Lovells has more than 1600 lawyers in 26 offices worldwide and according to RollOnFriday "the firm has signed a deal with Cass Business School and from next month, lawyers who’ve been at the firm for around two years will take a two year business foundation course in the evenings. Once this is completed, they’ll spend three years studying three MBA electives. Some lawyers will then be sponsored to complete a full MBA"

Lovells joins several other major law firms in obtaining significant supplementary education for their lawyers either in house or by arrangement with a prestigious school.   While this behavior may not be commonplace, it is certainly a trend to watch.

Food for thought:  Ask yourself why a law firm would make this kind of investment.  I suspect it has to do with profession-wide declining client satisfaction scores and the number one concern of top clients that law firms simply don’t understand their business.  You have to give credit to Lovells for this initiative – I hope it pays off for them and will therefore be emulated.

…and what do you get?  Legendary Merrilyn Astin Tarlton’s new blog!  Merrilyn is creative – without her there would be no LMA, the Law Practice Management Magazine of the ABA would not be half what it is today and the College of Law would not enjoy its current prominence.

Am I a fan?  YOU BET.  Should you be?  Same answer!  Just click on the blank sheet or the box of crayons above and you’ll be at what promises to be one of the most creative new blogs on the internet.  Click on Merrilyn to learn more about her.

The top five mistakes entrepreneurs make when they market

by Seth Godin

  • Expecting gratitude in exchange for having done something that was hard.
  • Spending money as a substitute for doing something great.
  • Not realizing that it’s your company, and your marketing better be as good as everything else.
  • Listening to other people.
  • Failure to measure.

Do they translate to your law firm?  Read the full text at WorkHappy.net: The top five mistakes entrepreneurs make when they market


The Seattle Times wrote about Kevin O’Keefe today, the creator of my blog (not to mention the blogs of my Edge colleagues Ed Wesemann and Robert Millard).  They featured Kevin in a "Business and Technology" article called: LexBlog teaches lawyers the basics of blogging.

It is no surprise that he understands the legal profession – read these bullet points on Kevin:

  • President and founder of LexBlog, the leading provider of marketing blogs to lawyers and other professional service firms.
  • Founded Prairielaw.com, the leading online law community for consumers and small businesspeople, acquired by LexisNexis in 2001 and now incorporated into Martindale-Hubbell’s lawyers.com.
  • Served as a VP of Business Development for LexisNexis’ Martindale-Hubbell.
  • Trial lawyer of 17 years, ceased practicing law in 1999.
  • Successfully marketed own law firm on the Internet in such a positive way that USA Today said “If O’Keefe isn’t careful, he may wind up giving lawyers a good name.”
  • While practicing law served as sustaining member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and board member of state trial lawyers association.

PUNCHLINE:  If your firm is considering blogging (and if you aren’t you should) in my opinion there is one supplier that stands head and shoulders above the rest, Kevin O’Keefe’s LexBlog


It was a privilege to be part of the Maister/Riskin sandwich.  David Maister started off with his introduction: "The Courage to Innovate" and I wrapped up with the conclusion "Death to Perfection…"  Look who’s in the sandwich: Bruce MacEwen, Patrick McKenna,  Mark Beese, Silvia Coulter,  Simon Chester, Matthew Homann, Dennis Kennedy, Dan Pinnington Sheldon Gordon, Oz Benamram, Ron Friedmann, Larry Smith and Merrilyn Astin Tarlton.  Special thanks to Jordan Furlong who pulled it together. 

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Download the PDF, or read it online.  Enjoy (and please implement)!

At Edge International, we are very proud of Patrick McKenna’s newest eBook, First 100 Days.  We hope you will enjoy Patrick’s solid content based on his extensive research and terrific insights.  You may also appreciate the friendly graphics.

This book is an "eBook" only and available FREE as our thank you to our many existing and prospective law firm clients.  You are welcome to share this with friends.

Feel free to contact Patrick with your questions and comments.

Note:  First 100 Days may be read online or downloaded to your own computer.  Begin by clicking on the book cover, above.  Once there, to download choose "Save" on the menu bar.