According to NYT journalist, Catherine Rampell, in her May 23, 2011 story: At Well-Paying Law Firms, a Low-Paid Corner,   Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe,  WilmerHale and McDermott Will & Emery are "creating a second tier of workers, stripping pay and prestige from one of the most coveted jobs in the business world".

Catherine goes on to comment on the increased challenge of debt repayment: Lower salaries make it even more difficult for newly minted lawyers to pay off their law school debt — like the $150,000 in loans that David Perry accumulated upon graduation from Northwestern University School of Law in 2009.

My Opinion:  I understand completely why these and other firms need to cut costs in order to meet the demand from clients to reduce fees.  In a way, this is eminently sensible — move the commodity end of the practice of law to lawyers well-equipped for the task at lower salaries.  In my view, this is not nearly enough.  Law firms must rethink how they do their work and must re-engineer their work in harmony with their clients.  My Edge International partner, Pam Woldow, is working at an unprecedented level of sophistication with top corporate law departments (including some of Fortune's Top 10) and AMLAW 100 law firms to help them learn Legal Project Management and how to set (genuine) Alternative Fees .  If the Partners think they can sit back and sustain their historic incomes indefinitely by lowering junior lawyer salaries or creating new classes they are sadly mistaken.  They need to create sustainable new models that change how we think about the practice of law.

Read the full NYT article  "At Well-Paying Law Firms, a Low-Paid Corner" here.

Visit Pam's Blog: "At The Intersection" here.

Originally posted at Amazing Firms Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.

Download by clicking on image or HERE  Registered participants were provided with Password in session.

Originally posted at Amazing Firms Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.

Download by clicking on image or HERE  Registered participants were provided with Password in session.

Originally posted at Amazing Firms Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.

SEPTEMBER 2010

September 24th, 2010
ADR Institute of Canada National Conference September 23-24, 2010
Plenary Session: Optimal Marketing for ADR professionals
Workshop: Effective Marketing for ADR professionals
Calgary, Alberta

OCTOBER 2010

October 9th, 2010
Fordham Law School (for Prof Silvia Hodges)
Guest Lecture: Law firm management: Strategy
New York, New York

October 14th, 2010
(with Nicole Auerbach a— Valorem Lw Firm))
Making Alternative Fees Work in Litigation: How to Approach and Craft AFAs
Virtual Program… webinar: Find out how to incorporate AFAs for your litigation matters, and how to avoid the many pitfalls that can arise along the way in this information-packed audio conference. During this 75-minute program, our expert faculty will present best practices for approaching, crafting and implementing these highly sought-after engagements.
Information & Registration

October 22, 2010
ALPMA summit
Keynote address:  Finding Success in a Global Paradox
Sydney, Australia
Information & Registration
 
NOVEMBER 2010

November 4th, 2010
Chief Legal Officer Forum, Public Sector
Auckland, New Zealand

November 5th - 7th, 2010
Plenary Session: Future Firm Forum 2010
The Management Imperative
Tongariro Lodge at the south end of Lake Taupo, on the North Island of New Zealand
Information & Registration

November 11th - 14th, 2010
(with Edge partner, Juhi Garg
GROWTH STRATEGIES 2015
LAWASIA 2010 Conference
The session will describe how Asian law firms can prepare for a flourishing economy including strategies and processes required to fuel growth both organically and inorganically.
New Delhi, India
More Information

 

Originally posted at Amazing Firms Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.

My Edge International partner, Jordan Furlong, has done a nice welcome piece on Pam Woldow already (at his Law 21 blog) but I thought I would echo that Edge International is so very proud and delighted to have her on board.

Also, thank you to friends who have joined us in congratulating Pam, like Valorem's awesome founder, Pat Lamb, who expressed delight in his In Search or Perfect Client Service blog post.

Those of you who know Edge International well can be assured that we are intent on growing in strength and capabilities.

Please make sure you follow Pam's new Blog, At The Intersection, for her continuing wisdom and counsel. 

Stay tuned.

Originally posted at Amazing Firms Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.

Speaking of bold, CMS Cameron McKenna has a pricing team!  (See page 14 of their brochure, The future of fees: your route map to value.)

Punchline:  CMS Cameron McKenna has 122 Equity Partners and employs over 1,000 fee earners in 10 offices.  They are big enough and influential enough to be a tipping point in their own right.  Those other law firms who ignore Alternative Fees and Value Pricing because "they just won't ever take hold" are in grave danger of playing catch up or even missing the boat altogether.  You don't need your own pricing team today but what you do need is a team within the partnership to start exploring how your firm will enter this game and when (not if).

Thank you to Gavriel Hollander at The Lawyer for the original story

Originally posted at Amazing Firms, Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.

