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So, You Want to Go In-House?
October 8, 2013
Many law firm lawyers yearn to move in-house with a corporate law department, noting such benefits as abandoning the hassles of timesheets and eliminating the pressure to develop business. However, to successfully make this move, you must understand how the ideal in-house candidate profile differs from that for most law firms, and how best to present yourself as such a candidate in an interview. THE IDEAL CANDIDATE While lawyers at a firm typically specialize in a specific practice area, most in-house...
October 8, 2013
Many law firm lawyers yearn to move in-house with a corporate law department, noting such benefits as abandoning the hassles of timesheets and eliminating the pressure to develop business. However, to successfully make this move, you must understand how the ideal in-house candidate profile differs from that for most law firms, and how best to present yourself as such a candidate in an interview. THE IDEAL CANDIDATE While lawyers at a firm typically specialize in a specific practice area, most in-house...
Law Firm Counts On Analytics For Profitability
October 7, 2013
Christopher Emerson represents a new breed of law firm hire: the analytics guy. Emerson is director of practice economics at Bryan Cave LLP, a 1,200-attorney, 27-office law firm based in St. Louis, Mo. It's his job to do figure out what a legal matter should cost Bryan Cave to handle, how much it would cost other firms, and where it can be more profitable. Law firms haven't done much analyzing of their practices, though some firms were early leaders in the use of text analytics. Analytics is on the rise...
October 7, 2013
Christopher Emerson represents a new breed of law firm hire: the analytics guy. Emerson is director of practice economics at Bryan Cave LLP, a 1,200-attorney, 27-office law firm based in St. Louis, Mo. It's his job to do figure out what a legal matter should cost Bryan Cave to handle, how much it would cost other firms, and where it can be more profitable. Law firms haven't done much analyzing of their practices, though some firms were early leaders in the use of text analytics. Analytics is on the rise...
Why Silicon Valley’s Biggest Investors Are Betting on Alternative Legal Companies
September 22, 2013
U.S. lawyers know ABA Model Rule 5.4 prohibits them from sharing profits or forming partnerships with those who aren’t licensed to practice. In theory, this rule keeps the lawyering safely in the hands of the lawyers (and revenue from the practice of law safely ensconced at traditional law firms). But does it really? And do outsiders looking to invest huge sums of money in the legal profession—in hopes of huge gains—even have their sights set on traditional law firm profits? Not really....
September 22, 2013
U.S. lawyers know ABA Model Rule 5.4 prohibits them from sharing profits or forming partnerships with those who aren’t licensed to practice. In theory, this rule keeps the lawyering safely in the hands of the lawyers (and revenue from the practice of law safely ensconced at traditional law firms). But does it really? And do outsiders looking to invest huge sums of money in the legal profession—in hopes of huge gains—even have their sights set on traditional law firm profits? Not really....
Lawyers’ Talks With Law Firm GC May Be Shielded
September 6, 2013
Communications between a law firm's attorneys and its in-house counsel regarding a client's potential malpractice claims against the firm may be protected by the attorney-client privilege, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. The unanimous decision, which sets several criteria for when the privilege shields talks with a firm's general counsel, is a win for law firms in that it rejected a position taken by several courts around the country—that a law firm doesn't enjoy attorney-client...
September 6, 2013
Communications between a law firm's attorneys and its in-house counsel regarding a client's potential malpractice claims against the firm may be protected by the attorney-client privilege, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. The unanimous decision, which sets several criteria for when the privilege shields talks with a firm's general counsel, is a win for law firms in that it rejected a position taken by several courts around the country—that a law firm doesn't enjoy attorney-client...
Don’t Bury Big Law Just Yet
August 9, 2013
Headlines like “The Last Days of Big Law” are great—eye-catching and search engine–optimized. If only they were true. While it’s always easy to use “anecdata” and argue, loosely, that the fate of one individual firm, say, the late Dewey & LeBoeuf, is a harbinger for the industry as a whole, that’s actually not the case when it comes to big law firms. As Mark Obbie points out in his Slate article, the New Republic's cover story "looks at one sore throat and proclaims...
August 9, 2013
Headlines like “The Last Days of Big Law” are great—eye-catching and search engine–optimized. If only they were true. While it’s always easy to use “anecdata” and argue, loosely, that the fate of one individual firm, say, the late Dewey & LeBoeuf, is a harbinger for the industry as a whole, that’s actually not the case when it comes to big law firms. As Mark Obbie points out in his Slate article, the New Republic's cover story "looks at one sore throat and proclaims...
Are Companies Like Axiom Law a Threat to BigLaw?
July 27, 2013
Axiom Law–which has 1,000 employees in 11 offices–isn't a legal process outsourcer, claims its founder and CEO Mark Harris. But it's also not a law firm, he says. Yet it's been solely responsible for the legal work on more than 10 M&A transactions over the past year–the kind of work law firms once thought they alone could do. It aspires to become "one of the world's largest providers of legal services," Harris tells Bloomberg Law's Lee Pacchia. Listen for yourself to decide if it's...
July 27, 2013
Axiom Law–which has 1,000 employees in 11 offices–isn't a legal process outsourcer, claims its founder and CEO Mark Harris. But it's also not a law firm, he says. Yet it's been solely responsible for the legal work on more than 10 M&A transactions over the past year–the kind of work law firms once thought they alone could do. It aspires to become "one of the world's largest providers of legal services," Harris tells Bloomberg Law's Lee Pacchia. Listen for yourself to decide if it's...
Is the Tech Revolution Here Already?
June 28, 2013
Big Data is big news in litigation discovery — and predictive coding has arrived as a best practice to deal with the mountain of data. But that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. While Big Data looms large in the litigation arena, it is also appearing in the context of internal law firm data — documents, email, and other data objects, including voice and video — with repositories in one larger firm exceeding 50 million items just for documents and selectively retained email records....
June 28, 2013
Big Data is big news in litigation discovery — and predictive coding has arrived as a best practice to deal with the mountain of data. But that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. While Big Data looms large in the litigation arena, it is also appearing in the context of internal law firm data — documents, email, and other data objects, including voice and video — with repositories in one larger firm exceeding 50 million items just for documents and selectively retained email records....
Law Firms Use Apps to Burnish Brands
May 15, 2013
Clients looking to learn more about the anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws overseas don't need to track down their lawyers....
May 15, 2013
Clients looking to learn more about the anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws overseas don't need to track down their lawyers....
Big Firm Blocks Employee Access to Personal Email Accounts
May 11, 2013
Citing security concerns, a major law firm has blocked its workers from accessing their personal email on its computers. In...
May 11, 2013
Citing security concerns, a major law firm has blocked its workers from accessing their personal email on its computers. In...
Embarrassing Emails Lead to Settlement of DLA Piper Billing Dispute
May 5, 2013
These are the documents law firm associates and contract lawyers dream of finding while sifting through tens of thousands of business communications - associate emails crowing churn that bill, baby to describe the work being done on behalf of the "deadbeat" client. As the New York Times reported last week, "on Tuesday, the parties resolved the matter" and declined to discuss the terms of the settlement agreement, "citing confidentiality provisions." The lesson here? Do not go gentle...
May 5, 2013
These are the documents law firm associates and contract lawyers dream of finding while sifting through tens of thousands of business communications - associate emails crowing churn that bill, baby to describe the work being done on behalf of the "deadbeat" client. As the New York Times reported last week, "on Tuesday, the parties resolved the matter" and declined to discuss the terms of the settlement agreement, "citing confidentiality provisions." The lesson here? Do not go gentle...
