Friday, March 26, 2010

From a shel of my former self: An open letter to leaders of companies who block employee access to social media

"An open letter to leaders of companies who block employee access to social media" from Shel Holz' a shel of my former self. I've noticed a number of "an open letter to..." blog posts lately. This is one of the better ones. What starts out as an argument in favor of opening the workplace to social media quickly evolves into an eloquent description of the role that social collaboration plays in the decision-making process. Read it and you'll agree.

Legal Business Development: What every lawyer needs to know about project management, Part 1 of 5

"What every lawyer needs to know about project management, Part 1 of 5" from Legal Business Development. Project management, the real kind, the kind that corporations spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars teaching their employees to do, isn't easy. It's not just a matter of picking up an outline and checking off the action items as they come in. It's about striving to achieve maximum efficiencies, about studying problems and developing tactics to resolve them, about managing resources. This post, the first in what should be a useful series, offers lawyers a valuable perspective on applying project management techniques in the context of alternative billing arrangements.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Law Firm Evolution: Brave New World or Business as Usual?

I attended the Georgetown University Law Center Conference on “Law Firm Evolution: Brave New World or Business as Usual?” this week. It was tremendous. The presentations, the discussions, the ideas and the overall energy made this one of the best conferences I have ever attended in my career, and a powerful reminder of why I do what I do. Sound over the top? Read these articles, blog posts, papers, and other commentaries on the conference, and then tell me what you think.

Conference Papers and Related Documents
Session Recaps from Ron Friedmann at Prism Legal
Articles and Commentary


Video Interviews from Gregory Bufithis of The Posse List and Lisa DiMonte of MyLegal.com

Leah Cooper



Anthony Davis



Jose M. de Areilza



Michele DeStefano Beardslee



Deborah Epstein Harry



Ron Friedmann



Cynthia Fuchs Epstein



Jordan Furlong



David Galbenski



Susan Hackett



Joshua Kubicki



Bruce MacEwen



Stephen Mayson



David McGowan



Marisa Mendez



Thomas Morgan



Mitt Regan



Larry Ribstein



Timothy Scrantom



Reena SenGupta



Paul Smith



Richard Susskind



Laurel S. Terry

Friday, March 19, 2010

What I learned from two days at the Legal Marketing Association’s annual meeting

It was the Legal Marketing Association’s annual meeting last week in Denver. Two days of informative seminars, of making connections, of strengthening relationships, of exploring new ideas and learning the latest intelligence and understanding the challenges facing our clients, our firms, our industry. But don’t take my word for it. Read these:

Session recaps from Lindsay Griffiths on Zen and the Art of Legal Network Maintenance and Gina Furia Rubel on The Legal Intelligencer Blog.

General Observations

#LMA10 Twitter stream

3 Geeks and a Law Blog: Is BigLaw Devoid of Humanity, Culture and Sense of Humor?

"Is BigLaw Devoid of Humanity, Culture and Sense of Humor?" from 3 Geeks and a Law Blog. Prompted by comments made during a Twitter discussion this week on the Virtual Law Office (organized by Martindale-Hubbell Connected and led by Larry Bodine), this post provides an eloquent response to those who would proclaim the end--or at least the end of an era--of BigLaw. I suspect that the real answer lies somewhere in the middle. Read this post and draw your own conclusions.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Build a Solo Practice @ SPU: 12 Social Media Ethics Issues for Lawyers

"12 Social Media Ethics Issues for Lawyers" from Build a Solo Practice @ SPU. This post is a must read for all lawyers who engage in social media and social networking, from the ones who tweet 20 times a day to those who are just beginning to explore how they can use Web 2.0 tools to raise their profile. It's full of valuable advice on how to navigate the ethics-risks-of-social-media minefield, and while it's far from the final word on ethics and social networking, it does provide a useful perspective on potential dangers and how to avoid them.

Cameron’s Profits for Partners: Strategic Planning for Law Firms

Strategic Planning for Law Firms – Key Steps in the Process,” from Cameron’s Profits for Partners. Whether or not you're actively engaged in a strategic planning process you should read this post. Why? Because answering the questions Colin Cameron sets forth will provide you with a better understanding of what you want to achieve, how you think you should go about it, and how you will define and measure success.

It's your future, after all. You might as well be the one who defines it.