As you can likely tell, Valerie Katz is fascinated by terminology. She understands the importance of using language to market and promote your firm. She had never thought, however, about the use of terminology within a firm until recently. The word that inspired this revelation was "project." Project is used in many ways and with multiple connotations....
For the next few months, small firm columnist Valerie Katz is working and living in San Francisco. It is safe to say to that it is a different world here than in Chicago. This difference, she has learned, is present not only outside of the office, but inside as well. How? According to several small-firm attorneys, this difference manifests itself in a work culture that stresses healthy competition in a supportive environment. Let's examine this difference in a little more detail....
Law firms and legal departments are writing the future of the profession in separate rooms. What happens when they actually work together?
Recently, small firm columnist Jay Shepherd talked to a fourth-year-associate friend who'd been working at a new small firm for several months. When Shepherd asked him how it was going, his friend said "great" in a way that suggested anything but. A partner was making his friend's life a living hell. What made this partner so horrible? It wasn't so much that the partner was horrible. It was that he was merely a "supervising partner"....
Nepotism is not a new concept. Small firm columnist Valerie Katz would bet that anyone reading this article can imagine an example where nepotism played a role in one's obtaining a legal job, rising to prominence at a law firm, or securing a client. Some people, including myself, used to scoff at those people. She thought that one should rise or fall based solely on his merit. She was wrong (and naive)....
Many litigators have a bias against settlement. It's understandable. There's no glamor in settling cases. There is a machismo (irrespective of gender) that goes along with trying cases. And it's ridiculous. Are you a "real" lawyer if you settle cases?
Losing power after Hurricane Irene got small firm columnist Jay Shepherd thinking about just how much he relies on electricity and computers and iPads and iPhones, and also how much that reliance has increased since he started law school. And over the years, he came to appreciate just how much technology has allowed small firms to compete with their Biglaw colleagues. What are the five biggest ways that technology has empowered small firms?
LexisNexis sat down with John Ursin, Managing Partner at Schenck Price, to learn how the firm is using legal AI to strengthen client service and daily legal work.
Are your Millennial associates busy IM'ing, Facebooking, and streaming music while at work? Small firm columnist Jay Shepherd has some advice on what you should do....
July is turning into a cushy month for me in ATL Land (not a real place; more of a state of mind). The first Monday of the month was the Fourth, meaning a much-appreciated day off for my colleagues and me. Then there’s this post today, which is nearly half done and I haven’t even […]
Ed. note: This is the latest installment of Size Matters, one of Above the Law’s new columns for small-firm lawyers. Like many unhappy lawyers, I find Cee Lo Green’s F**k You — which has been picked up by radio stations in a more family-friendly version, Forget You — to be a personal theme song (a […]