Category: Management
Another rule change being considered by The State Bar of California is Rule 5.1 concerning the responsibilities of supervising lawyers. The rule provides that partners and other lawyers with managerial authority in a law firm must make reasonable efforts to ensure that the firm has in effect measures giving reasonable assurances that all lawyers in the firm conform to the Rules of Professional Conduct.
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Norm Pattis asks an interesting question.
"Lawyer cops among us appear to demand that the client be coddled at all costs. I recently put the following question to an ethics panel: Suppose in a case you come to believe that a certain issue is without merit. Are you obliged to obtain your client’s consent before withdrawing the claim? The unanimous decision was "yes." If a client insists on pursuing a meritless claim, then you must do what the client wants, whether it makes sense or not…
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Outsourcing — having work done outside of your own office, or your own firm/company — is not new. For years, companies have been expanding operations to other cities and even other countries. It’s called "division of labor" or "economies of scale" or, today, the dreaded and feared "outsourcing."
A new term to describe the phenomenon of having work done most economically and most efficiently.
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As of today, California has joined 3 other States banning using a hand-held cell phone while driving. Hands-free cell phones are still o.k. while driving. There are many distractions while driving; talking is probably the most dangerous, no pun intended. The law becomes effective July 1, 2008.
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Mark Maraia talks about insecure rainmakers in a recent posting. He suggests that such partners hurt the law firm.
When reading his comment, I concluded that the term "insecurity" is a bit misleading; perhaps the label isn’t important, just an analysis of the behavior. The behavior manifests itself as ego-centric; it is a hoarding behavior that we see too often in firms, large and small. It is a mentality that the client is mine, not the firm’s. It is the opposite of the Kennedy paraphrase that a rising ocean raises all the boats in the ocean.
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Check out today’s Wall Street Journal, Marketplace Section (B1) in an article by Jared Sandberg. He talks about multi-tasking, a favorite activity of lawyers.
He says, “Multitasking, a term cribbed from comupters, is an information age creed that, while almost universally sworn by, is more rooted in blind faith than fact. It’s the wellspring of office gaffes, as well as the stock answer to how we do more with less when in fact we’re usually doing less with more. What now passes for multi-tasking was once called not paying attention.”
“‘It’s a matter not of if, but when, the multitasker will hit ‘reply’ instead of ‘forward.’ … The question is whether the mistake will be an annoyance or a catastrophe.’”
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BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (September 1, 2006) – Juris, Inc. is pleased to announce its business alliance with LawBiz Management Company, a division of Edward Poll & Associates, Inc., to jointly conduct local Managing Partner Business Roundtable meetings throughout the U.S.
The Managing Partner Roundtables are an extension of the very successful “Juris Managing Partner Forum”, a group of law firm managing partners who meet annually in a two day forum to discuss critical business issues facing their firms. The Business Roundtables will extend the Juris Managing Partner Forum benefits by conducting focused monthly meetings in cities throughout the United States. Stephen Collins, president of Juris said, “Ed Poll’s experience in practicing law as a managing partner and his consulting and coaching of managing partners brings a unique perspective to the Juris Managing Partner Forum members. Also, the fact that Ed has been successfully conducting these Roundtables in Los Angeles for years allows us to leverage his experience in making these meetings valuable to participants.” (more…)
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Our current issue of LawBiz® Tips is now posted. If you like our LawBiz® Tips, please tell a friend and suggest they sign up for their own future issues.
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In a follow on article to an earlier blog wherein I commented on the UK Minister’s presentation on diversity, Reed Smith made the following announcement:
"Reed Smith, a top-25 international law firm, has launched a new programme to help its female staff make their way up through the traditionally male-dominated profession.
The firm has created a series of workshops to expand opportunities for women at work in an industry that is notoriously "male, pale and stale".
I love that last phrase; never heard it before!
In a Phoenix, AZ publication, the assertion was made that more than 80% of women lawyers leave their firms because of getting stuck in meaningless work with no visible advance in sight. Perhaps that quoted phrase has meaning beyond the surface starkness!
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August 15, 2006
Venice, CA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Law school does not teach lawyers how to effectively interact with clients; law school does not teach lawyers how to efficiently practice law; law school doesn’t teach lawyers how to become good rainmakers or make money! “These skills are learned, if at all, from the ‘School of Hard Knocks!’” according to law practice management coach and consultant, Ed Poll.
Gordon Bava, former managing partner of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, says “…scholars have generally ignored this important sector of our economy (managing a law firm) … Neither law schools nor bar associations offer, let alone require, practice management courses to receive a degree or a license to practice. (More Secrets of the Business of Law®) helps to fill the void.”
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