So much of the conversation on alternative fee agreements (AFAs) only serves to stir confusion rather than clear it up.  From a business perspective, AFAs are nothing more than a pricing strategy, something both companies that provide products and services experiment with all the time. Think about it in the context of department stores: who is the target market and ... Read More »

If you’re looking for bold, innovative ideas that can save a law firm significant dollars, you’ll be hard-pressed to top one approach used by Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. Martin Metz, Chief Information Officer, was part of a team of Pillsbury’s top management who evaluated moving many of the firm’s non-legal functions from its largest cities to a less-expensive location. The thought ... Read More »

First order of business:  My last post contained an open solicitation for your cheesy tourist photos. Rest assured, there are some wonderfully terrible pictures out there! As long as you feel like sharing them, I’ll be pleased to show a few favorites; here’s the first. If you’re hearing a shifty-eyed Susanna Hoffs singing in the background like I am, you ... Read More »

No doubt you’ve heard the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. It’s a popular quotation which is often “mis-attributed to Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, and Mark Twain,” according to Huffington Post reporter Clara Santa Maria. Regardless, it accurately reflects the sentiment expressed by Jordan Furlong in a post titled Design ... Read More »

In my last blog post, I expressed concern about a serious conundrum: so many legal firms forego organic growth to pursue lateral hires … even when the results and success rate for lateral acquisitions remain poor. Half of all laterals turn out to be failures, and an additional group falls short of meeting expectations. When you factor in the hard ... Read More »

Mobile isn’t a technology that’s coming—it’s arrived.  Google’s mobile guru Tim Reis demonstrated this when he spelled out some compelling facts about the impact of mobile technology in a digital world: Mobile internet users will outpace desktop internet users this year By 2015 mobile transactions will reach $1 trillion (with a “T”) 50% of US mobile users have smart phones Therefore we ... Read More »