Information Filled Under 'law firm trends' Category
Media All-Stars 2009 (Mediaweek) Sunday, November 15th, 2009
In a year like the media and agency businesses have had, all-star caliber executives really come in handy. When your department’s been cut down from 15 to three, you have to be smart, patient and resourceful to generate results when others might give up. Jeanine Swanson, one of our dozen 2009 Mediaweek Media All-Stars, lived through that cutback, yet still executed innovative, high-quality out …
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Media All-Stars 2009 (Mediaweek)
OPINION The APEC Summit held in Singapore from 8 to 15 November 2009, which was supposed to showcase Singapore as a modern, cosmopolitan and affluent nation was dramatically hijacked by Dr Chee Soon Juan who gave a series of interviews on U.S. Talk shows in the same period condemning the Singapore government for its political “repression. At
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APEC and political repression in Singapore: A slap on the face of Singapore’s ruling party (The Temasek Review)
TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Nov. 13, 2009) – AirIQ Inc. (“AirIQ”) (NEX BOARD:IQ.H), a leader in Wireless Location-Based Services, specializing in Telematics, today announced that it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent with Mosaic Capital Partners L.P.
Encorium Group, Inc. Appoints Sari Laitinen to Board of Directors (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance) Friday, November 13th, 2009Encorium Group, Inc. , a full service multinational clinical research organization conducting studies in over 30 countries for many of the world’s leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, today announced that it has appointed Sari Laitinen to its Board of Directors effective November 7, 2009.
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Encorium Group, Inc. Appoints Sari Laitinen to Board of Directors (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance)
Insight Guru Inc.’s website, Trefis.com, aims to let investors research a company’s stock through the things they are most familiar with — its products and services. They’ve raised $550,000 from angel investors and are in a private beta phase with about 300 testers until next week, when it plans to open the site to the public.
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In beta, Trefis unlocks product impact on stock prices (Mass High Tech: The Journal of New England Technology)
Marc Rowan, founding partner of Apollo Management, one of the world’s largest private equity investment firms, makes it sound simple: Stick to the fundamentals — that is, buy a good business at a low price — and you ultimately will see returns. Of course, identifying those businesses is the challenge.
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Apollo Management’s Marc Rowan: ‘The Best Returns Follow Chaos’ (Knowledge at Wharton)
MALIBU, CA–(Marketwire – 11/11/09) – Veritas Prep , a leading GMAT prep and MBA admissions consulting firm, today released the results of proprietary research designed to identify current and anticipated social media trends in the MBA admissions process.
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Veritas Prep Research Findings Beg the Question: Is Business Schools’ Heightened Use of Social Media Making an … (Marketwire via Yahoo! Finance)
Fenwick & West LLP, one of the nation’s premier law firms providing comprehensive legal services to high technology and life science clients, today announced results of its Third Quarter 2009 Silicon Valley Venture Capital Survey.
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Fenwick & West’s Silicon Valley Venture Capital Survey Reveals Increase in Valuations in Third Quarter of 2009 (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance)
MIAMI—-The Hackett Group, Inc. , a global strategic advisory firm, today announced its financial results for the third quarter, which ended October 2, 2009. Hackett also announced the acquisition of Archstone Consulting, LLC, a leading strategy, operations and CFO advisory consultancy based in Stamford, Connecticut.
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The Hackett Group Announces Third Quarter Results and Acquisition of Archstone Consulting (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance)
I have long felt that since money and money issues are the leading cause of divorce, the economic health of a marriage is a good barometer of the overall health of marriage. Ron Lieber, in his “ Your Money” column in the New York Times identifies five, often unanticipated, economic stressors capable of destroying even the strongest of marriages. Often, the tensions brought on by financial issues have been exacerbated by a failure of communication.
