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International Edition

Target your future

Readers of the discussions in Legal Week in March on the merits of marketing and business development at law firms could be excused for believing that they had been transported back to the 1980s, as this debate has been around for 25 years. A substantial number of lawyers undoubtedly do not rate their marketing and business development (BD) departments highly, and the role and value of the service seems as low and unclear as ever. With staff turnover in this function as high as 30%-40%, one question clearly emerges: is there a role for professional marketers in the legal profession?
7 minute read

International Edition

Upwardly mobile

Ambitious associates are increasingly seeking out direct moves into partnership at a new firm. Sloane Poulton reports on the challenges and potential benefits of such a switch
6 minute read

International Edition

Opportunity knocks

The Legal Services Act 2007 will implement fundamental changes to the structure and regulation of legal services in England and Wales. It presents significant commercial opportunities for law firms, as well as their potential business partners and investors. It is vital that, when planning for the exploitation of those commercial opportunities and/or the implementation of the new regulatory regime required by the Act, law firms' management teams give proper consideration to the impact of any proposals on their staff - a professional practice's most valuable resource - as well as their legal obligations to them.
8 minute read

International Edition

Substance with style

This year's Intendance 'Fast Fifty' benchmarking of the 50 fastest-growing law firm websites is further proof of how the legal sector is stepping up its online operations. Famed throughout the business-to-business sector, sometimes unfairly, as being among the least innovative of the professional services in terms of harnessing the power of the internet, law firms are now showing signs of shedding that image. Of course, the big news since last year's report is the arrival of the much-heralded Legal Services Act, which will open the sector up to outside competition. It is too early to tell whether the Act has focused partners' attention on developing hitherto untapped business streams, but there are advantages to be had by developing online capabilities. For the past seven years, Intendance has been evaluating how the legal profession presents itself online and how it communicates with a whole host of stakeholders, from clients to potential trainees. The success - and increase in scope - of previous Fast Fifty reports has led to a change in format this year, from a single document to a three-part series.
9 minute read

International Edition

Focus on the future

With daily headlines of falling property prices, stockmarket turmoil and rising energy prices, the need for sound financial planning is paramount. Pro-active tax planning and managing investments are an essential part of laying plans for the future. Unfortunately, the typical partners' approach to their financial planning is a last-minute mad rush accompanied by frustration at a loss of control and the mountains of incomprehensible paperwork. Yet all it takes is the disciplined application of a little common sense to put you back in the driving seat.
5 minute read

International Edition

The circle of success

What makes a really great law firm these days? What causes them to experience a steady stream of great clients and great work that attract really talented people? In working with law firms for many years, we have come to realise that there are five key areas in which the really great law firms excel. We have combined them into what we are going to describe as the 'circle of success'.
7 minute read

International Edition

Banish the boredom

Legal TV dramas have a lot to answer for. Watch any episode of LA Law and you would get the impression that US lawyers have to pass a test for good looks as well as their law exams. It does not fare much better in the UK - Judge John Deed gives the impression that all of the London Inns are actually dens of vice. Perhaps the one thing that all legal dramas do have in common is the way they consistently present lawyers as slick, articulate and never failing in their ability to hold an audience captive. In reality, it is a different story. Most lawyers I have trained - regardless of the size of the firm or the geography - tell me that presenting does not come naturally to them, whether to clients, prospects or even within their own firm. Regardless of the size of their audience, some lawyers find presenting to a group of eight people just as daunting as speaking to more than 500 people.
7 minute read

International Edition

Targeting the top

An increasing number of law firms are providing their assistant solicitors with career planning support of some kind, whether internally via human resources or partner mentoring or through specialist external career management coaching. A key message in this approach is that individual lawyers should take responsibility for their own career development and planning and often this will be about making a choice between various career options (e.g. whether they aspire to partnership or not) and making and implementing a plan to achieve their objectives. Making partner in a law firm used to be the only career goal of a solicitor in private practice. Other options are now becoming more openly discussed but, for those who become partners, the paths they can take once they have been promoted are often unclear.
7 minute read

International Edition

Virtually exposed

Law firms can fall prey to computer-based crime, just like any other business. Anthony Yates looks at how the need for information to be accessible over networks can be reconciled with the need for protection
7 minute read

International Edition

Conflicts comfort

Sam Suri looks at how technology can help ease the conflict-checking and compliance burden
9 minute read

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Legal Speak is a weekly podcast that makes sense of what’s happening in the legal industry.

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