law firm Archives - Page 19 of 21 - The National Law Forum

Attorney Wellness and Mindfulness Part 1: Why is Mindfulness a Benefit to Attorneys and others in the Legal Industry?

Attorney wellness and a focus on all aspects of employee well-being, including mental health, has become an important issue in today’s workplace environment. Law firms, and the legal industry in general, with its competitive reputation, expectation of heavy workloads and high stakes environment is beginning to embrace wellness practices as an anecdote to the chronic stress often faced by attorneys and other individuals who work in law firms.

The problem is so widespread that in 2017, the ABA House of Delegates approved Resolution 106 amended the ABA Model Rule for Minimum Continuing Legal Education (CLE) to include a requirement for lawyers to receive at least one hour of mental health, substance abuse credit every three years. And mental and physical health issues as well as substance abuse CLE courses are mandatory in several states, such as Illinois and Florida or count towards professional responsibility credits in numerous other states.

Elena Rand JD, MSW and Chief Marketing Officer of Wiggin and Dana has been working on this issue for years, putting her experience as a litigator and a legal executive coach along with her Master’s degree in Clinical Social Work to help those in the legal industry understand chronic stress, how it impacts the body, and how mindfulness, even at a basic level, can help improve performance and well-being.

Elena Rand and Eilene Spear of the National Law Review will be hosting a panel at the Momentum Events Employee Wellness Event for Legal and Professional Services Providers at the Riverside Hotel in Fort Lauderdale on February 27- 28, and in preparation for that presentation they sat down and discussed some aspects of mindfulness, identified some barriers to its practice and outlined the need in the legal industry.

I know you have formal training in Clinical Social Work and have dedicated much of your professional life to workplace health and wellness issues, can you take a minute or two and address your background and why wellness at the workplace, specifically in the legal industry is an issue that you care about?

Attorney wellness and wellness and the legal community in general is something that has been sort of a mission and a passion of mine probably for the last 15, maybe even 20 years. It really came to the forefront of my attention when I was working as a legal executive coach. I was doing coaching for a large law firm, really focused on working with attorneys to improve their leadership and business development and networking skills and taking high-performers to the next level. What I invariably discovered is that there is an underbelly of crisis and struggling for many of these enormously successful, high achieving, high performing go-getting attorneys. I found that attorneys were struggling both in terms of managing their baseline day to day life to extreme mental health issues and addiction. That kind of came to full bloom and grabbed my attention.

As a legal executive coach working with high-performing attorneys, I was sort of a first responder in many ways for a lot of the wellness and mental health crises that were being buried for many, many years. Before we could even get to how to focus on getting you to the partnership level, and how do we focus on doubling your book of business, attorneys were coming to me on their own saying, “I don’t think I can take another moment of this,” or “if I add one more thing to my day, you know, I’m going to, I’m going to really lose it.”

I started to see that this was an issue that kept popping up and presenting itself, so I went back to grad school and earned a master’s in clinical social work. I wanted to have a real behavioral toolbox so that I could understand human behavior, understand the spectrum of wellness and the lack of wellness, and really be able to service the legal community in that way.

Additionally, wellness has been a lifelong personal struggle and mission, in my life. I was one of those crazy, high-performing litigators who hit a wall at 90 miles an hour when I had my first child at the age of 27 and suffered from crippling postpartum depression. Suddenly, after years of just pushing and pushing, I one day woke up to realize that I was now severely impaired. It was very scary and humbling and you know, it became sort of my own passion and mission to really bring a level of attention and awareness to wellness in the legal community.

It’s pretty obvious that the legal industry is very competitive and that it can be full of very high-stress situations. What are some symptoms of constant stress that you might come across in the day to day operations of a typical law firm?

That question’s really important. You know, stress is basically a physiological reaction to a perceived threat to you and to your environment, right? So that’s where you get the whole fight or flight physical response. That’s what stress is. From a biological perspective, what ends up happening is your blood pressure goes up, your veins constrict, and you have basic physiological symptoms kicking you into fight or flight mode. From purely a biological perspective, these automatic stress responses can have serious ramifications that can end up impairing an individual’s daily functioning.

Biology impacts our behavior; so chronic, ongoing stress in the body manifest and present some clearly identifiable behavioral dysfunctions. For starters, chronic stress induces a level of constant baseline agitation. Everything and anything can be irritating to the point of explosion. Everyone is a little bit of a powder keg about to explode. Chronic stress will cause sleep deprivation. It has been linked to eating disorders. It can cause imbalances in your metabolism. It’ll cause imbalances in your serotonin level, and the other thing it does is it causes isolation. You have increased isolation with stress because you’re protecting yourself. You’re not talking to anybody, you’re going through all of these things and everything in your body and mind is telling you to isolate.

From an executive functioning point of view, there is so much research to show that people functioning under high levels of stress for a long period of time can demonstrate impaired judgment, impaired ability for conflict resolution, and impaired compassion. These impairments impact interpersonal relationships at work including client relationships. High stress has a whole host of impairments associated with high-level executive functioning that really is being called into play moment to moment. As an attorney, chronic stress can compromise your ability to focus and use good judgment. Your ability to analyze situations correctly and be able to step away and say, “is this a moment for confrontation?” or “is this a moment for cool off?” is now off. Your ability to assess how best to present information appropriately to the client, to the associate, or to the partner is also off. Bottom line is that chronic high stress really impairs many of the operational skills needed to interface and practice effectively as a lawyer. Finally, it also impairs the softer skills that are really needed as you become more of a senior partner and involved in business development.

From a business perspective, both individuals and the institutional law firms are negatively impacted by untreated chronic high stress as an individual’s capacity to handle situations and use good judgment and analysis have basically gone out the window.

How does mindfulness practices help counteract that stress in a typical law office environment?

Basically, mindfulness is bringing your attention to the present moment in an intentional, deliberate and systematic kind of way with an attitude of acceptance of whatever might show up or for whatever you’re experiencing. What mindfulness does, is it forces you to pause, which is, you know, a novel concept for many attorneys. One of the key things that happen when you are in a stress-induced situation is you stop breathing. We hold our breath. When you do that, you essentially jack up all of those sympathetic stress indicators in your body I mentioned before. I really want to make mindfulness super clear and basic, because I want to make mindfulness practice really accessible and strip away any preconceived ideas of what mindfulness is.

So, what is the power of the present moment? If we strip it down, the present moment for any human being at any given moment is made up of a cocktail of their emotions, their sensations, and/or their thoughts. When you’re bringing your attention to that bundle of things that are happening, what you’re feeling, what you’re thinking and what you’re sensing in the world, suddenly you start to breathe and you start to invoke and sort of trigger your parasympathetic nervous system, which is the self-calming, self-soothing embodiment that we all automatically have in our body. What you’re inviting yourself to do is to intentionally focus on the present moment so that you can breathe, so that your body can be able to kick itself into a place of calmness.

We’re not talking about achieving nirvana, you know, we’re talking about creating a tool that is user-friendly so that in the moment you can pause, breathe and be able to ground in the present moment so that your body and your mind can kick into a better and perhaps, more optimal way of functioning.

That’s a simplified way of thinking about it because other levels can be a little off-putting or intimidating. If you read a lot of philosophy on mindfulness and meditation, anyone who claims they’re an “expert” in mindfulness doesn’t get it, in my opinion. We’re all beginners. And the idea that we are all beginning all the time in this process with the “beginner’s mind” is what can make the difference of whether you try mindfulness or not. There is no perfection or achievement award in mindfulness; starting at the beginning and paying attention to the present moment over and over again is the practice.

Many thanks to Ms. Rand for her insights. Monday we will have Part 2, which will address the basics of what mindfulness practice can be, as well as some barriers to practicing mindfulness and how to overcome them.

ARTICLE BY Eilene Spear and William C. P. Thieme of The National Law Review / The National Law Forum LLC.

For more on the topic, see the National Law Review Law Office Management section.

Legal News and Updates for January 2020: Law Firm Moves, Legal Industry Trends

Law firms and the businesses that surround them have hit the ground running in 2020, with tons of announcements, big moves by law firms and innovation across the entire field. Read on for a small taste of some of the exciting developments in the legal industry.

Hiring and Law Firm Moves

Patent preparation and prosecution law firm, Harrity & Harrity, LLP recently announced the firm had added four new patent attorneys: Joseph Lentivech, Patrick Hansen, McCord Rayburn, and Bret Tingey; as well as two new law clerks: Sara Ko and Abigail Troy.

Joseph Lentivech is based in Mobile, Alabama, and returns to Harrity & Harrity to practice after his service as an Administrative Patent Judge at the United States Patent Trademark Office (USPTO). His practice focuses on the prosecution of patent applications in electrical and computer technologies, encompassing telecommunications and computer hardware and software. Patrick Hansen will be based in the Raleigh office, and has experience representing petitioners and patent owners in post-grant proceedings, with specialization in patent applications for electrical, computer and mechanical technologies. McCord Rayburn has international patent experience, coordinating inbound national state patent application filings for foreign corporations, and he will work out of the law firm’s Charlotte office. Bret Tingey focuses on patent preparation and prosecution in mechanical and electrical technology, with extensive experience writing memos and briefs in IP litigation–including some submitted to the US Supreme Court–and he will be based in Raleigh. Law Clerks Sora Ko and Abigail Troy both have experience in patent preparation and prosecution before the USPTO and will work out of Harrity & Harrity’s DC office.

