On-site day care is becoming increasingly popular in law firms, according to the National Law Journal. As well as a way to balance work and life, on-site children's centers are also an attractive recruiting tool, especially as a way to retain women partners, whose attrition rate is generally higher than male partners. The NALP (formerly the National Association for Law Placement) reports that women account for only 18 percent of partners, compared to 44 percent of associates. On-site day care doesn't only improve things for women, it can also be quite the morale booster within the entire firm: employees report that on-site day care builds camaraderie within the firm, allowing employees to get to know each other, and each others' families, better.

How does a firm with over 800 attorneys in five offices effectively distribute information about pro bono opportunities? Winston and Strawn answered that question wielding technology as their sword, reports Greg McConnell, Winston's pro bono director in New York Lawyer. Because the perfect software tool to organize the more than 1,000 opportunities available to their pro bono practice didn't exist, they created their own. Revamping their intranet page involved adding a search tool to the existing resources, which also drew more users to the page. Soon, the page was improved again, with two pages: a more basic home page, and a more involved opportunities page with preset identifiers so that users don't have to generate their own search terms, allowing them to choose between five different filter criteria: practice area, time required, public interest law area, client type, and skills development. The page also sorts opportunities based on each user attorney's area of expertise. Winston and Strawn believe that this tool contributed to their increase in pro bono hours, from the 2002 figure of around 26,000 to their 2006 figure of around 41,000.

The use of outside counsel is on the rise, reports the Association of Corporate Counsel in its 2006 Chief Legal Officer Survey. Twenty-five percent of in-house legal department heads projected an increase in outside counsel use, a significant change from the 2005 rate of 16 percent. Also reported is that underperforming firms regularly get the boot: 32 percent of respondents indicated that they had fired at least one of their law firms in the previous year. Top reasons for firing firms included "cost management, mishandling of one or more critical matters, and lack of responsiveness." Other results of the survey include the role changes for in-house counsel since various governance reforms have been put into place, especially Sarbanes-Oxley. Reported positive effects of those reforms include greater board engagement and better-informed decision makers.

The Red and Black, a student newspaper associated with the University of Georgia, reports on a more unusual musical act, Mikey Mel and the JD's, who are, according to their MySpace page, "the nation's premier law rock band," comprised of four law school students. Founder Mike Melonakos started the band in 2005, which has since grown to include Adam Hebbard, Dan Feltz, and George Campbell, on bass, guitar, and drums, respectively. The band members, who admit they would rather be rock stars than lawyers, hope to appeal to a niche market of professionals. "Rock is suffering because most rock songs are about drugs. Most people can't relate because they are professionals," says Melonakos. Having to juggle law school and a rock band has given Melonakos a clearer understanding of the legal profession's work schedule. "The songs are about law, but really, they are about work and life balance," he says. More information on Mikey Mel and the JD's can be found at the band's Web site: www.myspace.com/ mikeymelandthejds.

C The Wall Street Journal reports that a U.S. law firm has found an alternative route into the lucrative Chinese legal business. As international law firms attempt to spread all over the world, China has proved a problem with its many restrictions for foreign lawyers. McDermott Will & Emery has formed an alliance with Shanghai firm Yuan Da Law Offices (now to be known as MWE China Law Offices). Since the firms cannot fully merge, they will share clients but not profits. McDermott is licensing its name to Yuan Da, and is investing in telephones and computers for MWE China to fully integrate into (McDermott's) global network. McDermott hopes to be able to lure clients away from other firms because of its now-local Chinese legal experience. While other firms have served China from Hong Kong, some (14 in 2006) have established offices in China to have better access to the mainland market. These firms usually establish an office by hiring local lawyers. Other international firms will ally with a Chinese firm on an informal, one-time basis. The market on the mainland has historically been problematic because of strict regulations, an aversion to Western billing rates, and lack of top local talent. Says Carmen Chang, the Palo Alto-based head of the China practice at Wilson Sonsini Goodright & Rosati, "[people here] are just starting to understand what it means to have a good lawyer."

The law profession is infamous for its long, arduous, and demanding hours and expectations. A group of hopeful law students hopes to change that, and is willing to sacrifice the equally well-known high salaries of the law profession in order to do so. Wall Street Journal Law Blogger Peter Lattman reports that around 125 law students at some of the nation's most prestigious schools, such as Yale, NYU, and Boalt, led by Andrew Canter and Craig Holt Segall, both of Stanford, have created a new organization, Law Students Building a Better Legal Profession. The organization has sent a letter to AmLaw 100 firms, asking the firms to commit to their principles, which revolve around four themes: (1) "making concrete steps towards a transactional billing system," (2) "reducing maximum billable hour expectations for partnership," (3) "implementing balanced hours policies that work," and (4) "making work expectations clear." The group will report to law students which firms have committed and which firms have not, although the group "isn't going so far as to blackball firms that don't sign on," says Lattman.

Attracting talented lawyers in the competitive job market has long involved offering attractive perks, such as day care. But what about nap time? The (Raleigh, North Carolina) News and Observer reports that Kilpatrick Stockton has rediscovered the restorative power of the common childhood treat. Three years ago, the Raleigh law office of KS established the Power Room. Windowless and equipped with a sofa, coffee table, recliner, and blanket, the room is a quiet spot where any of the office's 85 employees can, for 10 to 20 minutes, snooze or get a little quiet time; or where lactating mothers (who have first dibs on the room) may nurse. The Power Room operates successfully on the honor system, with no reports of abuse of the 20-minute limit.

In our May/June issue, the last sentence of "Keeping Current: Contracts—Incorporation by Reference May Get Harder" by Lisa Lifshitz was unintentionally cut short. It should have read:

However, this decision should have the effect of making cyberspace lawyers pause when drafting "incorporation by reference" language, an activity that has now become very commonplace for incorporating additional online terms and conditions in the paper-based world.

We regret the error. The corrected article can be found on the BLT Web site at www.abanet.org/buslaw/blt/2007-05-06/keepingcurrent3.shtml.