According to a recent article in Philanthropy Daily, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has banished PowerPoint presentations from meetings of his staff.
Instead he requires speakers to prepare six-page summaries of what they want to say. His meetings begin with quiet periods, during which other meeting attendees read the summaries. In a 2012 interview with
Many law firms are rethinking the billable hour as the primary basis for assessing client fees, but for now the question of how to encourage lawyers to complete and submit their time sheets continues to demand attention.
Todd Gerstein, CEO and founder of Smart WebParts, surveyed a group of lawyers on LinkedIn about their firms’
I am delighted to announce that Edge International’s Bithika Anand, founder of India’s Legal League Consulting LLC, will host the first-ever management event for India’s legal industry to include both law firms and legal departments.
Presentation and discussion topics include strategies of firm governance, mergers and acquisitions, and dealing with an economic downturn.
The one-day
Holding breakout sessions at retreats and workshops allows the management of law firms to maximize the input it receives from associates and partners on a range of topics. In the most recent issue of Edge International Communiqué, I offer a few guidelines that meeting facilitators can use to increase the effectiveness of these breakout
An article about severe cutbacks at a major U.S. law firm, which included the termination of 30 associates and 110 support staff and cuts to partners’ salaries, recently appeared in the “DealBook” section of the New York Times. The piece raised a general alarm about the financial challenges facing the legal profession, quoting
When it comes to managing our law firms, including leadership and business development, we tend to apply our lawyering skills to the detriment of our organizations
An article that recently appeared in Lifehack, "How to Stop Being an Over-Thinker" by Craig Harper, explains
Some law firm leaders complain that they can’t give orders in a partnership. Gettysburg was proof that you can not get your orders obeyed even in the military if you are not a true leader.
A number of weeks ago, I spent the day in the battlefields of Gettysburg with two retired army colonels.
Considering the money law firms invest in every newly hired attorney, it would make sense for partners to pay closer attention to lawyer satisfaction. But according to Gerry Riskin, founding partner of law firm consultancy Edge International, "most firms are oblivious" to attrition costs. "That expense is unacceptable, yet firms have been accepting
The October, 2012 issue of Edge International Communiqué is now available online.
The issue features timely articles by three of my partners at Edge International, and I am pleased to share their guidance with readers of Amazing Firms, Amazing Practices.
Ed Wesemann gives us five tips for putting on a law-firm partner retreat
Photo: Marilyn Shaw. Used with permission
Meet my friend James Patrick Guy II.
Jim Guy is chair of the Law Practice Management Division of the Virginia Bar Association, and energy industry team leader at the LeClair Ryan law firm.
He is also the lead singer of the Irish-American pub band, Uisce Beatha.
I have