Paul Harritiy, a partner in the firm, called the group “superstars” and says, “we are excited for this group to join our team and assist the firm in continuing to provide excellent customer service to our Patent 300 clients.”

Lipson Neilson started off 2020 by announcing it has added nationally-recognized Surety & Fidelity Law attorneys Phillip G. Alber, Jeffrey M. Frank, Omar J. Harb, and Jessica L. Wynn, all four previously with Alber Frank PC law firm. Alber will head up a new Lipson Neilson office in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and Frank, Harb and Wynn will be based in the firm’s Bloomfield Hills, Michigan office.

Jeffrey Neilson, a co-founder of the firm, says, “They’re a tremendous and immediate asset to our firm in the area of Surety & Fidelity Law and bring significant expertise in other areas of law and litigation as well. I think their decision to move to Lipson Neilson is a good indication of our reputation, our work and our culture.”

In a move that will strengthen the firm’s healthcare and corporate practices, Manatt announced that Paul A. Carr-Rollitt has joined as a healthcare partner in the Los Angeles office. Carr-Rollitt focuses his practice on corporate healthcare concerns, and his healthcare transaction experience includes mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, reorganizations, affiliations, public offerings, and private equity transactions. His practice includes advising non-traditional and traditional health care entities, and his advice is legal, business-oriented, and incorporates strategy as well as policy concerns. Bill Bernstein, the leader of Manatt Health, calls Carr-Rollitt a “perfect fit” with Manatt’s growing practice. Bernstein says, “He brings with him an excellent roster of clients and has a national healthcare practice, which encompasses both payers and providers.”

On his end, Carr-Rollitt says Manatt’s blending of strategy with legal advice is an approach he’s always appreciated. “I am excited to be part of a firm that has a strong understanding of and commitment to the future of the healthcare industry and to work with some of the most forward-thinking professionals from coast to coast,” he says.

Last week, Katten announced that Mitchel C. Pahl has joined its Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice as a partner in the New York office. Pahl’s practice concentrates on employee benefits and executive compensation in private and public company M&A’s. He has also been involved in high-profile corporate transactions in a variety of industries including real estate, health care, and financial services. Additionally, he has advised clients on the operation and design of qualified retirement plans, equity incentive plans, and other compensation arrangements, as well as on negotiating executive employment agreements and separation packages.

Kate Ulrich Saracene, Katten partner and leader of the firm’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice, praises Pahl’s decades of experience across complex transactions. “Mitch also brings new capabilities to Katten with his focus on qualified retirement plans, benefit plans for non-profits and experience working with ESOPs,” says Saracene. “With the addition of Mitch, we’ve achieved our goal of building a full-service employee benefits and executive compensation practice, able to advise any type of client on any type of plan or transaction.”

Cornerstone Research started off 2020 by naming Dr. Yesim C. Richardson as President. In a departure for the organization, Richardson will share leadership with CEO Rahul Guha, who also took on his role on January 1, 2020. The duo succeeds Michael E. Burton, who had served in both roles since July of 2014.

Yesim Richardson Cornerstone Research — Yesim Richardson

After a period of succession planning, the organization decided it made the most sense to divide the responsibilities of the CEO and President, and have two individuals fill those roles instead of combining them. “At this stage in our history,” says Dr. Guha, “we believe splitting the CEO and president responsibilities ensures the most effective leadership structure for our future.” Prior to her appointment as President, Dr. Richardson served on Cornerstone Research’s board of directors, and has been active on firm governance committees. In her new role as president, she will focus on talent strategies and service delivery, and continue to consult and support Cornerstone Research experts on litigation matters and other consulting questions. “Cornerstone Research has always lived its values . . .we have been guided by our commitment to deliver top-quality work to our clients, provide exceptional support to our experts, and develop pathways to leadership for our outstanding staff,” says Richardson. “We have enhanced the way we run the firm to support this commitment even more fully. I am proud and grateful to partner with Rahul as we look ahead to the continued growth and success of this extraordinary company.”

Porter Wright announced last week that Deb Boiarsky was promoted into the firm’s Chief Operating Partner position. This development comes after the firm has grown, with two new offices and a 30-percent partner increase across the firm. Boiarsky focuses her practice on employee benefits–specifically ERISA and IRS compliance–but in her role as the Chief Operating Partner, she will work with firm leadership to oversee day to day operations at the firm with an eye towards strategy and securing firm growth and development. Bob Tannous, managing partner of Porter Wright and the former Chief Operating Partner, indicates that a business mentality is key to success in this role. “Deb is known for being measured and considerate,” he points out, “and for fostering strong relationships in and outside of the firm.”

Law Firm Innovation and Developments

Kluk Farber, a female-founded law firm in New York and Los Angeles, has partnered with Vivvi Early Learning, a provider of employer-sponsored on and near-site child care, to provide children aged six weeks to five years access to near-site back-up care. Vivvi has worked in a variety of industries with employers to provide childcare for employees, including hospitality, media, and advertising. Partnering with companies who understand childcare is a major pain point for their employees, and their solution can increase employee morale while lowering turnover and absenteeism.

Kluk Farber, already a progressive leader in the legal industry for providing flex-time and supporting work-life balance, entered into this partnership acknowledging that the way child care is traditionally set up is not ideal for working families. “Being a female in law is not an easy feat to begin with, but having a family and achieving work-life integration? That’s nearly impossible,” she says. “We learned of Vivvi’s transformational work through the NYC female founder community, and knew instantly that it was a resource we needed to integrate immediately.”

Norton Rose Fulbright advised on the development and implementation of the world’s first consumer-ready digital fiat currency, assisting NZIA Limited to create the currency for the Central Bank of the Bahamas. The currency, known as “Sand Dollars” is a central bank digital currency_or CBDC–and is part of Project Sand Dollar. Sand Dollars will be issued by the state’s central bank, and are the same as legal tender, backed by the government and used by the public. The currency went live in digital wallets in December of 2019 and was used locally immediately after, as local businesses were onboarded through banks and other financial institutions. Now, the sand dollars are basically, legally, the same as cash.

The Bahamas was one of the first areas to develop a CBDC, and the island nation will benefit in a variety of ways; including inclusion in the financial system of unbanked and improved expenditure and tax systems. Norton Rose Fulbright Vancouver-based partner, John Kim, commented: “The innovative nature of Project Sand Dollar required us to provide equally innovative solutions to our client. Our input resulted in a system that would not only meet the requirements of current financial and regulatory regimes but actually leverage them to provide a CBDC solution that enables people to conduct more secure and instant transactions.”

Fortis Law Partners will now offer legal guidance on estate planning practice, assisting clients with asset-protection strategies, gift planning, and tax reduction. Paige K. Justus, a senior corporate associate with the firm, will head the practice, which will also assist clients with wealth protection strategies, wills, living trusts, powers of attorney, guardian designations for minor children and healthcare declarations. Along with individual estate planning strategies, the estate planning practice group will work with nonprofits desirous of obtaining tax-exempt status assistance.

Legal Technology and Industry Developments

Embroker, Inc, a digital insurance company, announced the Lawyers’ Professional Liability platform, ideal for both large and small law practices. This platform allows law firms across a variety of sizes to secure and enroll in legal malpractice insurance quickly, efficiently and affordably.

Embroker CEO Matt Miller says the new Embroker platform can leverage technology to improve a traditionally onerous process. “They [attorneys] only have to spend a few minutes on each year and receive a quote from an A+ rated insurance provider,” Miller says. “By leveraging Embroker technology, our overhead is less intensive than the traditional decades-old model, and we are also able to provide lower rates that are going to be very attractive.”

Embroker will target law firms with 1-10 attorneys nationally, as these are traditionally most impacted by the onerous process of purchasing malpractice insurance without large staffs. The platform is currently available in 31 states, with approval pending in other states as the product is offered nationwide.

Lex Mundi recently released its Global M&A Trends Report, featuring insights from almost 70 Lex Mundi member firms from all over the world. Each of these firms shared insights on mergers and acquisitions within their purview, focusing on key concerns facing M&A practitioners, deal activity by segment, and 2020 predictions. The report indicated that due diligence and deal structure rank highly, with 18% and 14% of member firms respectively ranking those issues as major areas of concern. Matters of cybersecurity and data privacy are spurring concerns in due diligence, as buyer companies are working to mitigate risk across cyber, anti-corruption, and data privacy.

Despite global disruptions such as trade wars, Brexit, and economic instability, the majority of Lex Mundi Member firms (as much as 60%) indicated they expected M&A activity to remain the same in 2020; with the top industries such as energy and power, financial services, manufacturing, technology, healthcare, and life sciences seeing heavy activity.

Last week Jennifer Schaller moderated a panel at the 27th Annual Marketing Partner Forum in Miami, Florida on Client Journey Mapping for Law Firms. In conjunction with the discussion on Client Journey Mapping, the National Law Review is conducting a survey on elements of client journey mapping, and we will be analyzing and writing up the results. The survey is still open, so please consider taking a few minutes to add your insights. All responses are completely confidential.

That’s it for now. More to come as 2020 progresses!

ARTICLE BY Eilene Spear of The National Law Review / The National Law Forum LLC.

For more legal industry news, see the Law Office Management section of the National Law Review.

