients. Some of the methods may initially be a challenge, but if you can move out of your comfort zone and learn some of these new techniques, you will have increased success in developing business.
<b>Media & Communication Corner: </b>Inside <i>Crain's Chicago Business</i>
May 31, 2006
This month, Jaffe's insiders look into Crain's Chicago Business. This business magazine, with a circulation of over 50,000 readers and over 125,000 registered users, has served as a source of local business news and information to Chicago's most influential business and legal executives for more than a quarter century. Crain's Chicago has sister publications in Cleveland, Detroit, New York and Mexico. Each of the Crain's business publications operates distinctly in the sphere of its home city, yet they share a similar look and interest.
<b>Meyerowitz on Marketing:</b> Creating Ambassadors of Goodwill
May 31, 2006
It takes a lot of effort and funds for a law firm to recruit and train its attorneys. If they stay for a sufficient period of time, improve their professional skills and start to bring in new business, the firm is likely to see a nice return on its investment.<br>These days, however, lawyers at some point typically leave the place that gave them their start; unlike days gone by when lawyers typically would stay at a firm for their whole professional careers. Today, they may go to a competitor firm, to a smaller firm, in-house or to a business that may or may not be a client of the firm. Yet, this does not necessarily mean that a law firm should just write off the time and money it spent on developing its former lawyers. Rather, as increasing numbers of law firms are coming to understand, a firm's former attorneys can play an important role in the firm's marketing and client development activities. To tap that resource, many law firms are creating alumni programs or are formalizing or expanding the basic elements of alumni programs that they already have in place.
Marketing By Association
May 31, 2006
Whether you service public, privately held or non-profit clients, the most direct path to marketing results is to affiliate with aggregations of prospects in their industry associations. The caveat is, however, that you must attend regularly and take a leadership role ' join a committee, participate on a task force or event ' so that you become known as a trusted partner. Referrals will happen.
Note From the Editor
May 31, 2006
MLF 50, MLF 50/II and MLF Canadian 20 submission update and criteria.
