Stark County Law Library Weblog

This post was written by Cordell Parvin: "Yesterday I wrote that the old associate dream of just getting hours and keeping their senior lawyer happy no longer works in this economy. In many firms leaders tell their associates: "We just want you to do good work." In other words, the last thing on earth they would want you to do is to spend time building relationships with clients and potential clients. That culture is fine until the economy tanks as it has recently, those firms lay off associates and income partners who "just do good work."

...

If you want your firm to do client development programs for your junior associates, focus on these three main areas..."

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Source: Law Consulting Blog, 11 March 2010. © 2010, Cordell Parvin LLC. Reproduced with permission of the author.

This post was written by Kevin O'Keefe: "Bill Pollak, the CEO of American Lawyer Media (ALM), the leading provider of current legal news through national and regional publications, has an interesting piece this week in BtoB Media Business on why media leaders need to enter the social media waters.

Pollak explains he's not blogging, Tweeting, and using Facebook because he has nothing do. He often finds "social media to be tedious and frustrating." Pollak actively participates in social media because he's "convinced that these tools will be the future of b-to-b media."

Following Bill as a media company leader, one thing I've learned is that you lead by example. And it's no different with social media per Bill...

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Source: Real Lawyers Have Blogs, 8 March 2010. © 2010, LexBlog, reproduced with permission of the author.

Posted by Wayne Schiess: "I wish I had known that becoming a good legal writer would take years.

I thought I was a good writer in college. I also thought the basic training I received in law school would enable me to write well in practice. I was wrong.

I just finished reading the book Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. In it he reports on a theory of developing expertise. The theory suggests that it takes 10,000 hours to develop expertise in a particular area. If the theory is right, it certainly applies to legal writing. So if you work 2000 hours per year, and you spend 1000 of those hours writing, becoming an expert legal writer would take you 10 years. That's a long time..."


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Source: Legalwriting.net Blog, 11 March 2010. Copyright 2008. Reproduced with permission of the author

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..."

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

This post was written by the law library staff: "The Ohio State Bar Association is in the process of creating an online forms library using a program called HotDocs. This new service, which will be available for a fee to OSBA members, will automate the process of creating common forms for use in the following practice areas: appellate practice; business law; civil litigation; estate planning; trust and probate; family law; jury instructions; advance directives; real estate; and workers compensation. The fee will start at around $200 for solo attorneys. Since an OSBA committee is currently in the process of determining which forms to automate, and a vendor has already been selected to create them, it should not take too long."

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Source: Cleveland Law Library Weblog, 11 March 2010. Reproduced with permission by Kathleen Sasala.

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>.

This post was written by StephanieWestAllen: "As with any conflict, family disputes can be difficult--and they can also be fruitful. From "Advice to nonfamily managers" (BusinessWorld Online):

Conflict among family members in a business can be normal, but it can also present the greatest source of difficulty and discomfort for nonfamily managers.

...

The author gives 5 tips:

• First, as much as possible, enhance the trust among the siblings because the more they trust each other, the less they will fight.
• Second, encourage a greater flow of information.
• Third, assist in preparing the successor.
• Fourth, encourage accountability in the organization.
• Fifth, make sure not to take sides with one generation or the other.

For a more about each of these tips, read the article."

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Source: idealawg, 11 March 2010, reproduced with permission of the author.

From the e-newsletter: "Roller coasters and amusement parks are traditionally associated with summertime fun for children, adults, and families. Amusement parks market and advertise themselves as places to escape and enjoy the thrills of exhilarating roller coasters, twirling rides, and water park slides. Tragically, however, some visitors never leave an amusement park or water park alive."

Read more...

Source: FindLaw's Public Advisor. 11 March 2010 Copyright © 2010 FindLaw, a Thomson Business. Subscribe <http://newsletters.findlaw.com/>.

This post was written anonymously: "...Publishing your expertise on your blog gets instant street cred with adversaries.  We all do it.  In fact, it's the first thing we do.  We Google our adversaries name to find out who they are.  When they find hundreds or thousands of results dealing with the very issue you are arguing about on behalf of your respective clients, you immediately have the upper hand..."

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Source: The Greatest American Lawyer, 4 March 2010,  reproduced with permission of the author.

This post was written by Douglas Keene: "By now we all know to tell jurors a story. Articles like this one from Neuromarketing Blog are really not news to us. Tell a story and your sales pitch (or your argument) is more persuasive. Ho-hum. Old news. But here's some news you may not know.

Wear red.

Why? When? And isn't that too bright for the courtroom? So many questions.

Here's what the research says..."

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