Five Items to Add Into Your 2020 Solo and Small Law Firm Digital Marketing Strategy

The new year is here, and if you’re like most solo or small law firm owners, you have big goals for this coming year. As the field of law becomes increasingly competitive, it becomes more and more important to have a crystal-clear digital marketing plan that helps you reach new leads, reconnect with potential clients, and solidify your brand.

1. Develop Your Content Marketing Strategy

The phrase “content is king” is often heard in marketing circles, and the legal industry is proof that this adage is still true. Regularly producing high-quality content helps your brand grow in multiple ways. First, you can target keywords that potential clients are searching for when looking for a lawyer. Second, your trustworthy content helps you strengthen your brand and your reputation. Finally, shareable content can also play a big role in your social media marketing plans. Focus on topics that are interesting to laypeople and use conversational language in lieu of legal jargon.

2. Expand Your Social Media Presence

Regardless of the age, gender, and socioeconomic status of your target market, it’s highly likely that they’re active on multiple social media platforms. Use your time wisely by researching the platforms your audience is using and focusing your efforts, rather than trying to be active on as many platforms as possible.

3. Make Sure You’re Considering Your Mobile Users

Per CNBC, nearly three-quarters of Internet users are expected to access the Internet solely via smartphone by 2025. Law firms with outdated websites that are not optimized for mobile devices are at risk of losing potential clients to firms with fast-loading, mobile-friendly websites. Your website should make it easy for clients to find the information they’re searching for, learn more about your firm, and contact you directly.

4. Bring in Gated Content

Gated content, also known as “freemium” content, is provided free to your visitors—in exchange for signing up to your e-mail list. This is an extremely effective technique for law firms in various specialties, so if you’re not using it already, make it a priority in 2020. Many law firms offer access to a free guide in exchange for a visitor’s email address. For example, a family law attorney might write a short guide on “7 Steps to Divorcing an Adversarial Spouse” or a bankruptcy lawyer might write “5 Ways to Repair Your Credit After Bankruptcy.” This ties directly into the fifth tip on this list.

5. Tap Into E-Mail Leads

An e-mail list is still one of the most valuable things you can have as a solo attorney or small law firm. It helps you stay in touch with potential clients who may not be ready to take the plunge when they first come across your website. By building a relationship with your e-mail list through regular updates and valuable information, you can be at the forefront of their thoughts when they are ready to take that leap.

Digital marketing is key to the growth of your law firm. A solid plan for 2020 can get you on the right track.

ARTICLE BY Meranda M. Vieyra of Denver Legal Marketing.

Find more marketing advice for legal professionals on the National Law Review Law Office Management page.

How Plaintiff Firms Can Make Names for Themselves in a Crowded Landscape

The competitive landscape for plaintiff lawyers is perhaps more challenging than any other area of law. The market seems to get more crowded every day, and the fight for clients is fierce. Moreover, plaintiff lawyers often have to overcome the unsavory, ambulance-chasing reputation inaccurately associated with this practice. With all of these obstacles, establishing your marketing strategy can seem like an uphill battle.

Yet, even in this difficult atmosphere, it’s possible for plaintiff firms to stand out from the rest. This was the topic of “David vs. Goliath: The Competitive World of Plaintiff Firm Marketing,” a session at this year’s Legal Marketing Association Annual Conference. Speakers Pamela Foster, Director of Marketing and Business Development at Howie Sacks & Henry LLP; Danelsy Medrano, Marketing Manager at Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock Dodig LLP; Adrian Dayton, Founder of ClearView Social Inc.; and Erin Watson, Director of Communications and Marketing at Motley Rice LLC discussed best practices and lessons learned from their years as legal marketers for plaintiff firms. We recapped the session on our LMA Conference webinar and broke down their strategies into three areas:

Use Marketing 101: Differentiation

There are lots of firms that do plaintiff work, from auto accidents to slip and falls to medical malpractice. A quick Google search can tell you as much. So, when compared to all the other firms out there, what makes you different? It could be that you’ve been doing it the longest, that you’re more hands-on than anyone else or that your firm is all women. It doesn’t matter what makes you different; it only matters that you know what that differentiation is and then market it.

This is marketing 101, because you can’t communicate a message without understanding exactly what you bring to the table. Being clear and focused in your message not only resonates better with prospective clients, but it also makes your marketing budget go further, too. Truly understanding what makes you unique will make the rest of your marketing strategy fall into place and differentiate you in the minds of prospects.

Go Beyond SEO

A decade ago, it was possible to write a few blog posts with keywords and do reasonably well in search rankings. That’s no longer the case. Online marketing has gotten more complex and detailed, and it takes expertise to do it well. Today’s legal marketers need to understand much more than SEO; they also need to understand syndication, what kind of content ranks high and which algorithm changes can upend their approach.

Especially in plaintiff law, where the landscape is crowded and firms need to rank high to survive, DIY search marketing doesn’t cut it. Whether you have an in-house marketing team or hire an outside agency to help, you need to be sure that the person in charge of your search strategy is a true expert.

It’s true that investing in good marketers and digital strategy can be costly, but the return on investment is just too good to pass up. Digital marketing offers so much insight and opportunity for measurement. Where are your clients coming from? What search terms are they using to find you? Once clients do find you, where are they losing interest—or where are they making contact? Digital tools can help you find the answers to these questions and track clients at every stage of the decision-making process.

Be Proactive, Not Reactive

Plaintiff lawyers know better than anyone that the best time to seize an opportunity is before anyone else does. The same goes for your marketing. Rather than waiting for things to come down the pipeline, anticipate and identify where they’re coming from before your competitors do. It’s all about being proactive rather than reactive. When you’re ahead of the curve you’re at an advantage, at least for a little while—and that time can make all the difference.

Click here to watch our LMA Annual Conference Webinar Recap.

ARTICLE BY Sharon Berman of Berbay Marketing & Public Relations Firm.

For more in legal marketing, see the National Law Review Law Office Management section.

Legal Industry Trends for November 2019: Law Firm News, Diversity Awards and Legal Technology Updates

As we march on to the end of 2019 and into the holiday season, the legal industry continues to buzz with constant development and innovation. Read on to learn about a few of the highlights happening in law firms across the United States, legal technology developments that are changing the way law is practiced, and things to anticipate in 2020.

Law Firm Developments, Hires and Moves

Buchalter recently announced the formation of a new Cannabis & Hemp Industry Law Group This, in many ways, is formalizing a group that has been operating for several years. In 2013, it all began when a client of the firm was tasked with operating a medical cannabis collective. Since then, the group has expanded to over 100 clients in the industry utilizing over twenty-five lawyers across each of its practice groups, demonstrating the broad reach of the cannabis industry. Building on those early experiences, Buchalter’s Cannabis & Hemp Industry law group will assist businesses in the industry across a variety of areas, including intellectual property, tax, real estate and financing. Oren Bitan, Shareholder in the LA office will co-chair the group with Martin P. Florman, Managing Shareholder of the Orange County office. Florman says, “We anticipate significant growth of this industry over the next decade while we continue to offer clients unparalleled expertise in distressed assets, banking and the Bank Secrecy Act, and real estate related concerns in this rapidly evolving industry.”

Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP, in Denver, Colorado announced the addition of four associates Omeed M. Azmoudeh (Trial Department); Stephanie Block-Guedez (Finance & Acquisitions Department); Molly Kokesh (Trial Department); and Rob McCary (Finance & Acquisitions Department). These additions will bolster the firm’s litigation and finance and acquisitions department, and two of the associates, Azmoudeh and McCary, were formerly summer associates at the firm.

Jeff Cody Norton Rose Fulbright — Jeff Cody of Norton Rose Fulbright

Norton Rose & Fulbright recently announced the election of Jeff Cody as its U.S. Managing Partner, effective Jan. 1, 2020. Cody will also serve as Chair of the U.S. Management Committee. The outgoing managing partner, Daryl Lansdale, says: “Jeff has a passion for our firm, its people and our clients. Our partnership has the utmost confidence in Jeff to provide leadership and vision during a time of change and innovation in the legal profession.”

Cody has been a partner with the firm since 2001, and is based in Norton Rose’s Dallas office. He has significant experience in complex commercial disputes in healthcare, financial and information technology industries; specifically healthcare reimbursement matters, complex stock and asset purchase and sale agreements, and information systems development projects. Cody: “I am proud and honored to be entrusted by my partners with this leadership responsibility. I am confident in the firm and optimistic about our future in this dynamic legal landscape. With leading lawyers across the U.S. and around the world, we stand committed to delivering a superior client experience with high-quality and high-value legal advice.”

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP announced that digital health regulatory advisor Yarmela Pavlovic will join the firm as a partner in its Health and Digital and Technology Groups. Yarmela has extensive experience working with digital health, software as a medical device and assisting life sciences companies as they navigate the FDA approval process. Lisa Suennen, who leads Manatt’s Digital and Technology practice, says: “Healthcare products and services companies at the intersection of technology and health are facing increasingly complex and rapidly changing regulatory processes, requiring expert counsel to plan and engage with the regulatory bodies that make it possible for high-quality health innovations to come to market. Yarmela’s experience will be a tremendous value-add to our already significant capabilities in the digital realm.” Pavlovic, who describes her work as “a mix of legal and consulting” is excited to join Manatt, and says: “Manatt is the ideal next step in the growth of my practice and will help me provide an even wider array of capabilities to both startups and large companies that engage with the FDA.”

Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP recently announced the hiring of Phillip A. Casey to co-chair Calfee’s Public Utility Regulatory practice group. Casey has more than 25 years of experience in energy law focusing on public utilities, both in house and within a law firm. His experience includes economic regulatory matters, corporate governance, new entrant certification, and regulatory strategies across jurisdictions. Additionally, he has incident response experience and major litigation management in this field. Casey calls Calfee’s energy practice “an incredibly talented group of experienced attorneys” and he says, “I look forward to demonstrating Calfee’s capabilities and leadership beyond Ohio and throughout the Midwest in this new role.”

Law Firm Awards, Recognition and Achievements

Benchmark Litigation, designed to feed the need for specialized study in the labor and employment practice area, provides rankings based on law firm questionnaires, peer review interviews and client reviews. The publication recently announced its second annual Labor and Employment guide and included three attorneys from Ward & Smith as “Labor and Employment” Stars: Ken Gray, Will Oden, and Devon Williams. Oden and Williams lead the firm’s Workplace Safety and Health Practice and the firm’s Labor and Employment practice, respectively. Gray focuses his practice on employment-related litigation, advising clients from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies on breach of employment contracts, employment discrimination and wrongful discharge matters.

Ballard Spahr was recently named the “Law Firm of the Year” recognition for Litigation – First Amendment in 2020 Best Law Firms by U.S. News & World Report. This was on top of the 25 National Tier 1 rankings the firm achieved across a variety of areas, and especially noteworthy as only one law firm per legal practice earns that designation. Firm Chair Mark Stewart sees the award rankings as evidence of the success of the firm’s efforts to grow nationally in depth and experience. Stewart: “By executing our plan to expand thoughtfully and strategically, and keeping our focus on legal excellence and client value, we are serving more clients better than ever before.”

Jeff White Robinson Cole — Jeff White of Robinson Cole

Jeff White of Robinson Cole was recently named a “New England Trailblazer” in the inaugural list by Law.com and Connecticut Law Tribune for demonstrating an ability to “move the needle in the legal industry.” White, the chair of Robinson Cole’s Manufacturing Industry Practice, has significant experience on national and international issues related to the manufacturing industry, and this recognition is further evidence of his understanding of the challenges and need for change in some areas facing the industry. White: “With technological advances driving the boom in manufacturing, we need to continue to innovate in the kinds of things we’re focusing on. Our job as lawyers is to stay on top of these developments, because they’re going to have major implications that manufacturers deal with going forward.”

Under White’s leadership of Robinson Cole’s Manufacturing practice group, the group has risen to prominence as a leader in the field. One of his signature achievements was the creation of the Manufacturing Law Blog, which focuses on issues related to manufacturing rather than casting a wider, more business in general, net. In further recognition of his leadership in the manufacturing industry, in May of 2019 Robinson+Cole was recognized with the President’s “E” Award for Export Service by the United States Secretary of Commerce. The “E” award, established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 is the highest recognition any U.S. entity can receive for making a significant contribution to the expansion of U.S. exports. Robinson+Cole was the only law firm in the country to receive the honor in 2019.

Law Firm Diversity Recognition

The law firm of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner was recognized for its long-standing commitment to diversity by the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, or LCLD. The organization named the firm a 2019 Top Performer and a 2019 Compass Award winner, one of only 21 member organizations that earned both designations this year. The awards indicate a participation in the organization’s programs, such as the Fellows and Pathfinder programs, as well as at least one pipeline program (Mentoring or 1L Scholars).

Bryan Cave is a long-standing member of LCLD, having been a member since the organization began. BCLP participates in the organization’s Fellows and Pathfinder programs, as well as the 1L LCLD Scholars Program and the LCLD Success in Law School Mentoring Program. The recognition came recently at LCLD’s Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

In more good news about legal industry diversity, the Diversity and Flexibility Alliance recognized fifty-one law firms for having a partner class in 2019 comprised of 50% or more female partners. These firms “tipped the scales” and were identified in the New Partner Report. The Report, a compilation of publicly available information and reported sources, revealed that 41.3 percent of new partners in 138 major U.S. law firms in 2019 were women, an increase of just over 2% from 2018. As well as the annual increase, the New Partner Report showed that women promoted to partnership is on an upswing overall, with an 8.1% increase since 2012, and more firms across the board are promoting partner classes that are more than 50% women, showing a trend towards “tipping the scales.” Click here for a full list of firms that were recognized for their 2019 Partner Class.

Law Firm Accomplishments and Deals

Sherin and Lodgen’s Renewable Energy Team represented Cambridge Savings Bank in developing a portfolio construction bridge and term loan for three ground-mounted solar facilities in Massachusetts. The project, built by Kearsarge Energy, will generate 8.8 MW of energy and features a 1.6 MW advanced technology battery storage component and will be one of the first to be implemented under the SMART program. The battery storage component is especially exciting, as industry analysts think this type of storage has the power to transform the renewable energy development and distribution in the near future. Sherin and Lodgen’s renewable team was led by Bethany A. Bartlett, renewable energy chair, and Colleen V. Collins, of counsel, and Tyler N. Ballew, and included syndicate partners Eastern Bank and Middlesex Savings Bank.

Global law firm DLA Piper represented SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and SunTrust Bank in closing of U.S. $60 million credit facility for Electric Entertainment. Electric Entertainment is a LA based production company founded by Dean Devlin. Devlin is a well-known producer, whose credits include films such as Stargate and Independence Day, and television series like The Librarian and Leverage. The credit facility will finance upcoming projects on WGN and the CW, and develop other film and television projects. The DLA Piper team representing SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and SunTrust Bank was led by partner Tom Ara, co-chair of the firm’s Entertainment Transactions and Finance practices, and included partner Afshin Beyzaee and associates Greg Young, Payvand Coyle and Rahul Sajnani (all of Los Angeles).

Looking at Pro-Bono work, during National Pro Bono Week in the United Kingdom, and Hogan Lovells ranked number one in Legal Week’s survey for the firm’s pro bono efforts in the UK. The firm did a total of 27,704 pro bono hours in the UK for 2018, and the publication also recognized the firm’s contribution to a variety of projects, including the Westminster and London Bridge inquests. Yasmin Waljee, International Pro Bono Director of Hogan Lovells called the recognition “fantastic.” She said: ” It is not the hours of pro bono that matter but the remarkable impact of the work undertaken by all the firms listed and those that were not.”

Legal Industry Trends, Research and Upcoming Events

Legal Technology company InCloudCounsel announced two new software automation enhancements powered by proprietary research in AI and machine learning. The developments are an Automated initial contract review; that automatically scans and flags clauses that conflict with negotiation requirements, helping to ease the negotiation stage and expedite the review process. The next piece comes into play when negotiation is finished–an AI-powered scorecard creates an abstract summary of key terms in the agreement, scanning the final agreement identifying the key terms in the common clauses. These tools were developed with InCloudCounsel’s proprietary technology, and assist attorneys in working more efficiently and accurately, maximizing their efforts to deliver legal services to their clients.

Hadayat Seddiqi, led the innovation process in his role as director of machine learning at InCloudCounsel. Hadayat’s resume includes work on space exploration robots at NASA, quantum computing at the Department of Energy and DNA sequencing software with a biotech startup. He says, “Our artificial intelligence models bring valuable tools to a field that historically has been very difficult to build similar solutions for. Our models are understanding increasingly complex abstract language and concepts – allowing our proprietary AI to automate a growing number of narrow tasks.”

The Legal Marketing Association released its agenda for the organization’s annual meeting in Denver, Colorado on March 25 -March 27, 2020. The committee putting the conference together, led by Kristen Bateman Leis of Parker Poe and Jonathan Mattson of BakerHostetler LLP, have put together an agenda focused around the organization’s body of knowledge, with an emphasis on wellness and mental health. The keynote speaker, Baratunde Thurston, a comedian, writer and cultural critic whose resume includes work with the satirical Onion, advisor to the Obama White House and work on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

Future Marketing Insights recently released a new intelligence report, projecting that legal transcription investments will increase, and those investments will focus on automation of legal transcription services. The demand for legal transcription solutions is global, and accounts for revenues worth 3 billion, indicated by the FMI insights report. This is anticipated to grow at a Compound annual growth rate of ~6% for the next ten years. The report indicated a heavy investment in legal tech startups in Asia Pacific, driving innovation. Additionally, new and improved Automation and Machine Learning technologies, coupled with Natural Language Processing are expected to fuel growth. Challenges include diverse pricing models and legal formats, and customers are demanding predictability and pricing consistency. The market is fragmented and major players are still jockeying for regional dominance–and focusing on innovation, to make the most of the technologies available.

That’s what we’ve got for now. Stay warm and enjoy the upcoming Holiday Season!

ARTICLE BY Eilene Spear of The National Law Review / The National Law Forum LLC.

For more recent law firm news see the National Law Review Law Office Management page.

Legal Research News; Law Firm Updates and Awards and Law School Admission Changes: September 9, 2019

Labor Day is in the rearview, and the legal world churns on, with new developments, innovations and changes coming in on an almost a daily basis. This week’s update on the trending news in the legal industry features Clark Hill merging with Las Vegas litigation boutique firm Gentile Cristalli Miller Armeni Savarese, former FedEx Senior Vice President responsible for US Litigation joins Bradley, and six attorneys from Le Clair Ryan move to Fox Rothschild.

Read on to learn more about what’s happening.

