Trending for Law Firms in 2012: What to Expect This Year

Posted on January 3, 2012 by kowalskiandassociates

Trending for Law Firms in 2012: What to Expect This Year.

Filed under: Alternaive Business Structures, Alternative Business Structires for Law Firms, Alternative fee Arrangements, Crisis management, Downsourcing legal services, Electronic Document Discovery, Global law firms, Hiring and training lawyers, Internet based marketing, Lateral law firm partner, Lateral law firm partner movement, Lateral Partner, Law firm blogging, Law Firm Crisis Management, Law Firm Dissolution, Law Firm Dissolutions, Law Firm Implosions, Law Firm Internet Based Marketing, Law firm management, Law firm management strategies, Law firm marketing, Law firm partner layoffs, law firm project management, Law Firm Risk Management, Legal Project management, Legal Project Outsourcing, Legaltech, Marketing the Law Firm on the Internet, Navigating the Perfect Storm: Recruiting, Outsourcing legal services, Project management for law firms, Strategic law firm planning, The Law Firm of the Twenty-first Century, Value Billing | Leave a Comment »

Trending for Law Firms in 2012: What to Expect This Year

Posted on January 3, 2012 by kowalskiandassociates

Here is the definitive list of items that will dominate the news for the legal profession for 2012.

It’s going to be a challenging year. Please fasten your seatbelts, hold on to the handrail and make sure that your arms and legs do not extend outside your car. We are in for an interesting year.

Filed under: Alternaive Business Structures, Alternative Business Structires for Law Firms, Alternative fee Arrangements, Crisis management, Downsourcing legal services, Electronic Document Discovery, Global law firms, Hiring and training lawyers, Internet based marketing, Lateral law firm partner, Lateral law firm partner movement, Lateral Partner, Law firm blogging, Law Firm Crisis Management, Law Firm Dissolution, Law Firm Dissolutions, Law firm financial reporting, Law Firm Implosions, Law Firm Internet Based Marketing, Law firm management, Law firm management strategies, Law firm marketing, Law firm partner layoffs, law firm project management, Law Firm Risk Management, Legal Project management, Legal Project Outsourcing, Legaltech, Marketing the Law Firm on the Internet, Navigating the Perfect Storm: Recruiting, Outsourcing legal services, Project management for law firms, Retaining and Training Lawyers in the Coming Decade, Strategic law firm planning, The Law Firm of the Twenty-first Century, Value Billing | Tagged: , , , | 57 Comments »

The Coming Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Are Offshore Law Firms Going to Invade the United States?

Posted on December 27, 2011 by kowalskiandassociates

The Coming Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Are Offshore Law Firms Going to Invade the United States?.

Filed under: Alternaive Business Structures, Alternative Business Structires for Law Firms, Downsourcing legal services, Electronic Document Discovery, Global law firms, Hiring and training lawyers, Lateral law firm partner, Lateral law firm partner movement, Lateral Partner, Law Firm Dissolution, Law Firm Dissolutions, Law Firm Implosions, Law firm management, Law firm management strategies, Law firm marketing, Law Firm Risk Management, Legal Project Outsourcing, Legaltech, Navigating the Perfect Storm: Recruiting, Outsourcing legal services, Retaining and Training Lawyers in the Coming Decade, Strategic law firm planning, Tesco Models for Lw Firms, The Law Firm of the Twenty-first Century | Leave a Comment »

The Coming Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Are Offshore Law Firms Going to Invade the United States?

Posted on December 27, 2011 by kowalskiandassociates

The era of law firm globalization is not simply one in which American and United Kingdom based law firms sprout branches around the world. Rather, in many important business centers of the world, particularly in China and India, major law firms and alternate providers of legal services are simply taking the position that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

In recent years, we have seen a fairly mighty British invasion on these shores. A substantial number of British Magic Circle firms have emerged as prominent and potent competitors on American shores. That invasion is hardly over.

But, even as these British Magic Circle firms take increasingly large market share in the United States, a new wave of law firms are taking a hard look at entering the United States market. These new invaders are likely to launch their attacks from China and India. Not all of these new market entrants will be traditional law firms; many will be alternate providers of legal services. They will have a long global reach, serious market power and in many instances, the ability to provide legal services at extremely competitive prices to the disadvantage of existing United Sates law firms.

It’s time to prepare for the upcoming new invasion and be prepared to meet these new challenges.

