Client Value
Will Diversity Tech (Finally) Transform the Future Workplace?
July 31, 2017
By Michelle Silverthorn — (Originally published on June 6, 2017 on the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism’s 2Civility website.) Last week I wrote about starting a new diversity and inclusion initiative from scratch. I briefly mentioned the buzziest new term in diversity and inclusion: diversity tech. Diversity tech is what happens when some of the smartest start-up minds
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The End of Work Life Balance
January 26, 2017
By Eva Davis, Co-Chair Private Equity, Winston & Strawn — Blog posts, women’s conferences, mentoring programs, and lifestyle and career counseling tips tout the many ways to attain “work-life” balance. “Balance” is an equal distribution of weight that allows something to remain upright and steady. “Work-life-balance” is a condition in which different elements of “work”
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Solving the Multimillion-Dollar C Player Problem
May 26, 2016
By Caren Ulrich Stacy & Jeanne Picht — Originally published in the ABA Law Practice Magazine, May 2013 — Law firms have a very expensive talent Problem: C Players. These are the associates who lack judgment, write poorly, miss critical issues, or don’t take ownership. Partners write off their time and eventually stop giving them work altogether. Because
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At the Intersection of People and Technology
March 30, 2016
By Susan Letterman White – (Initially published by Massachusetts Lawyers Journal March/April 2016; Reprinted with permission) There have been amazing developments in technology with application to the practice of law. Different technologies collect and measure information, manage processes, remind us of what to do and when to act, and make it much easier and faster to
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Thinking Like a Lawyer Isn’t Enough
February 21, 2015
By Valerie Fontaine – Law school teaches you to think like a lawyer but, to succeed in today’s legal marketplace, you also must think like a businessperson. As the legal profession becomes increasingly business-oriented, successful lawyers need to know more than just law. Business and management skills are essential to advancement, whether you practice in a
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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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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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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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Financial Literacy – No Longer Optional for Lawyers
August 11, 2014
By Betsy Munnell – Last week I had coffee with an old friend and former law firm partner who quizzed me about my post-practice career as a business development coach. We discussed the considerable challenges facing lawyers, young and not so young, struggling to build robust professional networks and self-sustaining practices. We bemoaned the miserable progress
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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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