Law Firm Hires, Moves and Mergers

Michael Best recently announced the addition of Mark Yacura to the firm’s Washington DC office. A seasoned attorney with more than 30 years of experience, he will join Michael Best as a partner and focus on FDA Regulatory issues. In his career, he has advised his clients on FDA approval and clearance processes, and worked on matters regarding synthetic pharmaceuticals, biotechnology diagnostics, medical devices and conventional foods, along with regulatory matters involving other agencies, such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), among others.

Eric Callisto, Group Chair of Michael Best’s Regulatory Practice, sees Yacura’s experience as crucial in advising the firm’s international and domestic clients on the shifting political landscape. Callisto calls Yacura “highly respected” and says, “it’s an honor to welcome him to our team in the Beltway.”

Conne Lensing Fed Ex Bradley — Connie Lewis Lensing

Bradley announced that Connie Lewis Lensing, formerly in house at Fed Ex, has joined the firm’s Nashville office. Lensing had a long and storied career at Fed Ex, where she most recently served as the Senior Vice President responsible for U.S. Litigation. In her role at Fed Ex, she pioneered the idea of an in-house law firm, bringing litigation and trial responsibilities into the corporate legal department and also oversaw litigation across the United States and the Virgin Islands, with an emphasis on employment matters as well as antitrust, governmental actions, and EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charges.

Along with being a trailblazer of corporate legal services, Lensing also demonstrated her commitment to civil justice as the Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors and as Chair of the Executive Committee of the US Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform; additionally, she has leadership roles in the organization the Lawyers for Civil Justice.

Throughout her career Lensing has seen the experience of women in legal dramatically changed. This life experience has given her insight, and she shares her insights by mentoring young women attorneys and championing them. Kim Martin, chair of Bradley’s Litigation Practice Group, calls Lewis-Lensing’s record of mentoring younger attorneys as “fantastic.” She says, “We look forward to including her insights and experience in this area to further support Bradley’s mentoring efforts.”

Bradley Nashville Office Managing Partner Lela Hollabaugh calls Lensing joining Bradley “a thrill” and “a tremendous honor” to partner with Lensing as she “enters a new phase of her career as a litigator and innovator in private practice.”

Fox Rothschild LLP recently welcomed six attorneys from Le Clair Ryan to be spread across the firm’s Washington DC, Texas, and New Jersey offices.

Joining the Washington DC office are four attorneys, with Robert Fletcher and Brian W. Stolarz coming in as partners and Kristin W. Broz as counsel in the litigation group. Ashleigh R. Eames joins the firm as an associate, working in the labor and employment practice group. Fletcher works with corporate clients on litigation in industries such as retail, government, insurance, pharmaceutical and biotechnology. Stolarz works with clients on white collar criminal defense, with an emphasis on False Claims Act defense and securities enforcement. He also assists with internal investigations and securities enforcement. Broz has experience in class action litigation, and her background also includes experience with US and international regulations, consumer protection data privacy matters. Also joining the DC office is Ashleigh R. Eames, she will be an associate in the labor and employment practice, focusing on wage and hour issues and leave and accommodation matters, as well as hiring and workplace compliance matters.

William E. Hammel joins the firm as a partner focusing on labor and employment matters in Dallas, Texas, he has broad experience across labor and employment law, and in arbitration and litigation, but he has a focus on avoiding litigation through prevention and training, utilizing internal auditing tools and conducting investigations. His Texas roots run deep, with a JD from Baylor University and a BA from the University of Texas.

Christopher L. Pizzo joins Fox Rothschild as a partner in the corporate group in the Morristown, New Jersey office. He has a diverse group of clients, frequently working in industries that have a lot of regulation, and focusing on corporate, transactional and Mergers and Acquisitions.

In other big moves, Clark Hill recently announced it was joining forces with Las Vegas litigation boutique firm Gentile Cristalli Miller Armeni Savarese (GCMAS), with six attorneys joining Clark Hill, four as members, two as senior counsel. This combination grows Clark Hill’s presence in Las Vegas. Donald Ridge, Member in Charge of Clark Hill’s Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas offices, says “We’re excited about the combination as the team brings significant litigation and trial experience, along with a strong presence and network in Nevada that will benefit all of our clients.”

Dominic Gentile Attorney — Dominic Gentile

The attorneys from Gentile Cristalli Miller Armeni Savarese will work out of Clark Hill’s Las Vegas office. Dominic Gentile, a founding member of GCMAS is a trial attorney with an impressive record of representing his clients in white collar and bet-the-company litigation matters, nationally and internationally on civil, criminal, securities and commercial fraud investigations and litigations. Gentile is involved in a variety of organizations associated with trial and litigation law, and he has a long career teaching trial advocacy and evidence at law schools across the country. Michael Cristalli will be a member with Clark Hill, using his experience representing clients in complex criminal, corporate and civil litigation matters. Some of the cases he worked on may seem familiar, as they have been featured on dateline NBC, CBS 48 Hours, and Cristalli has been a legal analyst on shows like Good Morning America, MSNBS and Fox and Friends. Ross Miller is a former Secretary of State of Nevada, the youngest to serve in this role in both Nevada and in the country. In this position, he oversaw Commercial Recordings, Securities, Elections, Nevada Business Portal, and Notaries Public. His public service also includes serving on State of Nevada Boards including the Board of Prison Commissioners, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, and the State Audit Committee. Along with this public service, Miller was the Deputy District Attorney in Clark County. Paola Armeni will join Clark Hill as a Member, and she has a resume that includes representing clients in criminal defense and civil rights cases in Nevada state and federal courts. Vincent Savarese has worked in federal criminal defense, constitutional law, federal civil rights and asset forfeiture, in complex litigation at the pretrial, trial and appellate stage in state and federal court. He will join Clark Hill as Senior Counsel. Mark Dzarnoski is joining Clark Hill in the securities and investments group as a Senior Counsel having 30 years of experience. He guides clients through allegations of criminal fraud and SEC/FTC investigations and civil enforcement actions. s.

Gentile indicates this is a merger based on shared values. He says, “It was important to all of us that we merge with a firm that shared our client service philosophy, work ethic and values, and in Clark Hill we found the perfect alignment.” (image of Gentile?)

Law Firm Victories, Achievements and Awards

On September 3, 2019, Gilbert LLP announced that the Commercial Division for the Supreme Court for the State of New York ruled that Gilbert client, Michael Cohen, could continue his litigation against the Trump Organization, his former employer. Cohen is arguing that the Trump Organization failed to provide attorneys’ fees and reimburse his costs in connection to a variety of legal proceedings and investigations. Hunter Winstead, who serves as the lead attorney on the matter, indicated an intention to pursue this matter to conclusion, saying, “We intend to obtain full payment of Mr. Cohen’s claims.”

Just in time for back to school, Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, announced the publication of their Third Edition of a 50 State Guide on Student Loan Servicing Regulations. The second edition was published in June of 2018, and this edition captures the changes in the regulatory landscape of this industry, with 6 additional states enacting laws concerning student loan servicing: Colorado, Maine, Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island. The third edition covers changes up to May of 2019, and captures some of the updated regulations on licensing fees, processes and actions—demonstrating the steps loan servicers need to take to remain in compliance. Additionally, changes made in regulation requirements in Washington, DC-based on court rulings are covered by the guide. In this rapidly shifting regulatory landscape, this guide is designed to be a quick reference for student loan servicers (but does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship) with state by state summaries covering state laws, licensing processes, and loan servicers’ duties, as well as each state’s enforcement mechanisms. (link to guide?)

North Carolina law firm Poyner Spruill announced partners Karen Chapman, Sarah DiFranco, and Susie Gibbons were recognized as North Carolina Lawyers Weekly’s 2019 Women of Justice Award honorees. This is a designation that recognizes the highest ideals of the legal profession, and women attorneys in North Carolina who demonstrate leadership, integrity, service, sacrifice and accomplishment in improving justice quality across the state.

Peter Friedenberg and Sara Jane Shanahan of Sherin and Lodgen were both recognized as a “Lawyer of the Year” in Best Lawyers. Friedenberg was recognized for his work in Real Estate Law, and Shanahan was recognized for Litigation—Insurance. This is a designation reserved for one attorney in each specialty and location who has received the highest overall peer-feedback for their specific practice area.

Legal Industry and Law School Developments

Continuing with the back to school theme of this edition of NLR’s Legal Industry Trends; at the end of August Berkeley Law School announced that it will now consider some applicants on the basis of a GRE or GMAT score, and those applicants can avoid the LSAT. The GRE and GMAT will be accepted for those interested in concurrent or combined degree programs, or for those who are enrolled in graduate school at the time of their application to Berkeley Law. Part of the reasoning behind this development is the school’s goal to admit “outside-of-the-box thinkers” and a holistic approach to application review, according to Kristin Theis-Alvarex, Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid. She says, “Test scores—from any source—are important, but not dispositive.” Dean Erwin Chemerinksy says, “Allowing these students to apply with the GRE and GMAT will further our interdisciplinary mission and help us to continue to attract outstanding law students.” This move is part of a pilot program, and the school will evaluate the results of this decision over the next three years carefully to maintain ABA compliance.