Filed under: Alternaive Business Structures, Alternative Business Structires for Law Firms, Downsourcing legal services, Electronic Document Discovery, Global law firms, Hiring and training lawyers, Lateral law firm partner, Lateral law firm partner movement, Lateral Partner, Law Firm Dissolution, Law Firm Dissolutions, Law Firm Implosions, Law firm management, Law firm management strategies, Law Firm Risk Management, Legal Project Outsourcing, Legaltech, Navigating the Perfect Storm: Recruiting, Outsourcing legal services, Retaining and Training Lawyers in the Coming Decade, Strategic law firm planning, Tesco Models for Lw Firms, The Law Firm of the Twenty-first Century | Tagged: , , , , | 24 Comments »

I Know You Hate Keeping Time Sheets, but Even in the New Era You Must Still Do So and Here’s Why

Posted on December 20, 2011 by kowalskiandassociates

I Know You Hate Keeping Time Sheets, but Even in the New Era You Must Still Do So and Here’s Why.

Filed under: Hiring and training lawyers, Law firm associate efficiency, Law firm associates, Law firm financial reporting, Law firm management, Law firm management strategies, law firm project management, Law Firm Risk Management, lawyer training, Legal Project management, Legaltech, Navigating the Perfect Storm: Recruiting, Project management for law firms, Retaining and Training Lawyers in the Coming Decade, Strategic law firm planning, The Law Firm of the Twenty-first Century, Value Billing | Leave a Comment »

I Know You Hate Keeping Time Sheets, but Even in the New Era You Must Still Do So and Here’s Why

Posted on December 20, 2011 by kowalskiandassociates

Time sheets – the bane of lawyers everywhere – you can’t live with them and you can’t live without them.

The endless debate continues as to whether in this era of AFA’s, fixed fees and the like, lawyers and law firm managers continue to debate the question of whether we still need to be bound to the ball and chain of time sheets. The answer is a resounding “Yes!”

There are numerous reasons: First, in any fee application in which a court approves fee awards, courts require detailed and contemporaneous time sheets.

Second, The Model Code of Professional Responsibility does not explicitly recite AFA’s as a permissible method by which to charge a fee. The hourly rate remains the Model Code’s gold standard.

Next, some courts have actually held that fixed fees are unethical and unenforceable and the only method to recover on a quantum meruit basis is through time based billing.

With project management becoming such a key fixture in the profession, contemporaneous recording of time is key to the success of project managers.

And recording time spent on all firm-related matters is key to management; assuring that time-keepers are on task and then, at year end, assessments of the contributions made by all members of the law firm can only be objectively made by having a full and complete record of every lawyer’s contribution at every level.

Filed under: Alternative fee Arrangements, Hiring and training lawyers, Law firm associate efficiency, Law firm associates, Law firm financial reporting, Law firm management, Law firm management strategies, law firm project management, Law Firm Risk Management, lawyer training, Legal Education, Legal Project management, Legaltech, Navigating the Perfect Storm: Recruiting, Project management for law firms, Retaining and Training Lawyers in the Coming Decade, Strategic law firm planning, The Law Firm of the Twenty-first Century | Tagged: , , , , , , | 14 Comments »

What are the Most Significant Legaltech Changes You Have Seen During Your Careers?

Posted on December 15, 2011 by kowalskiandassociates

What are the Most Significant Legaltech Changes You Have Seen During Your Careers?.

Filed under: Alternative fee Arrangements, Downsourcing legal services, Electronic Document Discovery, Hiring and training lawyers, Law firm management, Law firm management strategies, lawyer training, Legal Education, Legal Project management, Legal Project Outsourcing, Legaltech, Outsourcing legal services, Project management for law firms, Retaining and Training Lawyers in the Coming Decade, Strategic law firm planning, The Law Firm of the Twenty-first Century, Value Billing | Leave a Comment »

What are the Most Significant Legaltech Changes You Have Seen During Your Careers?

Posted on December 15, 2011 by kowalskiandassociates

In the last fifty years there has been wave upon wave of enormous technological changes that have dramatically changed the way we practice law on a day to day basis.

Computers, the Internet and emails have dramatically changed the way we conduct our affairs.

But looking back over the years, we saw each change come upon us and saw each change our lives indelibly. We found fax machines to changed the way we practiced law and assumed faxes would be a vital part of our lives forever. Pdf scanners have years later supplanted faxes.

The next wave is upon us: Legal Knowledge Management.

Let’s take a retrospective look at some of the changes over the past many years and build an archive of the technological changes we have seen.

Filed under: Alternative fee Arrangements, Downsourcing legal services, Electronic Document Discovery, Law firm management, Legaltech, The Law Firm of the Twenty-first Century | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

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