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Financial Issues That Destroy The Best of Marriages
Is the long-anticipated litigation boom finally here, more than a year after the financial crisis hit? “Boom” might be too strong a word, but the latest Hildebrandt International Peer Monitor index indicates that litigation demand increased by 1.8 percent during the first three quarters of 2009 compared to the last three quarters of 2008. The index, released on Monday, tracked demand for legal …
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Litigation Practices Showing Signs of Life, Says Hildebrandt Study (Law.com)
PLYMOUTH, MI–(Marketwire – 11/09/09) – Perceptron, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRCP – News ) today announced net sales of $10.8 million and a net loss of $813,000 or $0.09 per diluted share, for its first quarter of fiscal year 2010 that ended September 30, 2009. This compares with sales of $19.3 million and a net loss of $32,000 or $0.00 per diluted share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2008
Betrayals: Obama’s Hollywood Sellout, Tech Companies’ Layoffs (TechNewsWorld.com) Monday, November 9th, 2009Last week, two troubling trends were in evidence. The scarier one is that it appears the Obama administration is in the process of putting in place a secret antipiracy provision that has little to do with antipiracy and everything to do with killing properties like YouTube. It is truly frightening, and people are already planning civil unrest to stop it.
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Betrayals: Obama’s Hollywood Sellout, Tech Companies’ Layoffs (TechNewsWorld.com)
Legal services currently are exempt from Ontario’s 8% provincial sales tax. With the Province now poised to impose a whopping 13% Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) that is targeted to apply to legal fees, Slaw’s Edward Prutschi considers the negative implications of this tax on access to justice in the Ontario, and eloquently asks why organizations representing the legal profession remain largely silent : Starting in July 2010 when Ontario’s GST and PST are replaced by the new Harmonized Sales Tax, virtually everything, including legal bills, will be subject to the new 13% HST..
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The HST Tax on Access to Justice
After Finance Minister Dwight Duncan stood up in the Ontario Legislature last Monday and publicly wrung his hands at the mountain of motor vehicle accident claims in the province, he did what any clear thinking and sincere politician in his shoes would do to deal with rising auto insurance premiums – give more money to the insurance companies. The proposed changes to the Province’s automobile insurance regulations , due to come into effect next summer, would see the maximum allowable medical and rehabilitation coverage drop from $100,000 (in non-catastrophic cases) to $50,000
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McGuinty’s Early Christmas Gift to Auto Insurance Companies
McDonald Hopkins law firm will conduct a roundtable focused on helping employers understand the key issues related to these four dreaded acronyms – FLSA, FMLA, IRS and NLRA. Thursday, November 19, 2009, Downtown Cleveland – 8:00am to 9:30am EST.
Legally Tweeting – November 4, 2009 Edition Wednesday, November 4th, 2009We’ve been on a bit of a blogging hiatus over the last week or so (while other duties called), but managed to keep up, nonetheless, with our legal tweets in the interim. Here, then, are highlights of our recently tweeted legal headlines: Tribunal awards $35000 to fired pregnant woman – Canada NewsWire http://bit.ly/1dBp3O Canada to extend Employment Insurance benefits to self-employed – http://tiny.cc/WiseLaw827 Ontario court denies insurer’s bid to see claimant’s Facebook account – Investment Executive http://bit.ly/2l01Cx Lawyers Warn: Bosses Who ‘Friend’ Are Begging to Be Sued http://bit.ly/ui4wi Abella’s message: Stand up for justice – Calgary Herald http://bit.ly/2Vvisc Employers advised to reinforce cellphone road rule – Toronto Star http://bit.ly/okkQU Report: Racy sex tape ends Prejean’s lawsuit against beauty pageant http://bit.ly/3J37KP Appeals Court Lawyer ‘Traffics’ in Term Papers http://bit.ly/CuxhC Italian court convicts 23 Americans of kidnapping in CIA rendition case http://bit.ly/1swr9c Giant Wal-Mart wage and hour class action settles http://bit.ly/1i0fZW Maine Voters Repeal Law Allowing Gay Marriage http://bit.ly/2ISfMy EU court bans crucifix in Italian schools – http://bit.ly/3CCLE0 ; Italian government vows to fight EU Court ban on classroom crucifixes http://www.cnn.com/2009/WOR.. . Google Wave Simplified: How it Basically Works (with video) http://tiny.cc/WiseLaw897 Twitter’s new lists: What they mean for marketers and other attention “whores” – http://davetroy.com/?p=644 Two new judges, Hoffman and Tobin, sworn in – Windsor Star http://bit.ly/FK6y8 New chief justice for Alberta court http://bit.ly/8VTER Justice who refused interracial marriage resigns http://bit.ly/3jiRbP U.S
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Legally Tweeting – November 4, 2009 Edition
JD Supra is rapidly emerging as the legal profession’s deepest and most credible online repository for legal articles, precedents and documentation. A recent experience with the site, however, reveals that JD Supra also offers the added benefit of a truly personal touch that demonstrates, quite unexpectedly, another manner in which the site appears to be a cut above its many social media competitors. A few weeks ago, after uploading an initial draft of my paper, Lawyers in the Cloud – A Cautionary Tale , to the site, I noted a few, remaining formatting issues.