On the other end of the spectrum, The American Bar Association released its white paper, the ABA’s 2019 Profile of the Legal Profession. This report is the first of its kind from the ABA, crammed full of data about the state of the legal profession, compiling information from surveys, studies and reports about lawyers and law firms across the United States. The report has specific sections devoted to lawyer demographics, pay, legal education, and specific information related to women attorneys, pro bono efforts and legal technology. Some interesting points below:

Male attorneys still outnumber female attorneys, almost 2 to 1. Male attorneys are 64% of all attorneys while women attorneys are at 36%.
Most state bar associations do not track race and ethnicity of attorneys, but more did in 2019 (20 states) compared to 16 states tracking in 2009.
The average lawyer salary is $144,230, but increases have slowed down after the recession of 2008-09, but from 1998 to 2018 overall, lawyer salaries almost doubled, but the cost of living rose 53%.
Of the students who enroll in law school, 35% enroll right after undergrad and 65% take at least a year off between undergrad and law school. The most common reason cited for going to law school was a route to careers in politics, government or public service, at 44%.

Full of information and factoids, this report deserves a close reading by anyone interested in getting a handle on the legal industry.

Gartner, a leading research and advisory company, recently reported the results of a survey on cost-effective legal departments. To provide this data, Gartner surveyed more than 140 companies in different locations, industries and revenue size to identify those that spend in the lowest quartile of their peer group, while handling a similar workload. Overall, the study indicated in house legal departments that invested in improving internal processes and growing internal capabilities with investments in staff training as well as standardizing legal work and developing legal ops capabilities were the most cost-effective. In fact, 63% of in-house legal work is routine, and can be standardized, and departments that lack legal operations capabilities spend 30% more than those with those abilities. These steps assist legal departments in bringing work in house and saving outside counsel expenditures for critical matters.

Michael Mayfield, research director in Gartner’s Legal & Compliance practice, says, “General Counsel also need to invest in the right areas to equip their teams to be successful, this is most clearly on display when looking at the differential in training spend between cost-effective legal departments and their higher-cost peers.”

That’s a wrap for this week. We’ll have more later in the month!

ARTICLE BY Eilene Spear of The National Law Review / The National Law Forum LLC.

More law firm updates on the National Law Review Law Office Management page.

Seven Tips for Writing the Perfect Lawyer Biography

At least 73% of everyone looking to hire a lawyer search online long before they ever make that first call. In addition, it is said that the attorney biography page is the most visited page on law firm websites. This makes having a good set of online biographies a requirement for driving business to your legal practice. It should be simple: just write a little bit about yourself and your accomplishments, right?

Unfortunately, it is not always that easy.

Each type of biography has its own quirks and requirements. In addition, while most lawyers are excellent communicators and writers, that can actually work against them when dealing with a finite space for sharing credentials in a marketing setting.

Here are my top 7 tips for creating excellent lawyer biographies and some important faux pas to avoid.

1. Open with a strong statement

The biography is a vehicle for selling legal services so even if it is in a third person voice, it should be about connecting your experience with the legal problems you solve. The first paragraph of your biography is important real estate for starting a conversation with the person you are trying to connect with.

You can also increase your online search results by adding in specific keywords in the first line and headings such as your first and last name, firm name, location, and most prominent practice area. Education and personal information should be saved for the end of the biography.

2. Cover the basics

Make sure to include all the nuts and bolts that people will want to follow up on to ensure that you are who you say you are. Specifically, you should cover:

Contact Information: Location, phone number, social media links, email address.
Education: Undergraduate and law school credentials, as well as any post-graduate degrees.
Work History: This is not always necessary but be sure to share any noteworthy positions.
Practice Areas: When possible be concise.
Published Cases or Representative Clients: Do not forget to Include high-profile clients and pro bono work soliciting permission to publish when necessary.
Publications: These should be publications you have written or have been interviewed by.
Speaking Engagements: Lectures, podcasts, and panel discussions are great to include.
Awards: Your biography should contain both legal and civic awards.
Board Memberships: Every instance should be its own entry or bullet point.
Bar Associations & Legal Organizations: Highlight leadership positions first, general memberships after and include years of participation if possible.
Clerkships: Judicial clerkships are important to list.

3. Cover the extras

Next, you will want to make sure that you include anything extracurricular that will make you stand out in a crowd. Leadership positions (even outside of a legal industry), community service, and board memberships are great additions to this section. This is also the right place to include a personal line or two about your interests, hobbies, or family to inspire further connection with your audience.

4. Have a relevant, professional photo

Here is an area where many lawyers fall short. Remember, this may be the only time your prospective new client sees you before deciding to request your help. Give your best possible first impression by investing in professional headshots that reflect your best qualities and your personal brand. Take professional headshots regularly to keep your online image current.

5. Create several biographies for the best web engagement

The professional biography that you have on your website should be different than the one you have on sites like Avvo or Martindale-Hubbell. This gives each of your biographies a unique content score with the search engines which improves your overall search results rankings. It also means that potential clients see unique pieces of content that have not been cut-and-pasted to save time.

Consider creating a bank of biographies for each of your online biographies, your website, and printed biography. Be sure to calendar a reminder to review them once per quarter for updates. In addition, develop a different “short” version that can be used when you speak, guest post on a blog, or are published in a legal journal.

6. Avoid the biography pitfalls

There are a couple of issues that I see often when I review clients’ online and offline biographies. Some of the worst offenders when creating a biography include:

Informal photos: Stay away from using an old repurposed image of you at your brother’s wedding. And, unless you have an MFA in graphic design, stay away from photoshopping yourself into a different setting.
Being too wordy: There is no need to include everything you have ever done in your legal career in your online biography. Skip the fluff and focus on the highlights. The ideal length is between 300-500 words.
Big blocks of text: Too much text tires the reader, and odds are good you will lose their attention even before they hit the second paragraph. Keep paragraphs to between 2-4 sentences to incorporate white space. Be sure to read your biography out loud to note any drawn-out sentences.
Third person formal: Stay away from calling yourself “Ms. or Mr.” in your biography. This sounds pretentious and can be off-putting for new clients. Instead, simply use your full name once at the beginning and your first name after that. It is important to note that there is a lot of debate about whether you should write your biography in third person (he, she, them) or first person (I, me, my). The answer will come from your target audience, your practice area, and your personal brand.

7. Try creative, interactive elements

You can make your biography page stand out even more by incorporating engaging elements like vcards, printable versions, or introductory videos – as long as they are professionally produced. Another wise choice is to include a disclaimer if you list your email address stating that sending an email to you does not indicate a legal attorney-client relationship unless an engagement letter has been signed.

Conclusion

Writing the perfect lawyer biography does not have to be a difficult exercise. Like any other marketing exercise, start with your potential client and work backward. Your biography is a great opportunity to connect with people before you meet them. Create text that is search-friendly, concise, and filled with the highlights of your career. This will allow potential clients and colleagues to “cut through the noise” and recognize you for the great lawyer that you are.

This article is by Meranda M. Vieyra of Denver Legal Marketing

For more on Legal Marketing, see the National Law Review Law Office Management page.

Three Ways Legal PR Specialists can Support Your Firm’s Diverse Attorneys

Law firms serving corporate clients face increasing pressure not only to make their workplaces more diverse and inclusive overall, but also to ensure that more women and people of color occupy top positions of power. Last January’s open letter from 170 general counsel serves as the most pointed example of this client demand. In it, they called on law partners to “develop, promote and retain talented and diverse attorneys”—or risk losing business to firms that take diversity and inclusion seriously.

Law firm leaders who have long paid lip service to these goals without actually changing their recruiting, professional development or performance evaluation practices face a true crisis, and mapping out a path forward that satisfies client demand, not to mention the moral imperative to create firms that better represent our society, will require a multifaceted approach. It might surprise you to learn that a sophisticated communications and media strategy is a crucial piece of that plan.

While public relations may not seem to have an obvious connection with diversity efforts, PR partners who specialize in the legal sector can provide law firm leaders with strategic, targeted support to meet their goals for equity. Effective law firm PR partners can help you:

Audit current initiatives. Most firms are doing something on diversity and inclusion, with varying results. If these initiatives are not yielding the desired outcome, it’s time to think about why. Sometimes the real problem is not a lack of effort but the flawed thinking behind a program.

For example, many initiatives intended to address gender equality target differences in women’s approach to risk-taking, negotiation, and work-life balance. While that may sound like progress, focusing on individual women’s choices furthers beliefs and stereotypes that have been debunked by decades of reliable data about fundamental gender differences. Men and women are not nearly so different as we persist in believing. They behave differently in various settings not because of inherent traits but because of organizational practices that reward and punish men and women differently. Equity initiatives that target systemic issues like parental leave and the pay gap are more likely to improve the promotion and retention of women.

As your approach to improving diversity evolves, your internal and external communications need to evolve too. PR support can help you demonstrate a more sophisticated understanding of the problems and the solutions—and show clients that you are serious about making measurable progress.

Reimagine networking. Today’s attorneys know they must provide excellent client service and master the art of business development. That typically involves some form of networking: getting out of the office to form relationships with clients and prospects, and planting the seeds for referrals and new business down the road. But old-fashioned networking—on the golf course, in the bar, at the country club—is not always a strategy that works for women, people of color, LGBTQ lawyers, and others who have come to the field from outside the old boys’ network. If you are serious about supporting your diverse attorneys, you can get proactive about professional development that helps them build their business in ways that work for them. And your PR team can help these attorneys become more active in relevant professional organizations, nominate them for awards, boost their online and social media presence, and facilitate alternative networking opportunities.

