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Greetings!
Is it December already? The holidays are upon us, and this time of year is known for both the challenges and rewards that surround the Christmas season. The economic downturn has added new concerns to an already professionally and emotionally charged period. From vacation induced decreased productivity to lining up potentially practice-saving mergers, it pays to keep your momentum going into 2010.
This month, Law Q News focuses on some of the unique challenges that the holiday season presents. We have included three interesting articles that address holiday and economic issues and we hope you will find these pieces both relevant and useful. As always, please check out our featured attorney and legal staff candidates in the upper left hand corner of this newsletter. The resumes of both our featured candidates and our other top notch candidates can also be viewed on the 'Recruiting' page of our website at www.lawqteam.com.
I would like to take this opportunity to with you a Happy Holiday season from everyone at Law Q! Please feel free to contact us with any of your recruiting or employment questions.
Truly yours,
R. Christopher Newton
LAW Q, LLC
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How to Be Productive During the Holiday Season
Neen James, The Legal Intelligencer
The crazy holiday season ... why does it make our hearts beat faster knowing we have so much more "to do" and so little time to achieve it all? Why is it we both love and hate this time of year? We place high expectations on ourselves and others during the holiday season. However, there are ways to be more productive during this hectic season.
The holiday season is not the time to slow down your business development activities or stop networking, because we still have budgets, goals and targets to achieve. How do you handle the "unproductive" attitude the holiday season brings? How can you juggle vacation schedules?
Historically, the holiday season may have been a time for you to take it easy, do the minimum amount of activity while you focus on what you will achieve for next year ... not this year! Decide to make this your most productive holiday season ever. Here are some strategies that will help you do that and continually grow your business and set up a productive 2010.
Make 2010 your best year yet. Book a two-hour appointment with yourself to begin planning for next year to include potential new clients, cases and support staff development activities. Determine what you need to achieve to make 2010 your best year yet. This business plan should not be collecting dust in your bottom desk drawer -- it is a living document to be used as a guide for you and your team.
Review your marketing plan. Invest the time and resources in creating a customized plan for your book of business. If you are a one-attorney firm, ask colleagues and people you trust to brainstorm ideas with you. If you have a large firm, ask clients, staff and colleagues what marketing activities will be effective for your business. If you created a marketing plan for this year, review your progress to date and determine what strategies will be effective again for 2010.
Conduct focus groups. Invite a select number of key clients to your office and ask them about your firm, their expectations and experiences, and how you can better serve them. Collate the results and seek your team's input on how to action them.
Conduct a six-month business review. Spend two hours reviewing your firm's achievements for the past six months.
Ask yourself these 11 questions:
1. How would I rate the past six months' performance (1-10 with 10 being the highest)?
2. Did I achieve my financial targets/billable hours each month?
3. If not, why not?
4. If not, what do I need to do differently in the next six months to meet my annual plan?
5. If I did meet these targets (congratulations to you), were they big enough?
6. Have I conducted staff reviews with my team? When? If not, why not?
7. If so, have I rewarded my team adequately?
8. Do I need to invest more in my team or personal development?
9. Is my marketing plan on track? If not, why not?
10. If not, what activities do I need to conduct to implement more marketing strategies?
11. Have I done sufficient business development to grow my book of business or my connections? If not, why not?
When you have completed these questions, create a series of tasks, actions or projects to implement some of your strategies to help you really achieve all your targets for the next six months.
Clean up. You have heard of a spring clean, well this is a winter clean. This clean out could include:
ˇ Clearing, deleting or filing those read e-mails in your inbox.
ˇ Unsubscribing from all those newsletters that you don't read.
ˇ Allocating one hour to get your paper filing up to date (if you have more than one hour's worth, do 15 minutes per week until it is all complete).
ˇ Throwing out unwanted, unread journals that you have been "meaning" to read, but haven't and won't.
ˇ Reviewing your "tasks" on your to-do list or in your Outlook file and removing those tasks that simply won't be completed.
ˇ Entering details into your contact management system of the business card pile that is gathering dust on your desk.
ˇ Spending 15 minutes cleaning the top of your desk, removing unnecessary stationery, putting away files, cleaning the dust off your family photo, throwing away empty water bottles and wiping down your computer keyboard and screen. A clean and clear desk will help you be more productive any time of year.
