Practice Management

Emails That Get Results

Posted on April 08, 2013
  I recently came across an excellent article in Inc. by Geoffrey James about writing effective emails. Lawyers have not traditionally been known for economy of language, but that is a skill we all must hone and put to use if we want to get results from digital communication...

Step Away from That Comfortable Chair

Posted on February 12, 2013
In the most recent issue of Edge International Communiqué, I point out that most lawyers need only take one simple step to generate more business. That step is the one that takes them away from the opulant chairs behind their desks, and out the door of the office...

It's Not Just About Team Spirit: Great Managers Can Boost Your Bottom Line

Posted on January 25, 2013
    Considering the money law firms invest in every newly hired attorney, it would make sense for partners to pay closer attention to lawyer satisfaction. But according to Gerry Riskin, founding partner of law firm consultancy Edge International, "most firms are oblivious" to attrition costs...

Edge International Review focuses on alternative growth structures

Posted on January 04, 2013
I am pleased to present you with the latest Edge International Review.  The focus of this issue of EIR is on law-firm growth and expansion, particularly in the international arena. Examination of this topic is timely, as we anticipate that the legal market generally is now entering another year of hectic consolidation activity on both sides of the Atlantic...

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What If You Had No Legal Work on the Horizon?

Posted on November 20, 2012
  I recently had the honor of being asked to participate in a post at Attorney at Work. Along with several other experts, I was asked to provide guidance regarding a theoretical situation in which a lawyer suddenly finds him- or herself with no work at all...

Of Retreats, Power Tools, and Management Training

Posted on October 31, 2012
The October, 2012 issue of Edge International Communiqué is now available online.   The issue features timely articles by three of my partners at Edge International, and I am pleased to share their guidance with readers of Amazing Firms, Amazing Practices...

Law Practice Lesssons Learned On The Stage

Posted on September 15, 2012
Photo: Marilyn Shaw. Used with permission Meet my friend James Patrick Guy II. Jim Guy is chair of the Law Practice Management Division of the Virginia Bar Association, and energy industry team leader at the LeClair Ryan law firm. He is also the lead singer of the Irish-American pub band, Uisce Beatha...

Business Metrics Can Help Individual Lawyers Achieve Results

Posted on August 04, 2012
The latest issue of Edge International Communiqué is now available online. I am pleased to be associated with the wisdom and insight into legal practice that this publication offers to its subscribers every month, as the Edge International partners contribute their particular knowledge and expertise on a rotating basis...

How the digitization of legal services is affecting law firms' bottom lines: and what you can do about it

Posted on July 16, 2012
  Chris Bull – Edge International partner and author of The Legal Process Improvement Toolkit  – is worried. He believes that law firms everywhere are failing to take sufficient notice of recent massive changes to consumer attitudes and technologies – changes that are already having a major impact on the practice of law...

What can law firms do when a partner underperforms?

Posted on June 13, 2012
    In his newest book, Tackling Partner Underperformance in Law Firms, Edge International partner Nick Jarrett-Kerr addresses a highly sensitive issue that has faced nearly every law firm at one time or another: What do you do when one of your partners is not pulling his or her own weight? In preparation to write the book, Jarrett-Kerr conducted a ground-breaking, in-depth survey of partner underperformance at 22 law firms of all sizes from around the world...

The Edge International 2012 Global Law Firm Partner Compensation System Survey

Posted on June 05, 2012
"There is a significant difference among countries in what law firms take into consideration in setting partner compensation." - The Edge International 2012 Global Partner Compensation System Survey   '   'There is a significant difference among countries in what law firms take into consideration in setting partner compensation...

Become a "Vizibility Law Firm" - make every lawyer internet VIZIBLE

Posted on March 13, 2012
160 year old McCarter & English, a firm of over 400 lawyers with offices in Boston, Hartford, Stamford, New York City, Newark, Philadelphia and Wilmington is rolling out Vizibility QR codes on attorney business cards and printed biographies (with embedded patented SearchMeTM buttons)...

Apple profiles law firm use of iPads

Posted on February 24, 2012
The iPad has become a formidable competitive weapon for law firms: Quote from Fennemore Craig case study on Apple.com/business: "If I didn't have an iPad as a lawyer, I'd be at a major disadvantage," Quote from Virtual Strategy Magazine article: iPad® Harnessed by Law Firm to Sharpen Client Service Now, legal materials live on a fleet of iPads that Fennemore Craig pre-loads and loans to clients and adversaries...

Avoid Presentation Disasters

Posted on January 15, 2012
If you ever present to others, or even might, you need to see this (less than 4 minutes) Thanks to my friend Matt Homann for bringing this to my attention by posting this on his wonderful Blog,  "The [non]billable hour" on January 14, 2012

Top iPhone and iPad Apps for Lawyers

Posted on January 10, 2012
See Top iPhone and iPad Apps for Lawyers via Attorneys at Work and also download free bonus App List PDF  

Are you curious about use of Social Media in Law Firms?