Activate a hands-on media strategy. A customized, targeted plan to promote your diverse attorneys’ immense skills and experience, as well as their innovative approaches to old problems, is key to raising their profiles and, by extension, your firm’s profile as well. PR support can help attorneys build relationships with the reporters who cover issues in their practice area so that they can become expert sources. Attorneys can partner with writers to create thought leadership articles for the publications most widely read by their clients and prospects. Nothing helps you take control of the narrative about your firm like media opportunities that highlight the skills and experience of your current and future diverse superstars.

With clients pressuring law firms to change their ways, creating a diverse and inclusive workplace has gone from a lofty goal to a strategic imperative. This necessary transformation presents leaders with significant challenges, but the good news is you don’t have to go it alone. Experts in communications and media strategy can help you take practical steps to develop and support the diverse attorneys who serve your most valued clients. And, of course, as you would expect, PR professionals can also help you share the good news about the progress you’re making in advancing diversity and inclusion in your firm.

This article is by Debra Pickett of Page 2 Communications.

For more on legal hiring see the Law Office Management page of the National Law Review.

Legal Industry News for August 12, 2019: Law Firm Updates, Hires, Awards and Legal Technology

Even though summer is still in full swing and folks are cycling through vacations, law firms and the legal industry continues to hum with activity.

Read on to see more on legal industry hires, recognitions, and new technology and research impacting the legal industry.

Law Firm Hiring, Strategic Partnerships and Expansions

Van Ness Feldman announces the return of Vincenzo Franco as a partner in the Electric and Renewable Energy Practices. Franco was at Van Ness Feldman from 2010-2014, and left the firm to work with Exelon Corporation, as Assistant General Counsel – Wholesale Trading Compliance and then Associate General Counsel at Exelon Corporation, where he led the compliance function for Constellation. With his return to VNF, Franco focuses on transactional, regulatory and enforcement matters representing utilities, generation owners, developers and other investors before FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission). VNF Chair, Richard Agnew, indicated his excitement at Franco’s return. Agnew says, “His [Franco’s] in- house experience coupled with his knowledge of our clients makes Vincenzo an exceptionally strong addition to the firms highly regarded electric practice.”

Leading international technology and energy law firm Baker Botts LLP announced that it has formed strategic partnerships with the Cannon Houston, Station Houston and Capital Factory. These Houston organizations are designed to aid entrepreneurs and will specifically be working with Baker Botts’ Emerging Company and Venture Capital practice based in Palo Alto. The firm’s experience in advising entrepreneurs, emerging growth companies, investors and venture capitalists provides a valuable resource for the incubators and the entrepreneurs they nurture and host. Samantha Crispin, the Technology Sector Chair at Baker Botts points out this partnership will allow Baker Botts to work with a generation of Texas-based companies from their very inception. She says, “One of the most intriguing aspects of these partnerships is the expected cross-pollination of our Texas and California ECVC practices and that the most promising companies will gain exposure to potential investors, including those in Silicon Valley.”

Baker Botts Managing Partner John Martin embraces the opportunities for growth this partnership will provide. He says, “We have a history of working with emerging and technology companies throughout their full life cycle, and we expect these partnerships will expand those opportunities more broadly. Some of our firm’s largest clients are businesses with which we have worked since they were startups themselves.”

Dinsmore has expanded operations onto the East Coast, opening an office in the Boston Financial District. Three partners—Javier F. Flores, Eric V. Skelly and Brian Blaesser will lead the new office and the firm’s expansion into this region. The firm will primarily represent clients in litigation and real estate development in New England. With the opening of the office in Boston, Dinsmore now has a presence in 25 cities across the country.

Sherman & Howard announced they added two attorneys, Member James Beard and Associate Robert Thompson, to their Denver office in their Litigation, Trials and Appeals group.

Beard has been litigating complex civil and intellectual property matters for over ten years, with a particular emphasis on handling complex discovery matters. He has argued cases in federal courts across the country, and has handled matters before the International Trade Commission (ITC) and the U.S. Court of International Trade. Beard says, “With its history and reputation in Colorado, the Firm is uniquely positioned to serve the explosive growth of Denver’s high-tech market.”

Along with Beard, Sherman & Howard is also adding Robert Thompson as an Associate to the Litigation, Trials and Appeals practice group. Thompson’s practice will focus on securities litigation and enforcement matters. His previous experience in house at a leading financial institution has prepared him well for representing clients in SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), DOJ (Department of Justice) and FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ) investigations. Katie Varholak, Litigation Practice Group Leader at Sherman & Howard, “Thompson’s background in finance, securities and complex corporate investigations positions him to serve a wide range of the firm’s clients.”

Robinson & Cole, a 200 attorney firm with offices throughout the northeast announced Kenneth A. Sherman and Virginia K. Trunkes joined the firm as counsel in the Construction practice.

Sherman is joining the Boston office, while Trunkes will be in the New York office. Sherman has experience assisting project owners, developers and general contractors, and others, in navigating construction disputes, and with drafting contracts, negotiation and entity formation.

Trunkes works with developers, apartment building, brownstone and condominium unit owners, and others, in negotiating contracts and adjacent-owner license access agreements. R+C Construction chair, Gregory R. Faulkner, says the attorneys are welcome additions and will help the firm strengthen its presence in the construction market, and “Their hands-on experience is an added value to our practice and further enhances our collective ability to provide the best service to our clients.”

Law Firm Accomplishments, Awards and Recognitions

McKool Smith, noted litigation firm, secured an insurance recovery victory on behalf of Pfizer in Delaware Superior Court. This victory allows Pfizer to continue to compel two excess insurers to cover the costs related to defend and settle multidistrict litigation surrounding pain treatments Celebrex and Bextra. McKool Smith principals Robin Cohen, Adam S. Ziffer and Marc Ladd represented Pfizer in this litigation. A Delaware state court judge awarded partial summary judgment, saying Arch Insurance Company and U.S. Specialty Insurance Company were unable to apply a “specific litigation exclusion” in their D&O policies, and that these insurers must help cover the cost of the $486 million settlement.

Seyfarth Shaw was recently recognized for its commitment to diversity and inclusion by the California Minority Counsel Program (CMCP) receiving the Drucilla Stender Ramey Majority-Owned Law Firm Award. The CMCP is a state-wide non-profit dedicated to opening up the legal profession to attorneys from all backgrounds, by providing attorneys of color with opportunities for business development. Seyfarth Shaw has offices in Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Century City. The firm has a recognized commitment to diversity, and was also recently named a “Best Law Firm for Women” for the ninth year in a row, and was shortlisted for the 2019 Chambers USA Diversity & Inclusion Awards. The firm is especially proud of its “Rooney Rule” initiative, where for every open associate position, at least one diverse candidate is considered and interviewed.

Full-service law firm Pillsbury’s Corporate practice, in a review of M&A and private equity, was ranked among the Top 20 legal advisers in the US and Japan. Factset highlighted Pillsbury as a top 20 firm in Japan for M&A deals, and in the United States, the firm was in the top 20 for middle-market M&A transactions. Along those lines, Refinitiv listed Pillsbury in the top 20 for deal count for firms handling U.S. middle-market mergers and acquisitions, so far in 2019, and Bloomberg named Pillsbury in the top 20 for active law firm advising on deals valued up to 250 million. Pillsbury has over 100 experienced M&A attorneys across the firm’s twenty global offices. Highlighted transactions for 2019 include Invitae Corp.’s acquisition of biotechnology company Jungla, Salarius Pharmaceuticals on its merger with Flex Pharma, and Intel’s acquisition of Barefoot Networks, just to name a few.

DirectWomen, dedicated to increasing the presence of women attorneys on corporate boards, will honor 2019 award recipients in October in New York City at the Sandra Day O’Connor Board Excellence Award Luncheon. These awards are given to recognize the efforts made by the recipients to increase corporate board diversity. The Sandra Day O’Connor Board Excellence Award honors women who have served on the board of a public company and have advanced the mission of diversity in the workplace. This year, Angela Braly, Co-founder of the Policy Circle and former Chair and CEO of WellPoint, now known as Anthem, among others, and Rose McKinney-James, Managing Principal of Energy Works LLC. PNC will be presented with the 2019 Board Diversity Award, which recognizes corporations that served as leaders in achieving board diversity by showing a commitment to diversity in the boardroom. Linda L. Addison, Immediate Past Managing Partner of Norton Rose Fulbright and Director, Torchmark Corporation will be recognized with the Distinguished Alumna Award, highlighting the accomplishments of an Alumnae who joined a large corporate board since completing the Institute. Finally, the Mary Ann Jorgenson Board Empowerment Award will be presented to DirectWomen Advisory Board Member Alan L. Beller, Senior Counsel, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP; Director, The Travelers Companies, Inc for his work preparing women attorneys to assume the responsibilities of board service.

Commercial Mortgage Alert once again ranked law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP at the top of their commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) tables, ranking Cadwalader as Number 1 for both Issuer Counsel and Underwriter Counsel, making it the 19^th year in a row Cadwalader held that spot for Issuer Counsel. Further, the firm represented 58% of the issuer offerings floated in the United States in the first half of 2019, and 44% of the CMBS transactions on the underwriter side. Mike Gambro, co-chair of Cadwalader’s Capital Markets Group, says of the rankings, “We work with great clients who expect us to provide top-notch advice and service, and we are fortunate to have the results reflected in our position in the law firm rankings for so many years.” Cadwalader’s Capital Markets Group has attorneys based in New York, Charlotte, Washington, D.C., and London.

