Have you read these?

A smattering of interesting posts from today's legal and other blogs 

• “Leadership After the Layoffs” from Jeffery Connor in Law Practice Today. Connor addresses some of the issues law firm leaders need to keep in mind as they keep their firms together. Not surprisingly, honest and timely communication is crucial.
  
  
• “How to - Step One” and “How To - Alternative Bill” from 3 Geeks and a Law Blog. Toby Brown uses these posts to move the billable hour v alternative billing debate from theory into practice in what promises to be a series of useful how-to posts. I still think the billable hour is being unfairly maligned (that’s a hint that I am working on a response post), but fully agree that lawyers need practical advice on changing the way they bill. 
  
  
• “You Have 500+ On LinkedIN? So What?” from Kyle Lacy’s blog, Sometimes it’s better to be socially creative. I like this because I’m a firm believer in “so what;” but I REALLY like it because he writes “that there is nothing valuable in the social media world that is easy.” Success takes work.
  
  
• “Is Biglaw Planning on Changing the Rules of The Game?” from Carolyn Elefant’s MyShingle blog. Responding to Professor Larry Ribstein’s Ideablog post on the death of BigLaw (mentioned here yesterday), Elefant emphatically refutes Ribstein’s suggestion that ethic rules are to blame for the fall of BigLaw. Still not convinced? See Elefant’s other post on the same topic, “Are Ethics Rules What's Killing Biglaw?,” from Legal Blog Watch.
  
  
• “Take The Plunge!” from Nicole Auerbach in In search of perfect client service. Another piece in the alternative billing conversation, this post argues that clients need to take responsibility for changing the rules by forcing their outside firms to adapt. I’ll have more to say on this soon, but in the meantime this is an important voice in the debate.
  
  
• “Corporate Blogging - Is it Worth the Effort?” from Pivotal Branding. Research shows that few readers trust corporate blogs. The post talks about getting beyond that mistrust to enhance your firm’s reputation. Do you think it would change the game if a law firm currently going through layoffs blogged about their layoffs like Zappo’s CEO Tony Hsieh did last year? What would it do to their reputation?