FATCA Revamp
January 01, 2018
<b><i>Will Your Company Be Prepared?</b></i><p>FATCA is an effort by the United States to curb tax evasion and incentivize Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) to report the overseas assets of U.S. persons. The U.S. encourages compliance by imposing a 30% withholding penalty on all U.S. source income and sale proceeds of non-compliant foreign financial institutions.
Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks: Business Process Management and Law Firms
December 01, 2017
Though traditionally considered laggards when adopting new technology, law firms have recently started to explore new tricks to fortify performance across their organizations. While this evolution is critical to a firm's survival, it's important that firm administrators understand that substantive improvements are only possible through multi-directional change.
Employee Claims in Bankruptcy Pose Significant Liability Exposure
December 01, 2017
<b><i>Lessons Learned From In Re FPMI Solutions Inc.</i></b><p>When a corporation determines to file for Chapter 11 protection, questions concerning the status of existing labor and employment agreements and viability of employee claims immediately arise. Indeed, there are litanies of potential pitfalls for companies that file for bankruptcy without strictly following the requirements of federal or state employment laws.
Can Millennials Save Your Law Firm?
December 01, 2017
<b><i>After Years of Complacency About Their Business Model and the Pipeline for Talent, There's a Reason Law Firms Are So Worried About Managing the Millennial Generation</b></i><p>For law firms wringing their hands about how to manage the millennial generation — or asking why they should adapt to this crop of young lawyers in the first place — here's the bad news: If you're still clinging to traditional models for training associates and running the partnership, you've already fallen behind. The millennials are here, they're climbing the ranks, and they've already begun to transform the industry.
How Many Excess Partners Does Your Firm Have?
December 01, 2017
It is widely recognized that Big Law has surplus partner capacity. What is less well recognized is just how massive this surplus has become, how unevenly it is spread across firms in different profitability cohorts, and what it portends for when the next downturn hits.
<b><i>Voice of the Client:</i></b> What Does 'Different' Mean?
December 01, 2017
As firms turn their focus to revenue generation, some of the more progressive firms look to their clients to help them create their strategic priorities. In some cases, they even ask their clients to be involved in the planning process.
The Dark Web
November 02, 2017
The goals of this article are: 1) to provide a basic outline of the structure of the Web and to provide some insight into the purpose for and content housed on each level; and 2) to give some practical tips on preventing your company's data from ending up on the Dark Web.
Read This Before You Set Your 2018 Billing Rates
November 02, 2017
Setting the next year's billing rates follows a simple formula at most firms: last year's rate plus a common percentage increase across all lawyer cohorts. A more disaggregated approach is needed -- firms should set higher percentage increases for senior lawyers and lower increases for junior lawyers.
The Administrative Services Hat Trick
November 02, 2017
At the ALA annual conference in Denver, I was speaking on how law firms could provide better administrative support for their attorneys and how alternative strategies were being deployed by some law firms to achieve those goals. After my session, the discussion continued with a group of participants and the hat trick metaphor was born.