Legal Industry Technology, Research and Software Advancements

Qorus, a sales platform connecting contacts, content, and data, recently announced a Share & Track feature to their software. This addition enables user to send documents securely without attachments, and track how their contacts engage with those documents, such as proposals, pitches, and contracts. This enables sales teams to see and analyze which part of their proposal process is most important to their prospects, and they gain insight into their materials to ensure they create content that is engaging and effective.

The documents are sent via tracked sharing links that can be inserted into messages to clients. These links, when clicked, track the engagement with the content and launch an online document viewer and the file can be viewed securely, providing the information securely to the prospect. The sales team can see how long the prospect looked at the document, which pages were looked at the most, and whether or not the document was passed on, providing valuable feedback on what really matters to prospects. Ray Meiring, Qorus CEO, explains “This creates a powerful feedback loop that tells the team how interested a potential buyer is, and gives them insight into the prospect’s true propensity to buy – allowing them to adjust their approach accordingly.”

With the constant concerns regarding cybersecurity and with increasing regulation on a variety of levels, the introduction of Digital Defense’s Frontline InsightTM with on-demand peer analysis of security risk metrics gives companies another arrow in their quiver to secure their data. Frontline Insight is accessible via Frontline.Cloud Digital Defense’s Saas security assessment platform. This allows Digital Defense users to access information to reduce their own security risk, and provide information on how to evolve and maintain their information security programs so that they perform at top levels. By offering comparison from an industry perspective, but also integrating suggestions based on organizational and employee size, the tool can highlight vulnerable areas and threats, and assist in the development of benchmarks. Larry Hurtado, President & CEO of Digital Defense says this is a useful product for companies looking to evaluate their data security practices in comparison to organizations similar in size and scope. He says, “Frontline.Cloud enables clients to gauge their success in ways that previously required more intensive consultative studies. Now, this information is available with just a few clicks.”

Of particular interest to law firms as they look at managing law firm succession strategies as baby boomers exit the workforce and millennials assume greater responsibility is the results of a Manpower Group Survey, indicating only six percent of millennials want to be leaders, and just four percent want to manage others. The survey indicates that millennials, on a whole, are more interested in developing their own skill sets, and less interested in learning to manage and lead others. This suggests that law firms will be among the 84% of organizations facing a leadership shortfall, and developing a leadership pipeline for law firms, as well as client relationship management, will become increasingly important as firm leadership transitions become more complex and frequent.

Intapp has recently released a white paper The Modern CMO: Advancing Marketing From Reactive to Predictive. This paper discusses how adopting a modern approach to law firm business development, and harnessing data across the entire client lifecycle can lead to insights that drive smarter and more strategic decisions in law firms. Topics discussed include the role of the CMO as a change agent, smart collaboration in action and how to transition from a reactive to a predictive approach.

This article was written by Eilene Spear of The National Law Review / The National Law Forum LLC.

For more law office updates, see the Law Office Management page on the National Law Review.

Law Firm Security: Privacy & Data Security Laws that Affect Your Law Firm

At this point in the cybersecurity game, it’s a given that to prevent a breach, law firms must take every precaution to protect its data as well as the valuable data of its clients. What may not be as clear are the obligations that law firms, or any other third party, owe to certain organizations via industry-specific privacy and data security laws and regulations. These are put in place by foundations, government laws, and agency policies to ensure that they are not vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks.

Privacy and Data Security Laws and Regulations

Although there are many organizations that are subject to these laws, this article will address the most high-profile organizations, including the following:

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

HIPAA applies to covered entities such as health plans, health care clearinghouses and certain health care providers. Because these entities do not operate in a vacuum and often rely on the services of third-party businesses, there are provisions that allow these entities to share information with business associates and law firms.

A business associate “is a person or entity that performs certain functions or activities that involve the use or disclosure of protected health information on behalf of, or provides services to, a covered entity,” according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services website.

Before information is shared with a business associate, the entity must first receive satisfactory assurances that the information will only be used for the purposes for which it was obtained, that the information will be safeguarded and that the information will help the covered entity to perform its duties. The satisfactory assurances must be in writing to ensure compliance with privacy and data security laws.

Gramm Leach Bliley Act (GLBA)

The GLBA was enacted to require financial institutions to explain their information-sharing practices to their customers and to safeguard vulnerable customer data from a security breach.

Under the Safeguards Rule of the GLBA, all financial institutions must protect consumer collected information from a security breach. Usually, data collected includes names, addresses and phone numbers; bank and credit card account numbers; income and credit histories; and Social Security numbers.

Further, financial institutions are required to ensure that parties with whom they are doing business must also be able to safeguard data with which they have been entrusted, such as law firms. Financial institutions must “select service providers that can maintain appropriate safeguards. Make sure your contract requires them to maintain safeguards, and oversee their handling of customer information,” according to the FTC website to ensure compliance of privacy and data security laws.

The FTC provides a detailed list of tips that financial institutions, as well as third-parties, can use to set up a strong security system to prevent a data breach of a customer’s information.

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS)

The PCI was founded by American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB International, MasterCard, and Visa, Inc. with the intent to “develop, enhance, disseminate and assist with the understanding of security standards for payment account security,” according to its website.

The standards apply to all entities that store, process or transmit cardholder data. This would include law firms, of course. The website lists 12 requirements that must be maintained, including:

Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data.
Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters.
Protect stored cardholder data.
Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks.
Use and regularly update anti-virus software or programs.
Develop and maintain secure systems and applications.
Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know.
Assign a unique ID to each person with computer access.
Restrict physical access to cardholder data.
Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data.
Regularly test security systems and processes.
Maintain a policy that addresses privacy and data security laws and regulations for employees and contractors.

Federal Reserve System

The Federal Reserve System issued the Guidance on Managing Outsourcing Risk publication to address concerns about third-party vendors or service providers and the risks of a data breach. The Federal Reserve defines service provider as, “all entities that have entered into a contractual relationship with a financial institution to provide business functions or activities.”

The publication indicates that a financial institution should treat the service provider risk management program commensurate with the level of risk presented by each service provider. “It should focus on outsourced activities that have a substantial impact on a financial institution’s financial condition; are critical to the institution’s ongoing operations; involve sensitive customer information or new bank products or services; or pose material compliance risk,” according to the publication.

An effective program should include the following:

Risk assessments;
Due diligence and selection of service providers;
Contract provisions and considerations;
Incentive compensation review;
Oversight and monitoring of service providers; and
Business continuity and contingency plans.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

The FDIC issued a Guidance for Managing Third-Party Risk where the agency makes clear that an institution’s board of directors and senior management are responsible for the activities and risks associated with third-party vendors. This includes a breach into a third-party’s system. Among other third-party organizations, the publication lists significant organizations where “the relationship has a material effect on the institution’s revenues or expenses; the third party performs critical functions; the third-party stores, accesses, transmits, or performs transactions on sensitive customer information.” All of these could involve law firms that work with financial institutions.

The publication summarizes risks that third-party entities may pose, including strategic risk, reputations risk, operational risk, transaction risk, credit risk, compliance risk, and other risks. It also summarizes a risk management process, which includes the following elements of (1) risk assessment, (2) due diligence in selecting a third party, (3) contract structuring and review, and (4) oversight.

Conclusion

Being a third-party cybersecurity risk may be foreign territory to most law firms. But many organizations have in place privacy and data security laws and regulations to protect systems that could be vulnerable to a cybersecurity breach. It behooves law firms to be aware of these laws and regulations to be able to implement the laws and regulations as thoroughly and as expeditiously as possible.

ARTICLE BY:

Jaliz Maldonado

PracticePanther

It’s pretty obvious that the legal industry is very competitive and that it can be full of very high-stress situations. What are some symptoms of constant stress that you might come across in the day to day operations of a typical law firm?

How does mindfulness practices help counteract that stress in a typical law office environment?

Share this:

Like this:

Hiring and Law Firm Moves

Law Firm Innovation and Developments

Legal Technology and Industry Developments

Share this:

Like this:

1. Develop Your Content Marketing Strategy

2. Expand Your Social Media Presence

3. Make Sure You’re Considering Your Mobile Users

4. Bring in Gated Content

5. Tap Into E-Mail Leads

Share this:

Like this:

Use Marketing 101: Differentiation

Go Beyond SEO

Be Proactive, Not Reactive

Share this:

Like this:

Law Firm Developments, Hires and Moves

Law Firm Awards, Recognition and Achievements

Law Firm Diversity Recognition

Law Firm Accomplishments and Deals

Legal Industry Trends, Research and Upcoming Events

Share this:

Like this:

Law Firm Hires, Moves and Mergers

Law Firm Victories, Achievements and Awards

Legal Industry and Law School Developments

Share this:

Like this:

1. Open with a strong statement

2. Cover the basics

3. Cover the extras

4. Have a relevant, professional photo

5. Create several biographies for the best web engagement

6. Avoid the biography pitfalls

7. Try creative, interactive elements

Conclusion

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Law Firm Hiring, Strategic Partnerships and Expansions

Law Firm Accomplishments, Awards and Recognitions

Legal Industry Technology, Research and Software Advancements

Share this:

Like this:

Privacy and Data Security Laws and Regulations

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Gramm Leach Bliley Act (GLBA)

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS)

Federal Reserve System

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

Conclusion

Share this:

Like this: