December 2006

December 2006 Roundtable: Leading Technology Trends for 2006 and Beyond

Edited by John Tredennick
The editors of LPT review their technology predictions from last December, discuss what they hope to see in 2007 and predict what might be just beyond the horizon.

Holiday Gifts and Greetings are a Time to Recognize Clients and Friends

by Anne Parys
For many individuals, spreading holiday cheer is sometimes a chore. Deciding who should receive what is a question that comes up nearly every year. Read more on how you can turn this annual ritual into a meaningful opportunity to connect with clients.

Should Auld Lawyers Be Forgot, and Never Brought to Mind?

by Edward Poll
For the first time in U.S. history, four generations are working side by side. Do the benefits of this multigenerational environment outweigh the "graying of the bar" as expressed in a Seattle Times article?

Sponsored Column

Technology Tips

Acrobat 8: New Examine Document Feature

sponsored by Adobe Systems, Inc.
Avoid the hazards of accidental disclosure when e-mailing documents. Learn how the new Examine Document feature in Acrobat 8 makes it possible.

Columns

Management Tips and Tricks

The Dynamics of Billing, Profits and Compensation

by Edward Poll
Many law firm compensation models are designed for individual gains rather than long-term growth and sustainability. Yet if a firm wants to promote the kind of cooperative effort that increases billings and profitability, it must change to a more cooperative compensation model.

Practice Management Q&A

How Can Managing Partners Optimize Practice Leader Performance?

by Susan Longo and Susan Raridon Lambreth
Learn how your firm can maximize existing talent by establishing clear expectations, providing leadership development and improving communications.

Management by Agreement

The Many Costs of Conflict

by Stewart Levine
The cost of conflict represents a resource drain of huge proportion and a source of great unhappiness and discomfort.

The Strongest Links

The Strongest Links -- A Look Back at 2006

by Tom Mighell and Dennis Kennedy
In keeping with the theme of this month's Law Practice Today, we thought we would revisit some of our favorite sites that we've mentioned in Strongest Links columns this year. We tried to choose one or two sites from each topic, so what you're seeing here is truly the Strongest Strongest Links -- the best of the best. Enjoy, and we'll see you again in the New Year!

Departments

Marketing

Developing a Marketing Budget: Dollars and Sense

by Sally J. Schmidt
It is a simple fact of business that marketing costs money. However, spending money on marketing is one thing. Spending the money wisely is another. In her Marketing column in the December issue of Law Practice magazine, Sally J. Schmidt explains how to develop a budget for an effective and cost-effective marketing effort. She offers statistics that will help determine the costs of a marketing program, as well as a detailed list of categories that should be covered in a marketing budget. In the following excerpt, Sally Schmidt discusses how to build an ideal budget, along with five rules for investing marketing dollars wisely.

Management

The Attorney-Client Privilege and the Amended Federal Discovery Rules

by Carl G. Roberts
When the complexities of the legal landscape are added to the logistical difficulties of performing effective privilege reviews on millions of page-equivalents of information within the tight timeframes of typical pretrial discovery, it should come as no surprise that efforts are being made to develop laws for privilege and privilege waiver. This article addresses principally federal law on privileges.

Technology
by Mark C.S. Bassingthwaighte
Start off the new year armed with the knowledge of how to avoid the most common causes of malpractice. Read this article today.

Finance

The Dynamics of Billing, Profits and Compensation

by Edward Poll
Many law firm compensation models are designed for individual gains rather than long-term growth and sustainability. Yet if a firm wants to promote the kind of cooperative effort that increases billings and profitability, it must change to a more cooperative compensation model.

Upcoming CLE

ManagementThe Ethics of Managing Multistate Law Practices

  Ethics CreditThursday, December 21, 2006

Program Summary

Modern legal practice often requires in-house and law firm lawyers to work on and provide counsel on matters outside their states of licensure.  If not carefully handled, providing legal services outside a state of licensure can expose a lawyer or firm to a variety of ethical dangers.

This live webcast and teleconference will give lawyers in both corporate and law firm settings practical ethics advice for managing multistate practices. Our speakers include leading authors and experts on multijurisdictional practice issues from the perspective of both in-house and outside counsel.

Learn More »

Most Popular LPT Articles

Contacts

Editor in Chief:
service@americanbar.org
Werner Associates, LLC

Associate Editor:
service@americanbar.org
North Carolina Bar Association

Advertising:
Anne.Bitting@americanbar.org

Sponsorship Information:
service@americanbar.org
**************************************
Board of Editors:

service@americanbar.org, Brady & Associates Career Planners, LLC
service@americanbar.org, Oklahoma Bar Association
service@americanbar.org, Mass.LOMAP
service@americanbar.org, Lawyers' Insurance Association of Nova Scotia
service@americanbar.org, Briggs and Morgan, P.A.
service@americanbar.org, Kay, Griffin, Enkema & Brothers, PLLC
service@americanbar.org, Stevens MacPhail, P.A.

Advisory Board:

service@americanbar.org, Burney Consultants
service@americanbar.org, Ledjit Consulting
service@americanbar.org, WealthCounsel, LLC
service@americanbar.org, FIOS, Senior Manager and Consultant
service@americanbar.org, State Bar of Wisconsin
Catherine.Reach@americanbar.org, ABA Legal Technology Resource Center
service@americanbar.org, Thorp Reed & Armstrong, LLP
service@americanbar.org, Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
service@americanbar.org, Catalyst Repository Systems, Inc.

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