Business Strategy
Finding Hybrids in the Legal Industry – The Lawyer-Entrepreneur
January 26, 2015
By Gwynne Monahan, Guest Contributor – This article was originally published in Law Technology Today January 2, 2015. The premise of the TV show Vampire Diaries is that there are vampires, werewolves, and witches living among us, only we don’t know it because they blend into our surroundings by adopting the human mannerisms, clothing, gadgets, and other material things
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The Decline of the Associate and the Rise of the Law Firm Employee
December 10, 2014
Originally published on Jordan Furlong’s blog, Law21, in October 2013, the sentiments expressed below are still valid and worth paying attention to a year later. As editor of the Talent Think Tank, I have the privilege of posting original works as well as reprinting thought provoking — and sometimes controversial — wisdom that should be read over
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The Cost – Value Conundrum in Talent Strategy
November 24, 2014
By Sue Manch – “Nowadays people know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.” Oscar Wilde Cost-cutting has become a familiar priority for many large law firms and ironically, it often begins with cutting people and resources at the heart of talent strategy. Despite being a business dependent on the intellectual capital of
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Combining KM & PD to Turbocharge Attorney Performance
November 3, 2014
By Chris Boyd, Guest Contributor – A corporate associate learning how preferred stock anti-dilution adjustments work and why they’re used in venture financing deals – that’s professional development (PD). A corporate associate quickly finding examples of past anti-dilution adjustment provisions to use in drafting documents for a current deal – that’s knowledge management (KM). PD and KM
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Your Old Guard is Leaving. Are Your New Leaders Ready to Take Over?
October 13, 2014
By Ida Abbott – How is your firm preparing its new leaders? The need to do it is becoming urgent. A NALP study of law firm demographics reports that in 2013 there were 22,861 law firm partners.[1] According to The American Lawyer, about 16% of partners in the 200 top-grossing law firms are 60 years old or
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The Changing Definition of Value: What Matters Most to In-House Counsel
September 29, 2014
By Tim Corcoran – The rules have changed. Law firm partners worldwide reached professional maturity in a much simpler world: One delivered a quality work product and everything else fell into place. Clients were satisfied, lawyers were engaged in thought-provoking work, associates received good training and generous, albeit hard-earned, revenues and profits ensued. This worked. Until
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Gender Diversity in Law Firms – A Little Less Talk and A Lot More Action
September 22, 2014
By Caren Ulrich Stacy – The lack of women lawyers in the upper ranks at law firms has been a problem for decades, and it’s only getting worse. Although there is typically a 50/50 gender split at the entry-level, only 16% of partners are women. And, to further exacerbate the pipeline issue, this year marks the fourth
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It’s 2014 and We STILL Don’t Know Where Our Talent Is . . .
September 15, 2014
By Sue Manch – Way, way back in 2008, Deloitte published a landmark white paper on the state of talent entitled, “It’s 2008 – Do You Know Where Your Talent Is?” [1] At the time, it caused a number of law firms to take a hard look at their talent pipeline. Many were not happy with what
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The Evolution of the “New” Legal Professions
August 18, 2014
By Terri Mottershead – For a long time now, law firms have categorized their staff into two broad groups: lawyers and non-lawyers or professional and support/general staff. The categorization often and unfortunately, has gone hand in hand with a hierarchy or belief that lawyers and what they do is somehow more important than the work done
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Expanding the Business Case for Talent Management
August 8, 2014
By Steve Armstrong – However firmly talent management programs are imbedded in law firms, those responsible for the function still need – and always will need – to make the “business case” for its value: how does it contribute in a fundamental way to a firm’s success? For those reading this blog, the answers seem obvious.
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