We do need to be mindful of the seasons, but don't slow down during the holidays -- get more productive. Use this time to get a head start on all those 2010 meetings you can conduct when people return from vacation, ensure plans are in place to achieve your results and tidy your work environment so you are not distracted by clutter. Embrace the cooler weather for indoor meetings and events and enjoy all that the holiday season can bring for your business growth.
* reprinted with permission 2009 |
Mistletoe or Legal Woes: Holiday Parties May Pose Legal Pitfalls for Many AmericansLawyers.com
December may bring more than holiday cheer for many Americans. A survey released today reveals that holiday parties in homes and offices may result in trips to the courtroom for some.
Commissioned by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell's lawyers.com, a free online directory of 440,000 attorneys nationwide, and conducted by Harris InteractiveŽ, the survey assessed U.S. adults' vulnerability to common legal pitfalls during the holiday season.
Hosting a Party at Home Involves More Than Planning A Menu
Nearly one in four (24%) adults do not know that a party host who serves alcohol to a clearly drunk guest may be legally responsible if that person goes on to hurt or kill someone in a car accident. Yet one in five (20%) adults will host or co-host a holiday party this year at which alcohol will be served.
"Most states have 'social host' laws, which hold party hosts liable in certain situations if their guests who drink cause serious car crashes," said Alan Kopit, legal editor of lawyers.com.
"Such hosts may unwittingly put themselves in legal hot water by not carefully monitoring their guests' intoxication levels, particularly when they get in their cars. A few precautionary minutes when planning parties can save the time, money and the heartache of the legal ramifications of a guest's crash." Kopit added.
Check Your Coat, But Not Your Professionalism, at This Year's Office Party
Holiday office parties pose additional legal risks, the survey also uncovered. Twenty-nine percent of adults have experienced or observed sexual advances between people who work together at such gatherings, more than at any other work event during the rest of the year, including those that occur after-hours or on weekends or at the office during the work day.
"An office party can be the site of a sexual harassment situation just as much as the office," said Kopit. "Many people view an office holiday party as a fun, carefree gathering of colleagues, during which normal professional expectations are relaxed. In fact, from a legal perspective, just the opposite is true."
According to Kopit, the responsibility to ensure legal safety at holiday parties falls under the purview of business owners. According to the survey, however, many businesses regularly fail to take necessary precautions. Just 16 percent of Americans surveyed say that policy and behavior expectations, including those involving sexual overtures among colleagues, have ever been distributed prior to any holiday office party they attended.
Moreover, only 12 percent have been at a holiday office party at which car keys were collected and returned only to sober drivers. Less than one in three (30 percent) have gone to a holiday office party at which taxi or designated driver service was provided to any employee who needed it.
"There's no reason a business shouldn't celebrate with its employees at the end of the year," said Kopit. "But anyone responsible for such an event should make sure the business, and those attending, are legally safe. Letting everyone attending explicitly know what behavior is prohibited - including that which is flirtatious or sexual - can help remove sexual harassment problems."
"Keeping employees from driving after drinking at the party reduces potential liability of the business, and helps ensure guests stay safe and healthy to enjoy the New Year," Kopit added. "If a business owner is in doubt about the proper procedures to put in place at their office party, he or she should discuss their options with an attorney."
*reprinted with permission 2009
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Buyer Beware: Firms Look Closely at Legal Liabilities of Merger Partners
Gina Passarella, The Legal Intelligencer
Former Gardner Carton & Douglas partner Steven L. Loren, who pleaded guilty to a criminal felony act over the representation of a firm client, left the firm in advance of its merger with Drinker Biddle & Reath in 2007.
But that didn't stop Drinker Biddle's name from appearing on a lawsuit filed last month against Loren, Gardner Carton and several others who the plaintiffs allege were involved in a kickback scheme to sell property of a Chicago university to members of the scheme despite higher offers coming from the plaintiff.
Rush Oak v. Levine was filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County in Illinois Nov. 2. Drinker Biddle's name can only be found within the first three pages of the 50-page complaint, including in the caption. The firm is listed as the merger partner of Gardner Carton and then not mentioned again.
Legal liability due diligence has become part of the merger process for large firms that have to weigh whether the risk is worth the reward. Most analysts said, however, that there are safeguards that can be put in place to protect the surviving entity. But they agree that the process can add to the cost and overall risk of a combination.
According to the complaint, several of the individual defendants have pleaded guilty in federal court to fraud charges related to the real estate deal. Loren pleaded guilty to a felony criminal act arising out of his work for a client who pleaded guilty to fraud in this alleged conspiracy. Loren was not going to be criminally prosecuted for events relating to the deal but admitted in the plea agreement that he was aware of other criminal acts his client was involved with during the same time, according to the complaint.
Rush Oak and co-plaintiffs Brian, Philip, Pamela and Shawn Farley said in the complaint Gardner Carton is vicariously liable for Loren's actions.
Drinker Biddle spokesman John Byrne said, "We don't see any merit in the suit whatsoever."
He wouldn't comment beyond that.
When Drinker Biddle and Gardner Carton confirmed in late 2006 that they would be merging, Drinker Biddle Chairman Alfred W. Putnam Jr. said Drinker Biddle had some of its litigation partners look into the cases against Loren that were pending at the time.
"We don't think they really pose a substantial risk to Gardner Carton," he told The Legal at the time.
Drinker Biddle certainly isn't alone in facing litigation stemming from acquisitions of firms or lateral groups.
Morgan Lewis & Bockius had to fend off a suit by former Brobeck Phleger & Harrison employees who sued the firm for failure to comply with WARN Act filings. The firm had hired dozens of Brobeck lawyers and staff and took over some of the space of the dissolving firm in 2003. The employees lost because they were laid off the same day an agreement became effective for Morgan Lewis to purchase furniture and other equipment from the firm. The judge ruled Brobeck, not Morgan Lewis, was still responsible for complying with WARN Act notices that day.
Morgan Lewis was again brought into a similar situation this year after former Thelen employees sued a number of law firms who picked up some of the attorneys and staff from the dissolved firm.
A recent report by The Recorder, a Legal Intelligencer affiliate, noted that Morgan Lewis was sued in October along with Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, DLA Piper, Nixon Peabody and Howrey over similar WARN Act violations. Staffers were given 30 days' notice, not 60 as required under the act. The employees argue that the acquisition by the defendant firms of Thelen partners equated to a purchase of part of the business. That makes them bound to the same obligations as an employer under WARN, according to the report. A federal judge granted the firms' motion to dismiss Nov. 27, a Morgan Lewis spokeswoman said.
Ward Bower of Altman Weil said firms looking at mergers have to do legal due diligence along with financial and tax due diligence when looking at acquiring another firm. They have to look at current or potential lawsuits and the professional liability history of a firm.
Potential lawsuits can pose a dilemma because firms have to take people at their word that these won't be major issues, he said. The problem in today's market is that with almost any larger firm there is something lurking that could turn into a lawsuit, Bower said. Clients are more eager to sue their law firms and the bigger the firm is, the harder these issues can be to identify. That all makes mergers a bit riskier than they were 10 or 20 years ago, he said.
One litigator familiar with these types of cases said they are similar to most successor liability suits involving other types of corporations and the courts apply various tests to see whether successor liability applies. The only difference, the attorney said, is that law firms don't have assets like the typical corporation does.
The attorney said courts have found successor liability among law firms, but it's more typically when a firm closes down to avoid creditors and opens up under a different name with nearly the same people.
In order to curb potential liability, most firms will include as part of the merger agreement that the acquired firm maintain its own tail, or claims-made insurance, in the event suits are brought from events that occurred before the merger. Other firms may just use their existing professional liability insurance to cover any claims that arise from prior acts of the acquired firm, the attorney said.
This is not to say, however, that the surviving firms don't have to engage in the fight and have an attorney sit at the defense table. That means added time and money even if the risk of a verdict against them is minimal, the attorney said.
Frank D'Amore of Attorney Career Catalysts said many mergers will require an additional insurance policy is purchased.
"In larger-scale mergers, that can become a lot of money," D'Amore said.
And the money is just one factor. If the acquired firm doesn't provide full-disclosure of potential suits or is perceived to have clouded the reality of the risk, that could be a detriment to the culture as the two entities work to integrate. The cultural ramifications for the firm have led firms to dig deeper in their legal due diligence than they have in the past, he said.
*reprinted with permission 2009
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