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Cudos to JD Supra
With the weekend upon us, here are the leading legal headlines we’ve been following on Twitter , this past week or so – we note that Craigslist has certainly been prominent in the news of late: “Craigslist Not Responsible for Sex-For-Hire Ads, Judge Rules” http://bit.ly/UZfLW ; Judge Tosses Sheriff’s Suit Against Craigslist Over Prostitution Ads http://bit.ly/2l3SSy Ethics Complaint: Lawyer Lied About ‘Adult Gig’ Craigslist Ad for Secretary http://bit.ly/OxGVl Ontario Cell Phone Driving Ban Comes Into Effect Monday http://bit.ly/2WSKX0 Michael Bryant case put over until mid-November http://bit.ly/9T1cp B.C.
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Recently Tweeted – October 23, 2009 Edition
By James Bowden Personal Time Entries for October 16, 2009 7:30 – Leave home for work; expect to vomit for one reason or another in the following 12 hours 10:00 – Leave work to pick my spouse up from the airport, whose arrival is conveniently scheduled to remove me from the office when bar results are set to post; compulsively visit the Tennessee Bar Examiners’ “Successful” website via blackberry for 7,943 rd time from the parking garage to no avail 10:45 – Arrive at home to drop spouse off before returning to work; question wisdom and necessity of returning to work due to personal conviction of failure; consider eating palpable doom and foreboding for lunch; think better of it; remember that I am required to return due to inopportunely scheduled training luncheon (“this is what you would be doing if you had actually passed the bar”) 10:46 – Receive text message from friend and law school classmate in Missouri: “Congratulations!;” receive Practice-Group wide email from Practice Group Leader congratulating all new associates for passing the bar; enjoy comfortable silence after dry heaving subsides; receive congratulatory kiss from spouse 10:51 – Leave home for work, having decided doing so was no longer awkward; commit first act of legal significance following receipt of results – break traffic code by placing cell phone call to mother while driving; mentally review affirmative defense of necessity 10:53 – Phone call to mother interrupted by phone call from insurance agent seeking to sell me a life insurance policy; really; ignore insurance agent call, consider purchasing call blocking 11:10 – Arrive at work; ponder that the world feels the same despite the addition of honorific suffix; remember that I owe $10 to a guy in Real Estate on the best lost bet ever; consider decorating office Congratulations to everyone who passed the Tennessee Bar!
