The Legal Marketplace Branding Roundtable
Branding: Is it the legal marketplace buzzword for the twenty-first century or is there really something to all of this? On October 19th Law Journal Newsletters Marketing The Law Firm hosted a Roundtable in its offices in Philadelphia. We decided to give branding its due by bringing together a panel of experts: Burkey Belser is President and Creative Director of Greenfield Belser Ltd. with offices in Washington, D.C. and Boston; Dr. Mark Greene is the Managing Director of The Brand Research Company with offices in Washington, D.C. and Boston; Douglas C. Kramer is the Chief Marketing Officer of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, Philadelphia; and Edward M. Schechter is the Chief Marketing Officer of Duane Morris LLP, Philadelphia.
Branding: Enhancing Successful Legal Marketing
The efficacy of branding law firms has been a topic of considerable debate. At root, the discussion lays bare an interesting and fundamental question ' are law firms really something greater than the sum of their parts? On one level, any organization that isn't completely dysfunctional adds something to the individuals of which it is comprised. Getting from that simple human statement to branding, however, requires buy-in to another, related concept.
On the Job: Politics As Usual
Of the many skills useful to law firm marketing professionals, the one that we can learn best from our attorneys is the political art. Fact is, even the most adept marketer will find it difficult to develop traction for marketing programs at his or her firm without using a heaping helping of political acumen to build consensus and boost allegiance.
Ask the Coach
This month's question:<BR>We're an IP boutique. Many of our partners are in the enviable position of literally not being able to take on any more work. How can I keep them involved in our marketing effort?
Is Your IP Worth Protecting?
Corporate counsel often relay their client's concerns about the importance of zealously protecting their company's Intellectual Property (IP), but do these clients appreciate what that entails or appreciate some of the pitfalls? Consider a few questions: If your company creates something, does it own it? If it owns it, is it protectable and, if protectable, what is the cost to fully protect it? Where should it be protected? Does it have commercial value? The purpose here is to raise the issues that address these questions and which will provide counsel some of the information needed to take a more measured approach when considering their company's IP.
The Creditor in Possession
A hallmark of United States bankruptcy law has been the principle that a debtor should be provided with an opportunity to use the bankruptcy to get a "fresh start." That principle, initially applicable to individuals, was carried forward as an underlying premise of business reorganizations and coupled with the belief that reorganizations preserved going concern values. The value of reorganization as compared with liquidation in cases of major business failures was first realized in connection with the reorganization of railroads during the latter part of the 19th century that continued into the 20th century. In the context of the current economic environment, the underlying premise of railroad reorganizations of preserving going concern value may no longer be viable.
Over-the-Border Drug Debate Heats to Boiling
<b><i>The State of the Re-Importation Debate</i></b> When Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois announced in mid-September that his state was considering buying drugs from Canada for its employees and citizens, the debate over cross-border drug purchases via the Internet and by other means, got even hotter than it was before. The pharmaceutical industry is fighting a battle similar in scope to the music industry's Internet copyright infringement war, but because no suits have been brought against 80-year-old diabetics buying insulin from pharmacies in Montreal, national debate on the issue of the purchase of foreign drugs has gotten less press of late than the debate over music piracy.
X1: A Rocket Ship into Computer Archives
Finding files on one's computer can be, to say the least, a tedious and time consuming job that sometimes comes up empty handed. When you couple that with the stresses of putting out documents in a law firm, day in and day out, the job now pushes its way up to a monumental task! One would think that this topic should have been covered years ago, and done in fine fashion at the dawning age of computers. But alas, no such product has come along to make the chore less of a chore. To boot, most of the present day market products are not very handy when it comes to finding files on your office hard disks, but now a very new product makes the search fast ' and furiously good
