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Lawyers Beware: The Accountants Are Coming After Your Business
April 3, 2015
CONSULTING has its Big Three; accounting the Big Four; and executive search a Big Five. But there is no corresponding clutch of dominant law firms. None has amassed as much as 0.5% of an industry with global revenues of around $650 billion a year. Even the biggest law firms may be anachronistically inefficient. They are run by lawyers, not professional managers, insist on charging by the “billable hour” rather than by results and use little technology more advanced than e-mail. Nonetheless, most...
April 3, 2015
CONSULTING has its Big Three; accounting the Big Four; and executive search a Big Five. But there is no corresponding clutch of dominant law firms. None has amassed as much as 0.5% of an industry with global revenues of around $650 billion a year. Even the biggest law firms may be anachronistically inefficient. They are run by lawyers, not professional managers, insist on charging by the “billable hour” rather than by results and use little technology more advanced than e-mail. Nonetheless, most...
How to Avoid Spoliation Sanctions
April 3, 2015
Federal and state case law place a duty on parties to preserve relevant evidence once litigation is reasonably anticipated. This duty to preserve applies to all types of evidence, whether in electronic or hard copy form. As electronically stored information (ESI) continues to emerge as a primary vessel of evidence, parties are faced with increasingly difficult decisions about the extent to which ESI must be preserved, how to go about preserving ESI, and at what cost. Law Governing the Duty...
April 3, 2015
Federal and state case law place a duty on parties to preserve relevant evidence once litigation is reasonably anticipated. This duty to preserve applies to all types of evidence, whether in electronic or hard copy form. As electronically stored information (ESI) continues to emerge as a primary vessel of evidence, parties are faced with increasingly difficult decisions about the extent to which ESI must be preserved, how to go about preserving ESI, and at what cost. Law Governing the Duty...
How Broadly Will the Fox v. Dish Court Interpret ABC v. Aereo?
April 3, 2015
In a much-debated decision handed down this summer, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that Aereo, Inc., “a technologically...
April 3, 2015
In a much-debated decision handed down this summer, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that Aereo, Inc., “a technologically...
7 Ways to Capture Someone’s Attention
April 2, 2015
Your long-term success depends on winning the attention of others. If your boss doesn’t notice your work, how will you get a promotion? If your team doesn’t listen to you, how can you lead effectively? And if you can’t capture the attention of clients, how does your business or career survive? “Attention is the most important currency that anybody can give you,” Steve Rubel of Edelman once told me. “It’s worth more than money, possessions or things.” But very few people know...
April 2, 2015
Your long-term success depends on winning the attention of others. If your boss doesn’t notice your work, how will you get a promotion? If your team doesn’t listen to you, how can you lead effectively? And if you can’t capture the attention of clients, how does your business or career survive? “Attention is the most important currency that anybody can give you,” Steve Rubel of Edelman once told me. “It’s worth more than money, possessions or things.” But very few people know...
Key Developments in Trade Secrets Litigation
April 2, 2015
Trade secrets continue to increase in importance as companies and the U.S. government are focusing attention on their value and protection. This past year has brought a number of significant developments in trade secrets law. In this article, we highlight five of them: (1) the need to protect trade secrets during litigation, and the potential consequences of not doing so (i.e., the DuPont reversal); (2) the growing importance of specifically identifying trade secrets early in litigation; (3) the narrowing...
April 2, 2015
Trade secrets continue to increase in importance as companies and the U.S. government are focusing attention on their value and protection. This past year has brought a number of significant developments in trade secrets law. In this article, we highlight five of them: (1) the need to protect trade secrets during litigation, and the potential consequences of not doing so (i.e., the DuPont reversal); (2) the growing importance of specifically identifying trade secrets early in litigation; (3) the narrowing...
2014 Reports on Federal Courts Caseload and Activities Released
April 2, 2015
This report presents data and statistics on the work of the Federal Judiciary for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2014....
April 2, 2015
This report presents data and statistics on the work of the Federal Judiciary for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2014....
13 States Have Adopted Ethical Duty of Technology Competence
April 1, 2015
In 2012, something happened that I called a sea change in the legal profession: The American Bar Association formally approved a change to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct to make clear that lawyers have a duty to be competent not only in the law and its practice, but also in technology. More specifically, the ABA’s House of Delegates voted to amend Comment 8 to Model Rule 1.1, which pertains to competence, to read as follows: Maintaining Competence To maintain the requisite knowledge...
April 1, 2015
In 2012, something happened that I called a sea change in the legal profession: The American Bar Association formally approved a change to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct to make clear that lawyers have a duty to be competent not only in the law and its practice, but also in technology. More specifically, the ABA’s House of Delegates voted to amend Comment 8 to Model Rule 1.1, which pertains to competence, to read as follows: Maintaining Competence To maintain the requisite knowledge...
Delaware Legislature Introduces Rapid Arbitration Act
April 1, 2015
The Delaware Rapid Arbitration Act, House Bill 49, was recently introduced in the Delaware General Assembly. The proposed Act would establish a streamlined arbitration procedure to resolve disputes involving Delaware business entities, effectively replacing a previous statute that was invalidated on constitutional grounds. The Act states that its purpose is “to give Delaware business entities a method by which they may resolve business disputes in a prompt, cost-effective, and efficient manner,...
April 1, 2015
The Delaware Rapid Arbitration Act, House Bill 49, was recently introduced in the Delaware General Assembly. The proposed Act would establish a streamlined arbitration procedure to resolve disputes involving Delaware business entities, effectively replacing a previous statute that was invalidated on constitutional grounds. The Act states that its purpose is “to give Delaware business entities a method by which they may resolve business disputes in a prompt, cost-effective, and efficient manner,...
CFPB Finds Arbitration Harms Consumers, Presaging New Rules
April 1, 2015
Financial companies routinely use mandatory arbitration to block class-action lawsuits, making it difficult for consumers...
April 1, 2015
Financial companies routinely use mandatory arbitration to block class-action lawsuits, making it difficult for consumers...
In Learning Negotiation Styles, Social Skills Should Come First
March 31, 2015
How would you characterize your negotiation style: Are you collaborative, competitive, or compromising? If you have trouble answering that question, you’re probably not alone. That’s because skilled negotiators typically take on all these styles during a negotiation: They listen closely and collaborate to create value. They compete for the biggest slice of the pie. They make compromises when necessary. Putting labels on negotiation style can be a mistake in negotiation skills training,...
March 31, 2015
How would you characterize your negotiation style: Are you collaborative, competitive, or compromising? If you have trouble answering that question, you’re probably not alone. That’s because skilled negotiators typically take on all these styles during a negotiation: They listen closely and collaborate to create value. They compete for the biggest slice of the pie. They make compromises when necessary. Putting labels on negotiation style can be a mistake in negotiation skills training,...