Top 10 Legal News Headlines: Recently Tweeted – October 14, 2009 Recap Wednesday, October 14th, 2009Time to catch up on the best of the legal headlines we’ve posted to Twitter since our last recap. Here are Wise Law Blog’s Top 10 Recently Tweeted legal news stories from the previous ten days: A Day About Bad Lawyering at the U.S High Court http://bit.ly/Wp82 Quebec specialists support legalizing euthanasia http://bit.ly/2OACxM A Facebook Poke Can Put You in the Pokey – PC World http://bit.ly/4dXoOl Jury vetting’s legal upshot – National Post http://bit.ly/ZvXJG “Criminal Defendant Escapes After Being Mistaken for Lawyer” http://bit.ly/hZUS0 Dismissal of NHL Ref for Union Activity
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Top 10 Legal News Headlines: Recently Tweeted – October 14, 2009 Recap
A non-custodial parent is not stripped of his parental authority simply because he is not empowered to make decisions regarding the health, education and welfare of his children ruled an Albany County Family Court judge. Judge W. Dennis Duggan dismissed a contempt proceeding, against a non-custodial father who had changed the dosage of his fifteen-year-old daughter’s medication during his parenting time.
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A Non-Custodial Parent Retains Authority in Decision-Making: Dad is not a Potted Plant
In the past, many matrimonial actions got off to a particularly acrimonious start because one spouse was fearful that the other would transfer and hide assets, cancel insurance and run up debts as soon as they received notice of the divorce. As a result, one party had to go to the expense of making a motion to obtain an injunction preventing to the other spouse from acting financially irresponsibly
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Automatic Stays: Protecting the Financial Interests of the Parties in Divorce
There is some evidence that law firms have been adopting legal outsourcing at a slower pace than their own corporate clients. There are a variety of reasons for this ; most obviously, lawyers are not eager to send billable work to another provider, even if the client will save money. As one partner articulated to me in a recent meeting, sending even commodity work to an offshore vendor is a win, win, lose proposition for a law firm (where the corporate client saves on legal fees, the vendor generates the fees the law firm used to generate and the law firm loses revenues but retains the risk associated with the engagement). I’m not sure his calculus is correct in the long run. If GC’s are demanding rate relief and if offshoring provides a way to bring down legal fees without sacrificing quality, then some clients are going to demand it and some law firms are going to offer it. If leases or commercial contracts can be reviewed at $50 per hour, then why would a client continue to pay $300 per hour? Over time, it will be harder and harder to justify giving commodity work like this to a junior associate at a large law firm.
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Offering an Offshoring Option=Marketing Opportunity
There are several interesting articles on the “in-house counsel/outside law firm” relationship in the latest newsletter of legal consulting firm Altman Weil ( here and here .) Both consultants talk about ways for in-house counsel to achieve cost reduction by demanding it from outside counsel. They also offer some practical tips about how in-house counsel speak with about the subject with their outside providers. What really comes through in both of these articles is the need for in-house counsel and outside counsel to work closely together on their communication. In-house counsel can’t simply expect an outside law firm to hand over an answer or bring a case or a transaction to conclusion. The relationship works best when client and lawyer decide not only what will get done, but how it will get done. Furthermore, as I have been writing in this blog, many lawyers are not accustomed to thinking about their work in terms of process
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In-house/Outside Communication
While patent filings may be down, appeals are up. Law.com offers an explanation : According to the NLJ, patent challenges at the Patent and Trademark Office are up 70 percent this fiscal year, which began last October. The reason for the increase, say some IP lawyers, are stingier approval rates of patents at the PTO. This fiscal year only 44 percent of patents have been approved, compared to 66 percent five years ago.
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Patent Appeals on the Rise and Charging By the Page
Paul Lippe, founder of the on-line community Legal OnRamp, has written an interesting piece on change in the legal industry . Lippe asserts that most change in society (whether it is in politics, business, etc.) is not neatly planned out. It is not like the legislative process where all stakeholders come together to discuss issues, document positions and hammer out some sort of compromise. Rather, ” most change unfolds indirectly, through action rather than consensus”. Furthermore, he asserts that “Although lawyers are very sophisticated about the content of change, they can misinterpret the process of change, because they are more inclined to look for change in consensus than in action.” Citing remarks made by the CEO of Cisco Systems at the recent Legal Tech Show, Lippe goes on to suggest that in the legal profession “…the price of reading, creating documents, finding stuff, and communicating should come down, and the price of thinking will go up.
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Welcome to the Future of Law Firms