Financial planning and law firm management are the new lumber and the new brick to raise up on the foundation of a house first scorched and then burned through by the fires of economic reversal. Let these rebuilding materials, crafted by some of the ABA's leading financial planning experts, give your practice new credibility and an extra measure of protection for your clients.
The outsourcing of legal work has grown increasingly acceptable, especially as the need for cost controls have been joined by improvements in the quality of outsourced work. For example, outsourcing work such as the review of electronically stored information to foreign-licensed lawyers or contractors may appeal to lawyers and clients dealing with large numbers of electronic documents if the billing rates of the foreign-licensed lawyers or contractors are lower then reviewers in the United States and their work is at least as efficient and accurate as their American counterparts' work. What are the ethical aspects of outsourcing? What guidance is available to lawyers wondering whether outsourcing of e-discovery legal work offends the rules of professional conduct?
Clients will, understandably, get upset if they are treated badly or confronted with surprises. Make sure you appreciate how your words, actions, or inactions can annoy or even distress your clients. Here are the most common things that a lawyer does that annoy clients, so don't do any of them!
Regardless of the type of work or its medium (analog or digital) an educator may want to license for distance-learning purposes, ultimately the owner and educator must reach agreements, almost always in writing, governing the terms and conditions of their arrangement. While licenses may take several forms, some elements are, or at least should be, common to all.
Sex-based harassment need not be sexual in nature to constitute illegal discrimination; conduct that reflects adverse gender-based stereotypes or animosity may also constitute illegal discrimination. Sexual harassment thus encompasses a range of behaviors on the part of supervisors, co-workers, peers, clients, judges, professors, students, and vendors.
The hallmark of a successfully functioning firm is a capable and well-integrated professional staff composed of the proper mix of associates and paralegals who work well together in effectively advancing the clients' objectives. A productive professional staff is the result of good training and mentoring in the context of an effective working model. Take the following five key steps to get your firm there.
In construction projects, the concept of value engineering allows a contractor to suggest alternatives to materials, equipment, or even designs provided by the design professional that can save the owner money in up-front or long-term maintenance costs. From the contractor's perspective, value engineering may also simplify the construction process, thereby reducing the chances of construction errors or disputes.
Nearly all employers, regardless of size, have a formalized appraisal process that they attempt to administer in a consistent manner that is free from bias. Most gender bias is subtle rather than overt, however. What appears to be a facially neutral, objective, job-related evaluation process may in application lead to lower scores for female lawyers that are not justified by on-the-job performance. As a result, many talented female lawyers receive lower compensation, lower bonuses, fewer opportunities, a delay in or removal from partnership track, or outright termination.
The digital promissory note came about when the mortgage industry joined together in a carefully thought-out eunomic regime to re-create the concept of an original, unique negotiable instrument. In this case, a digital original is created by means of a registry, which tracks the "location" of the authoritative copy of the electronic note, the identity of the owner, and the electronic fingerprint (hash value) of the note. This creates a proxy for an original artifact by prohibiting anyone but the owner of the note from transferring the note, through several eunomic safeguards. But what happens when software changes? What guarantees exist to assure the owner of the note that the document is still readable and valid?
IThis month we interview legal technology experts Sharon Nelson, John Simek, and Michael Maschke co-authors of the best-selling ABA book The 2009 Solo and Small Firm Legal Technology Guide: Critical Decisions Made Simple. In this episode of the ABA Book Briefs Podcast our authors discuss why choosing the right technology is important, the most common mistake when choosing technology for a practice, and offer predictions about upcoming developments in legal technology.
Internal Revenue Code Section 6694(a) imposes a penalty on a tax return preparer who prepares a return or claim for refund reflecting an understatement of liability due to an “unreasonable position” if the tax return preparer knew (or reasonably should have known) of the position, unless the preparer had reasonable cause for the understatement and acted in good faith. Failure to satisfy the return preparer standards may lead to the imposition of significant penalties on a “signing” or “non-signing” return preparer and his or her firm.
This program reviews the new regulations and guidance, including consideration of how the regulatory tests and operating rules are different from the earlier interim guidance. In addition, the panelists discuss the operation of the new standards, best practices to comply with the standards in different contexts, and the relationship of new Section 6694 to Circular 230’s ethics rules governing practice before the Internal Revenue Service.
At the 23rd Annual National Institute on White Collar Crime, expert panelists addressed the ethical obligations of counsel when representing corporations and their directors, officers, and employees as well as the importance of effective compliance programs and other relevant issues. This comprehensive coursebook covers a myriad of substantive topics, including Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases, government contracting and mandatory voluntary disclosures, corporate charging agreements, ethical issues in white collar crime cases, criminal intellectual property rights enforcement, securities fraud investigations, criminal antitrust enforcement, criminal tax fraud enforcement, money laundering and asset forfeiture, health care fraud, mortgage fraud, electronic discovery in criminal trials, multijurisdictional qui tam practice, and environmental crime.
ABA Publishing Practice Essentials—Articles
Now you can have instant access to articles previously available only to members of certain ABA entities. Articles from Litigation, Probate & Property, The SciTech Lawyer, and Experience are available as searchable PDF downloads.
Whether you’re hiding under your desk or holding a pink slip—you’re worried: How’s this recession going to affect me, and how do I stay ahead of the game? Join us for our complimentary teleconferences, featuring practical tips and strategies for dealing with today’s job market.
How to sell yourself: Developing perfect pitch
May 19 @ noon CDT (60 minutes)