Posted on December 23, 2011
If you want to compare Social Media perspectives with firms your size, this is a must have infographic - click on it to download (courtesy of Vizibility Inc.)          

2012 Law Firm Strategy Lessons from the Apollo 13 Moon Mission

Posted on December 22, 2011
Your law firm's success in 2012 may require considerable ingenuity under extreme pressure just as did from the crew of Apollo 13 for their safe return to Earth. Apollo 13 was the third mission in the American Apollo space program intended to land on the Moon...

Valorem Lawfirm lives up to its "value" name

Posted on September 26, 2011
An article in this month's Corporate Counsel Magazine has the spotlight on Valorem and for good reason.  Author Susan Hansen says: Valorem… now boasts a list of big, brand-name clients, including funeral industry giant Service Corporation International; national shoe retailer DSW Inc...

Law Asia Hong Kong - Session Materials

Posted on September 25, 2011
Presentation Materials from the Good to Outstanding, it's all about your people" conference in Hong Kong   For the required PASSWORD, kindly email me. (Your email address must match your registration) To download presentation materials, click on the relevant presentation...

Wisdom from a 92 year-old white-male university professor? No !!

Posted on July 27, 2011
    Really ? (No.)     Really ? (Yes.)   How refreshing for Forbes to offer us 26 Lessons from a 26 Year Old CEO, Shama Kabani.  Her wisdom is well-suited for consideration by Managing Partners of the most significant law firms...

Angry Birds help with best practices in one of India's most sophisticated law firms

Posted on July 04, 2011
I received this correspondence from Hoshedar Wadia, a partner in one of India's most sophisticated law firms, Juris Corp.  This firm deals in matters that range up to the hundreds of millions of US dollars in sophisticated areas like Capital Markets, Structured Finance, Securitization and so on...

Why you need to see Mark Zuckerberg's personal stationery

Posted on June 13, 2011
  The irony is too delicious to pass up. Mark Zuckerberg has invented one of the most powerful communication tools ever known to mankind. Facebook has literally started revolutions. Why, then, would the most successful communications entrepreneur in history regress to a pre-internet form of communication? For the same reason Jack Welch did as president of General Electric...

A Low-Paid Corner -- Stripping Pay and Prestige from the Practice of Law

Posted on May 24, 2011
According to NYT journalist, Catherine Rampell, in her May 23, 2011 story: At Well-Paying Law Firms, a Low-Paid Corner,   Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe,  WilmerHale and McDermott Will & Emery are "creating a second tier of workers, stripping pay and prestige from one of the most coveted jobs in the business world"...

Recovering from information overload (McKinsey Quarterly)

Posted on February 08, 2011
All of the Managing Partners with whom I work are devoured by their "multitasking work environments".  "Recovering from information overload" (McKinsey Quarterly, January 2011) authors Derek Dean and Caroline Webb have succinctly laid out their take on the problems and solutions: Problems (multitasking): slows us down, hampers creativity and makes us anxious and it's addictive) Solutions (Coping with the deluge): Focus, Filter and Forget Perhaps the most valuable part of the article lies in an exploration of how to hit the "reset button"...

Few Lawyers Have Formal Negotiation Training

Posted on January 12, 2011
Most of the top law firms I deal with have armies of lawyers who negotiate all the time whether on deals or resolving disputes.  So when I ask for a show of hands from anyone who has taken a course or read a book on negotiating, the responses suggest that fewer than 5% of lawyers have done so...

Presentation Calendar - inspiration for each month

Posted on January 09, 2011
  Make your presentations far more effective by drawing on the fabulous ideas in this presentation calendar

Attorney at Work Delivers Daily Ideas for Lawyers

Posted on December 09, 2010
I am honoured to be in the esteemed company of the publishers and advisors of Attorney at Work that promises 'One Really Good Idea Every Day' There is no cost to subscribe and the ideas will flow starting in January. I recommend that you subscribe now Congratulations in particular to my long time friend, Merrilyn Tarlton who conceived this idea with Joan and Mark Feldman  

Simon Tupman's Future Firm Forum 2010 New Zealand The Management Imperative

Posted on November 07, 2010
Download by clicking on image or HERE  Registered participants were provided with Password in session.

"Do, Don't Say !" Seth Godin simply nails it.

Posted on October 30, 2010
Sorry for offering the punchline in the title… but Yoda would be so proud (of Seth Godin) Extract from Seth Godin's blogpost: Won't get fooled again  If you catch yourself making a promise that's been made before, stop. Don't spend a lot of time and effort building credibility with this sort of promising, because it doesn't pay off...

Finding Success in a Global Paradox (Keynote ALPMA Sydney 22 Oct 2010 -- Password Protected -- registered participants only)

Posted on October 24, 2010
  Participants, I am awaiting assistance from the tech folks at Lexblog to upload your pdf copy of this presentation so you can download your password protected version.  Please check here in a few days.  If you need it right away, shoot me an email, please: riskin@edge-international...

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