Would you listen to the General Counsel of Sun Microsystems, if he said:
“I do believe that there may be times when a $1,000/hour fee is warranted”
“…just yesterday, I read of another example of how law firms continue to be primarily focused on maintaining profits through consolidation and growth of headcount.
"Leading London-based international law firms are starting to feel a chill from the world market turmoil that may threaten the industry’s unprecedented profits boom."
Read the whole Financial Times story: UK law firms hit by market turmoil
The despised business of videoconferencing is about to get a new lease on life.
This weeks Economist has an article on Telepresence. The full title is “Behold, telepresence – Far away yet strangely personal”. (Requires subscription). Image above is from the article.
Here are a few excerpts to whet your appetite for the story
"The objective is to have only the most valuable people in London or New York, and the others in India, China or Columbus, Ohio,” said Robert Profusek, co-head of the mergers and acquisitions practice at Jones Day in New York, who sends low-end work to the cheapest locations and plans to open a document center
If you want existing clients to like you as much as possible and even more so prospective clients then use proper names in conversation. Now there’s PROOF if you need it.
Most probable reasons you may not be using proper names in conversations:
It is with personal sadness that I post this news. In September, one of Canada’s most respected law firms will close its doors forever according to a story by lawyer/journalist Jim Middlemiss in today’s Financial Post: “Lawyer exodus shutters Desjardins”.
Jim starts his story:
An era will end for the 100-lawyer law firm Desjardins Ducharme
“Ford & Harrison, a 190-attorney labor and employment firm, has tossed out billable-hour requirements for first-year associates. The program aims to close the practical-skills gap of law school education and increase value to clients. The firm also hopes it will enable associates to handle meatier matters more quickly.“ according to Leigh Jones of The National
“Women at modern-day law firms are so petrified of appearing unproductive that they sometimes conceal cancer or heart attacks to avoid being marginalized” according to Linda Robertson, a veteran Vancouver lawyer as reported in one of Canada’s top National Newspapers, The Globe and Mail, describing a session at The Canadian Bar Association annual meeting held
Many of my friends and clients know me as a very optimistic person so this post may surprise them. I feel like I am about to watch the next dot com crash only I am not talking about the internet or high tech.
I have held this belief for many months and I believe that
Ahhhh yes… seduction!
Many great firms that I serve have a common enemy ”complacency” which Is indeed the result of decades of success. Managing Partners complain that they are unable to get their partners to pay attention to their future.
Read Jim Hassett’s blogpost, Have lawyers been seduced by success? In his fantastic blog: Legal
