This post was written by Jim Hassett: "When I published the results of our national survey of alternative fees, one of the most discouraging sections concerned the lack of trust between in-house law departments and the firms that serve them.  Although the interviews were focused on alternative fees, the findings also have implications for hourly work.

If you made a list of the most common characteristics of successful lawyers, would you put trust near the top of the list?  Me neither.  An inherent predisposition to be suspicious is a barrier to agreeing on alternative fees and to making them work:...

...In the end, alternative fees will work best in long term relationships where there is an atmosphere of trust..."

Full text and active link are available by clicking on the author's name.

Source: Legal Business Development, 10 March 2010, reproduced with permission of the author.

In the news: "The regulatory and legal landscape for data privacy is changing rapidly. Although these changes have not garnered much attention, say attorneys Satish M. Kini and Thomas S. Wyler, they deserve careful consideration by in-house counsel, privacy compliance staff and IT departments."

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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire. 12 March 2010. Copyright 2009.  ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscribe <http://store.law.com/registration/register.asp?subscribeto=nw>.

In the news: "A panel discussion by outsourcing experts and in-house counsel on Wednesday highlighted the in-house reluctance to pay for work by first- and even second-year associates, even as in-house lawyers on the panel acknowledged that the trend could harm their hiring pools in the future."

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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire. 11 March 2010. Copyright 2009.  ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscribe <http://store.law.com/registration/register.asp?subscribeto=nw>.

Podcast description from the site: "In this edition of In-House Legal presented by Lex Mundi, host Tim Corcoran, senior consultant with Altman Weil, discusses the latest in compliance and internal investigations with special guests, Erin Reilly Lewis of Baker & Daniels (Lex Mundi member firm for Indiana), and Richard Korman, General Counsel/Organizational Integrity Officer for Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center.  The group explores the increased attention to compliance, the culture of compliance from the top - down and offers key advice for clients going through internal investigations.

Special thanks to our new sponsor Lex Mundi.

Additional Resources:

Office of the Inspector General: www.OIG.hhs.gov

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:03 -- 16.1MB)

Active links and podcast are available at the source site listed below.

Source: Legal Talk Network, 23 February 2010

This post was written by Connie Crosby: "The latest episode of the new video podcast Social Mediators by Thornley Fallis PR professionals Joseph Thornley, Terry Fallis and Dave Fleet raises some good questions about employee policies, especially around social media. In it, they talk about whether employees should take care in what they say on their personal lives (notably online) and whether they are always representatives of their companies. Also see the full Pro PR blog post Social Mediators 2: Are you always one of us?"

Access links and view video podcast by clicking on the author's name above.

Source: Slaw.ca, 22 February 2010. Reproduced with permission of Simon Fodden, founder of Slaw.

In the news: "Electronic privacy in the workplace is a tangled subject, with only a few sure footholds for employers. Attorneys are hoping a Supreme Court ruling will provide unifying guidance on employer monitoring of employee text messages in a case currently under consideration by the justices."

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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire. 9 February 2010. Copyright 2009.  ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscribe <http://store.law.com/registration/register.asp?subscribeto=nw>.

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Source: FindLaw's Modern Practice: Law & Technology. 4 February 2010 Copyright © 2010 FindLaw, a Thomson Business. Subscribe <http://newsletters.findlaw.com/>.

From the e-newsletter: "Are you representing a company that wants to implement a social media policy?   Attorney Doug Cornelius has been compiling social media policies from companies across the company and making them available on his site.  So far he's got 144 policies, from companies like the American Red Cross, Fairfax County, Virginia, the Smithsonian Institution, and the U.S. Navy. Great resource."

Follow this link to the site.

Source: Mighell, Tom. Internet Legal Research Weekly. Volume 11, Issue 4. 31 January 2010. Subscribe <http://lists.inter-alia.net/mailman/listinfo/inter-alia>.

This post was written by Agnese Caruso: "A recent InformationWeek article explores 7 key questions organizations must ask themselves about investing in social networking in 2010. The important questions include:

• Is it necessary to have a corporate policy around social networking?...
• Which way works best?...
• Where's the ROI?...

The full text and active link for this post are available by clicking on the author's name.

Source: Slaw.ca, 26 January 2010. Reproduced with permission of Simon Fodden, founder of Slaw.

In the news: "Social media are becoming increasingly central to corporate communications, but with them come new risks as conversations get too casual and typing too loose. Reed Smith partner Douglas J. Wood suggests five steps corporate counsel can take to deal with social media and their risks."

The five steps:

1. Join in the conversation...

2. Monitor the conversation...

3. Influence the conversation...

4. Limit the conversation...

5. Empower your social media guru...

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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire. 15 January 2010. Copyright 2009.  ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscribe <http://store.law.com/registration/register.asp?subscribeto=nw>.