Changing the Law Firm Business Model
November 02, 2014
If a law firm wants to conform to a client's need for responsiveness in the new competitive environment, big changes are required in its business model and, culturally, lawyers need to recognize that other professionals are better at certain tasks than lawyers.
Rocket Matter Case Study
November 02, 2014
Each system reviewed had features that raised the interest of at least one of our testers. Overall though, the most effective criteria we applied was: "Does it work for us?" Did the product function as promised and fit with the way our users envisioned themselves using the system? And I must emphasize the word envisioned because this move was such a departure for some that it was unlike anything they had experienced before. Ultimately, we determined that system to be Rocket Matter.
Transfer Taxes
November 02, 2014
Last month, we wanted to know the tax consequences to a hypothetical couple of their proposed agreement that husband transfer his interest in a townhouse to wife prior to their execution of a separation agreement, and that wife transfer her membership interest in the company to husbandprior to execution of such agreement. The discussion concludes herein.
Antitrust Extradition
November 02, 2014
In April 2014, the DOJ completed extradition of the first defendant of an antitrust violation in the 124-year history of the Sherman Act..This article summarizes the development of U.S. criminal antitrust enforcement that culminated in this extradition.
Deferred Compensation Plans under Section 409A
November 02, 2014
Section 409A applies to any arrangement that postpones payments of compensation to subsequent years. The Notice spells out what is and is not deferred compensation, Single-person Plans, "defined benefit" non-qualified plans, Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans (SERPs) and arrangements for non-employees (directors, trustees and independent contractors).
Plugging Profitability Leaks
November 02, 2014
We've long known that vague, incomplete or misunderstood instructions from partners to associates is a prime source of profitability leaks ' revenue lost because of all the time spent on reinventing the wheel, because of do-overs, and because of significant amounts of time written down or eventually written off. We've also long known that an amazingly simple delegation improvement technique can help reduce write-downs of time by up to 18%.
Employee Bad Acts
November 02, 2014
In last month's newsletter, the author began discussion of medical institutions and their liability exposure for the bad acts of their employees by highlighting the notorious case of nurse Charles Cullen. He admitted to deliberately killing at least 40 patients, yet the plaintiffs who sued the last hospital that employed him were unable to recover because they could not prove causation. Are all such cases doomed?
Practice Tip: Heart Health and Divorce
November 02, 2014
A recent study of more than 3.5 million Americans revealed that divorced couples are more likely to suffer from heart-related health problems as compared with their married counterparts.
If You're Not on Facebook, You're Committing Malpractice
November 02, 2014
Imagine you're cross-examining a witness about a phone call, but you've never used a telephone before. Ridiculous, right? But is it any different than wading into a new client matter where social media communications are at issue without having ever used social media?