Greg George, Managing Partner of top security firm GTI Advisors Threat Management Practice Group has created a comprehensive due diligence report — among his many recommendations, he suggests that businesses consult a law firm  - is your law firm ready to answer that call?  SECURITY may be a lucrative future-oriented practice area awaiting your firm.

I recommend:

1)  Check out GTI Advisors Threat Management Practice Group

2)  Download (free) and read Beyond Due Diligence

3) Note the section "Qualified Legal Counsel Is Worth Every Penny" on page 18.

4) Discuss this in your firm and explore an appropriate strategy before you are left in the dust by forward thinking firms that will.

Footnote: Determine if you are the cobbler with no shoes (when it comes to security) — perhaps your law firm could use a few of the amazing ideas in this document as well.

Note:  For international clients, this piece is clearly written for American audiences but I believe the vast majority of the content will be useful regardless of your location.

Originally posted at Amazing Firms, Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.

This clever animation may reinforce Dan Pink's message from his new book Drive. 

Compensation has been the tool of choice in law firms to reward good performance, punish the absence of it and drive change.

You will not want to believe what you are about to hear and see…  ask yourself why?

If you are enlightened, gather your management team and start thinking about how to harness the learnings to create peak performance and lower turnover in your firm.

Originally posted at Amazing Firms, Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.

If your firm has offices in the Great Lakes Region (or is thinking of expanding into it) there is an unprecedented and unmatched comprehensive analysis available: “2010 Legal Market Analysis Great Lakes Region”

The report contains:

• 115 pages of detailed factual competitive intelligence
• 126 charts, graphs and illustrations
• 8 States and 10 Metropolitan Areas
• Information on 215 law offices

Cities included:

• Chicago
• Milwaukee
• Detroit
• Indianapolis
• Cincinnati
• Minneapolis
• Columbus
• Buffalo
• Cleveland
• Pittsburgh

I think this is a fantastic deal.  If your firm tried to pull this together on your own, you’d spent months and tens of thousands worth of time doing your due diligence which would include analyzing the firms, clients and economics of the region.  I expected the price would be around $7,500 but it offered at $2,995

I was also impressed by the Guarantee of Satisfaction - if your firm is disappointed (you won't be) you can pull the trigger on the guarantee.

For many leaders, the most important and imponderable question relates to the timing of the recovery — one of the elements of this report is

• “Prognosis for timing and extent of legal market economic recovery”

My enthusiasm for The “2010 Legal Market Analysis Great Lakes Region” is based on these simple premises:

1. The team that created it has many decades of law firm experience
2. The sources of data are impeccable
3. Ed Wesemann (architect of this publication) is a truly gifted analyst and law specialist

The downloadable prospectus including full Table of Contents will give you an idea as to how well organized this work is.

At the very least, this analysis is an important reality check.  Many firms have skewed views of their own markets based on prejudices or outdated data that tends to stick in the minds of firm leaders.

Here is an excerpt from the free  downloadable prospectus showing the nature of the contents of the report:

A detailed competitive analysis for each city providing:

• Comparative reputation within the specific legal market
• Detailed descriptions of competitive situations
• 2010 depth counts of lawyers in the local office and firm-wide

An accurate and up-to-date economic analysis of each metro area including:

• Projections of the growth of key drivers that affect the legal market
• Prognosis for timing and extent of legal market economic recovery
• 2010 Assessment of stability of leading industries and top employers

Assessment of demographic, businesses and market data for each state and metro area including:

• Size of legal markets
• Business friendliness, job growth, cost of doing business and other important indicators
• Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat (SWOT) Analysis for large firm legal practice in each metro area

Download the prospectus and see for yourself.

Note:  I know the people behind this initiative very well but want to make it clear that I have absolutely no financial interest in their venture — I am posting this based on receiving a review copy. I believe this is an extraordinary offering and far more valuable than its price would reflect.




    

   
 

Originally posted at Amazing Firms, Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.

Nicole Auerbach is one of the adventurous Big Firm refugees that founded Valorem, a genuine "Alternative Billing Arrangements" firm.  Here's a quote from Nicole's bio:

The billable hour is an antiquated, inefficient and a potentially unethical measure of value provided.

To be named one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Illinois in the 2010 edition of Illinois Super Lawyers, Nicole was evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement, including verdicts, settlements, representative clients, honors and awards, and other achievements. 

So the quality of the best alternate fee firm is unassailable and Nicole's objective recognition makes her a safe choice in addition to being a wise choice.

BRAVO Nicole - BRAVO Valorem !

Disclosure:  I proudly sit on Valorem's Advisory Board because I believe in what the firm is trying to achieve.

Originally posted at Amazing Firms, Amazing Practices. Please visit http://www.gerryriskin.com/.