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The Legal Department of the Future
October 28, 2017
Technology Like other corporate functions, such as human resources and finance, legal departments are already experiencing technology disruption. The “three A’s” listed below are just a few technology disrupters that will likely shape the legal department of the future. Automation continues to be a major driver that’s affecting workflow. In addition to automating routine processes and digitizing documentations in such areas as e-billing, technology will allow legal departments to perform...
October 28, 2017
Technology Like other corporate functions, such as human resources and finance, legal departments are already experiencing technology disruption. The “three A’s” listed below are just a few technology disrupters that will likely shape the legal department of the future. Automation continues to be a major driver that’s affecting workflow. In addition to automating routine processes and digitizing documentations in such areas as e-billing, technology will allow legal departments to perform...
PwC Launches U.S. Law Firm, Seeks Market Share From BigLaw, Especially In Tax
October 19, 2017
New York Times DealBook: PwC, the Accounting Giant, Will Open a Law Firm in the U.S., by Elizabeth Olson: Law firms already elbowing one another for multinational clients will soon have a new competitor: The Big Four accounting firm PwC, formerly known as PricewaterhouseCoopers, plans to open a law firm in Washington, D.C., next week. The law firm, ILC Legal, will advise clients on international matters such as corporate restructuring. Its lawyers will act as special legal consultants, rather...
October 19, 2017
New York Times DealBook: PwC, the Accounting Giant, Will Open a Law Firm in the U.S., by Elizabeth Olson: Law firms already elbowing one another for multinational clients will soon have a new competitor: The Big Four accounting firm PwC, formerly known as PricewaterhouseCoopers, plans to open a law firm in Washington, D.C., next week. The law firm, ILC Legal, will advise clients on international matters such as corporate restructuring. Its lawyers will act as special legal consultants, rather...
Persuasion is a Skill Not a Mystery
October 16, 2017
Whether you’re trying to persuade another party to settle a lawsuit or a family member wants to vacation in a place you’d hate to go, with some practice and effort you may be persuasive enough to achieve that settlement or avoid that vacation from Hell. There are many ways to be persuasive. Below are just a few examples that you may find helpful: Be prepared. Take the time to know all the relevant facts and how the law may be applied. Learn what you can about...
October 16, 2017
Whether you’re trying to persuade another party to settle a lawsuit or a family member wants to vacation in a place you’d hate to go, with some practice and effort you may be persuasive enough to achieve that settlement or avoid that vacation from Hell. There are many ways to be persuasive. Below are just a few examples that you may find helpful: Be prepared. Take the time to know all the relevant facts and how the law may be applied. Learn what you can about...
The Global 100: Fractured Futures At The Richest Law Firms In The World (2017)
October 7, 2017
[T]his year’s Global 100 survey suggests that conditions for the world’s largest law firms are getting even more challenging. Total Global 100 revenue rose just 2.8 percent in 2016, to $99.3 billion—the lowest annual gain since the recession and the second consecutive year of slowing growth. (Group revenue is still likely to pass $100 billion next year for the first time ever, however, requiring an increase of just 0.7 percent to hit that milestone.) Having fallen by 2.1 percent in 2015,...
October 7, 2017
[T]his year’s Global 100 survey suggests that conditions for the world’s largest law firms are getting even more challenging. Total Global 100 revenue rose just 2.8 percent in 2016, to $99.3 billion—the lowest annual gain since the recession and the second consecutive year of slowing growth. (Group revenue is still likely to pass $100 billion next year for the first time ever, however, requiring an increase of just 0.7 percent to hit that milestone.) Having fallen by 2.1 percent in 2015,...
Stanford Law + Design Summit
September 30, 2017
Design thinking and its application in the legal profession is trending. The Stanford event was one of THREE (unrelated)...
September 30, 2017
Design thinking and its application in the legal profession is trending. The Stanford event was one of THREE (unrelated)...
PwC, the Accounting Giant, Will Open a Law Firm in the U.S.
September 29, 2017
Law firms already elbowing one another for multinational clients will soon have a new competitor: The Big Four accounting firm PwC, formerly known as PricewaterhouseCoopers, plans to open a law firm in Washington, D.C., next week. ILC Legal, nonetheless, aims to vie with big law firms as a one-stop shop offering multinational companies access to other PwC services, including tax consulting and its network of 3,200 lawyers spread across 90 countries. The firms in that network operate separately but follow...
