Law Firm Administration

TURN OFF YOUR IPAD? | How digital natives COULD impact the future of the legal profession

Boarding a flight between Montreal and Miami yesterday I overheard a mother tell her son, who looked no more than 3-years-old, “Turn off your iPad.” She suggested, gently, that he take a nap until we were up in the air, at which time he could sign into the American Airlines’ (please don’t become United Airlines, [...]

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Law Firm Management Ideas | The Benevolent Dictator

Listening to a law firm administrator explain how he handles internally sensitive issues at his law firm over a business dinner one evening, I remarked, “You’re a benevolent dictator! Sounds like it’s working for you! Management by consensus may be an easier path, but it is a sure path to confusion, or worse, inaction, right?” [...]

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Can a Law Firm Become a Social Business?

How are you preparing to take your law firm into the “Social Business” era? Perhaps this is the first time you’ve heard the term used? Here’s a definition: Social Businesses combine fully integrated sets of tools, channels, and processes with people that embrace and cultivate a spirit of collaboration and community throughout the organization—both internally [...]

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Just Being Social | by Jay Strother for Legal Management March/April Edition

If you’re looking for the latest “buzz” about social media ethics and professional responsibility for lawyers (and their employees), I highly recommend Jay Strother’s article, Just Being Social, published in the March/April edition of Legal Management, a publication of the Association of Legal Administrators. In addition to offering an excellent primer on the issues, the [...]

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The Heart and Soul of Your Law Firm | What Vendor Relationships Reveal

Today a package of materials from a new client of mine arrived overnight, first AM delivery. The delivery surprised me and exceeded my expectation as our scheduled meeting is weeks away. There was nothing urgent about me receiving the materials, but it sure was nice to have them in hand so far in advance. Then [...]

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Online Reputation Management: What JetBlue can teach law firms.

There are several things law firms can learn from the recent publicity of the JetBlue incident, particularly in the context of the social Web and reputation management, but three stand out. Your stakeholders want you to succeed. They want to believe that you, their law firm, do the right thing; that you’re a valuable asset [...]

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Should the managing partner of a law firm publish a blog?

How realistic is it for a law firm managing partner to publish a blog? Maybe a better question to ask is “How would a managing partner’s blog better serve the law firm’s clients, or not?” Too dangerous? Too time consuming? What for? I recently sent out a Tweet and queried my networks seeking examples of [...]

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To Block or Not to Block the Social Web at Work.

Does blocking access to social networking sites at the office really work? Are social networking sites the only places of risk for companies and law firms on the new social Web?

Do you know that if your partners and employees can access blogs and other sites that allow commenting, reviewing, or streaming content (e.g. news videos or podcasts), via the firm Internet connection, you are, by default, giving them permission to participate in the social web.

Law firms need viable responses to the new way in which people are using the web. Shutting off access to social networking sites isn’t the last decision you’ll make.

So what should law firm leaders do? Here are a few suggestions that I recommend.

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Getting The Product Off The Shelves.

Here are a few recent scenarios of how firms are managing their inventory in 2009.

* Firm #1 is downsizing to clear the warehouses of unused inventory. They hope to absorb the initial loss of income over the next year.
* Firm #2 is reducing prices. They hope to sell more time at lower prices and thus break even.
* Firm #3 is working harder to move the product off the shelves because they know clients still need what they’re selling. And, they’re still in the business to make a profit come hell or high water.

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