Sale-Leaseback Transactions in the 'Corporate Scandal' Era
October 06, 2004
In the era following Enron, Worldcom, Tyco, IMClone and Martha Stewart, when fraudulent actions, or even alleged fraudulent actions, can cause significant stock market losses, those operating "on the edge," if found guilty of "going over the edge," may face a sentence that could include incarceration as well as economic punishment. Since the corporate scandal trials almost always involve financial re-engineering, it is no surprise that these trials and the concomitant publicity would have an impact on sale-leaseback transactions ("SLTs") and those planning such transactions. It thus should be expected that in the post-Enron era, all financial and accounting transactions will be examined with a heightened degree of scrutiny, particularly those with an aroma of fancy accounting. Corporate executives and outside advisers now know that it is much harder to obtain a free pass for bad accounting. With the stakes for advising aggressively on SLTs having been significantly raised, it follows that SLTs are now becoming increasingly more difficult and complicated to complete.
Is Your Online Presence An Afterthought?
October 01, 2004
Googling" has become the preferred way to check out a potential date, anonymously, and without the target's knowledge. You just put the name into the popular search engine to see whatever may appear, good or bad. <br>But what would a potential customer find if it did the same thing for your business, or your key employees? Would a prospective hire or acquirer be scared away by your firm's online tracks?
Forget Your Firm; Market Your Partners!
October 01, 2004
Recently, at the American Bar Association Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Deval Patrick, the General Counsel (GC) of the Coca-Cola Company, said: "We are not hiring law firms, we're hiring lawyers." <br>Many, many GCs say the same thing. Seriously, by now this has become cliche in the legal services market: time and time again, in-house General Counsels say they hire lawyers not law firms. So why in the world do firms spend so much time and money marketing the firms rather than the attorneys and (at most) practice groups that are the actual marketplace products?
PR's Return On Investment
October 01, 2004
Last year's first Annual Law Firm Media Performance Report broke new ground with data that examined, on a market-by-market basis, the relative aggressiveness with which U.S. and global firms utilize media coverage as a component of their marketing strategies. <br>The greater depth of focus for this year's study obviously required an analytic approach beyond simply computing media appearances.
Get Smart With Your Marketing Materials
October 01, 2004
For some time now, CRM has been all the rage, but marketers may soon start hearing another buzzword: "SMART." <br>SMART stands for Sales and Marketing Assembly Resource Tool, and when integrated with a company's content, it can make an enormous difference in the way companies prepare and send out their marketing pieces.
Media & Communications Corner: <b>Outsource Those Nagging Attorney Biographies</b>
October 01, 2004
It is time to rewrite your attorney biographies. Send the e-mail, make the calls, reschedule appointments, beg for replies, threaten, and throw up your hands in frustration. Nothing works, right? Inevitably, you will receive incomplete information at the twelfth hour and be left scrambling to put something together for the Web site. Meanwhile, all other marketing initiatives come to a screeching halt, or are given a cursory glance, as time, resources and money are focused on producing biographies. There has to be an easier way. Well, there is, just read on.
A Haven For Straight Talk: <b>Bad Surveys Are Worse Than No Surveys</b>
October 01, 2004
Marketing measurements generally come in two flavors; quantitative and qualitative. We'll talk next month about some quantitative measurements relative to marketing at your firm. This month, though, we'll discuss the ever-popular survey. On a scale of 1-7, how likely are you to read the rest of this article?
Note from the Editor
October 01, 2004
Each October we devote most of our content to public relations. This month we are once again spotlighting the work of Levick Strategic Communications and…
Improve Professional Development: Conduct A Formal Associate Program Evaluation
October 01, 2004
Gone are the days of the Internet chat rooms for disgruntled associates. Gone are the multitude of public surveys where law firms learned, only after survey publication, how poorly associates rated their firms in terms of professional satisfaction. <br>These days, associates are less vocal about their dissatisfaction with their firms and the opportunities afforded them for professional development. Nonetheless, associates are still on the move, and firms continue to struggle to find effective ways to retain them. <br>Firms have made significant investments in improving their associate programs, including hiring Professional Development Administrators. Now, rather than ignoring issues related to professional development and satisfaction, firms are evaluating all aspects of their associate programs. They no longer want to leave the surveying to someone else.
The Mutual Fund Scandals: What's A Plan Sponsor To Do?
October 01, 2004
There is an industry-wide epidemic amongst mutual funds of both insider trading and market timing to the diminution of the ordinary stakeholder, including defined contribution plan account balances. Late trading is the clearly illegal practice of placing orders after the day's close at 4 p.m., and market timing is the disruptive (but not necessarily illegal) practice of trading quickly in-and-out of a fund. <br>This article is intended to assist plan fiduciaries (<i>eg</i>, law firms sponsors of pension plans and law firm clients) regarding how to behave in a fiduciarily appropriate manner.
