We all know the legal industry is changing. It’s a sink-or-swim world, so law firms simply have to use modern technology to help them work more efficiently and reduce spending.
One way to do that is by taking advantage of alternative fee arrangements. But the real question is: what strategies — that actually work — can you and your firm use to change the way you bill?
Check out this video from Thomson Reuters to hear top attorneys explain how exactly the new economy has changed the established billing model, and to learn how they make alternative fee arrangements work, particularly with the help of WestlawNext.
Since we last mentioned the new Above the Law App, sponsored by Westlaw, 1,500 of you have downloaded the app. To the other 998,500 of you, what are you waiting for?
So far, we’ve gotten great feedback from partners around Biglaw.* They’ve said things like: “What’s an app?” and “How did you get into my office?”
But the ATL app isn’t just designed for partners who want to know how low they can keep bonuses this Christmas. Regular people can use it too. One third-year law student said, “I showed the app to my interviewer during OCI, and then we swapped stories about how helpful ATL is when we’re procrastinating.”**
* “Partners around Biglaw” may include homeless people within panhandling distance of the Lipstick Building.
** Obviously this quote is made up. The only 3Ls talking to interviewers on campus are the ones in violation of their restraining orders.
We have an app. Above the Law now has an app, exclusively sponsored by Westlaw. Turn up my symphony, turn up my symphony. Let’s drop the app link!
You can take a look at the Above the Law app in the iTunes store here. And if you have an Android, we’ve got an app for that, too.
You can now check Above the Law anywhere you want. On the beach. In the club. On a donkey in Mexico you are riding to get away from the bar exam. Obviously, we just want people to be able to access Above the Law from anywhere they want.
And if this helps you read Above the Law without your employer noticing, so much the better.
Thanks to all of our readers for your continued support.
It might be hot outside, but it’s nice and cool inside the Above the Law offices in Manhattan. Thanks to our fabulous advertisers for keeping the air conditioning on:
In a land that is right here and in a time that is right now, a technology has arisen so powerful that it can replace basic human document review. Is it time to bow down before our new robot overlords?
First, here’s a little story about me: my life in the legal world began as a paralegal. My first case was a GIANT patent infringement case that was already six years old and had involved as many as five companies, multiple US courts, the ITC and an international standards committee. I knew nothing about any of this.
On my first day, my supervisor (a paralegal with at least eight other cases driving her crazy) sat me down in front of a Concordance database with a 100,000+ patents and patent file histories. “Code these,” she said. I learned that “coding”, for the purposes of this exercise, meant manually typing the inventor’s name, the title of the patent, the assignee, the file date, and other objective data for each document. I worked on that project – and only that project – for at least the first six months of my job. After a week or so, time began to blur.
What I know, in retrospect and with absolutely certainty, is that as time began to blur, so did my judgment. So did my attention to detail. If you could tell me that I did not make at least one mistake a day – one inconsistent spelling, one reversed day and month, one incorrectly spaced title – I frankly would need to see your evidence. I would not believe it. The human mind is trainable but it is not a machine.
Watch to find out what some of our subscribers received in their May box!
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We currently have a number of active openings for associate roles at US and UK firms in HK / China, Singapore and two new in-house openings. As always, please feel free to reach out to us at asia@kinneyrecruiting.com in order to get details of current openings in Asia, as well as to discuss the Asia markets in general and what we expect for openings later this year. Our Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney will be in Beijing the week of March 25 and Evan Jowers will be in Hong Kong the week of April 1, if you would like to meet them in person.
The US associate openings we have in law firms are in the usual areas of M&A, cap markets, FCPA / white collar litigation, finance, and project finance. The most urgent of our top tier (top 15 US or magic circle) law firm openings in Asia (among many other firm openings that we have in Asia) are as follows:
• 2nd to 5th year mandarin fluent M&A associates needed in Beijing and Hong Kong at several firms;
• Korean fluent 2nd to 4th year cap markets associate needed in Hong Kong;
• 2nd to 5th year Japanese fluent M&A associates needed in Tokyo;
• 4th to 6th year mandarin fluent cap markets associate needed in Hong Kong;
• 2nd to 4th year M&A / cap markets mix associate needed in Singapore.
The traditional job application and interview process can be impersonal, and applicants often struggle to present themselves as more than just the sum of their GPAs, alma maters, and previous work history. ATL has partnered with ViewYou to help job seekers overcome this challenge. ViewYou NOW Profiles offer a unique way for job seekers to make a personal, memorable connection with prospective employers: introduction videos. These videos allow job candidates to display their personalities, interpersonal skills, and professional interests, creating an eDossier to brand themselves to potential employers all over the world. Check it out today!