September 29, 2017
Law firms already elbowing one another for multinational clients will soon have a new competitor: The Big Four accounting firm PwC, formerly known as PricewaterhouseCoopers, plans to open a law firm in Washington, D.C., next week. ILC Legal, nonetheless, aims to vie with big law firms as a one-stop shop offering multinational companies access to other PwC services, including tax consulting and its network of 3,200 lawyers spread across 90 countries. The firms in that network operate separately but follow...
Justin Kan’s Secretive Legal Startup Debuts As A Different Kind of Law Firm
September 24, 2017
Last April, reports surfaced that Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur Justin Kan was looking to raise — and then in June did raise — $10 million for an initial round of funding for a startup that would “revolutionize legal services.” The name of the startup was known, Atrium LTS, but little else, except that it would somehow involve software designed to streamline the work of law firms. Today we get the rest of the story, as Kan’s startup officially starts up. Kan is not a lawyer...
September 24, 2017
Last April, reports surfaced that Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur Justin Kan was looking to raise — and then in June did raise — $10 million for an initial round of funding for a startup that would “revolutionize legal services.” The name of the startup was known, Atrium LTS, but little else, except that it would somehow involve software designed to streamline the work of law firms. Today we get the rest of the story, as Kan’s startup officially starts up. Kan is not a lawyer...
Microsoft and Adobe Announce Expanded Partnership
September 23, 2017
Today, Microsoft and Adobe announced new joint offerings to increase workforce productivity and drive more efficient business processes. Microsoft Teams, the new chat-based workspace in Office 365, is now the preferred collaboration service for Adobe Creative Cloud, Document Cloud, and Experience Cloud. Adobe will make Microsoft Azure its preferred cloud platform for Adobe Sign. And Adobe Sign, the e-signature service in Adobe Document Cloud, is now Microsoft’s preferred e-signature solution....
September 23, 2017
Today, Microsoft and Adobe announced new joint offerings to increase workforce productivity and drive more efficient business processes. Microsoft Teams, the new chat-based workspace in Office 365, is now the preferred collaboration service for Adobe Creative Cloud, Document Cloud, and Experience Cloud. Adobe will make Microsoft Azure its preferred cloud platform for Adobe Sign. And Adobe Sign, the e-signature service in Adobe Document Cloud, is now Microsoft’s preferred e-signature solution....
Predicting the future of US News law school rankings with revealed preference rankings?
September 23, 2017
A new entrant has emerged in the law school rankings debate, as Christopher Ryan and Brian Frye recently posted their paper, A Revealed-Preferences Ranking of Law Schools (forthcoming in the Alabama Law Review). The paper presents a ranking of law schools based exclusively on LSAT and undergraduate GPA, on the theory that prospective law students' actual choices about law school are a better way of ranking than the hodge-podge of factors included in the US News rankings. The approach used by US News...
September 23, 2017
A new entrant has emerged in the law school rankings debate, as Christopher Ryan and Brian Frye recently posted their paper, A Revealed-Preferences Ranking of Law Schools (forthcoming in the Alabama Law Review). The paper presents a ranking of law schools based exclusively on LSAT and undergraduate GPA, on the theory that prospective law students' actual choices about law school are a better way of ranking than the hodge-podge of factors included in the US News rankings. The approach used by US News...
To Lead, Lawyers Must Overcome the Overly “Lawyer Personality”
September 18, 2017
According to psychologist Larry Richard, Typical characteristics of the lawyerly personality get in the way of being successful leaders. Here are the classic lawyer personality traits: High skepticism “is the hallmark trait for lawyers,” according to Richard. They intuitively question assertions made by others, wonder about hidden motives, scrutinize decisions, and tend not to give others the benefit of the doubt. “Abstract Reasoning — analyzing, solving problems, and using their intellect...
September 18, 2017
According to psychologist Larry Richard, Typical characteristics of the lawyerly personality get in the way of being successful leaders. Here are the classic lawyer personality traits: High skepticism “is the hallmark trait for lawyers,” according to Richard. They intuitively question assertions made by others, wonder about hidden motives, scrutinize decisions, and tend not to give others the benefit of the doubt. “Abstract Reasoning — analyzing, solving problems, and using their intellect...
