photo-1448220140720-53ea5ddbd54a“What they really need is leadership willing to make decisions.” 

That’s what one reader feels is going to be required of the law firm of the future. And that’s true, isn’t it? Although it’s inherent in some of the responses we’ve seen from the authors included in HighQ’s book on Smart Law – in order to make changes and be ready for the future, you have to have curiosity and open-mindedness, a level of comfort with innovation. But really, you have to have guts.

It reminded me of the phrase clients have been using for years – “Change or die.” I’ve blogged about it before, so I searched Zen to see where it came up – and you might be surprised to see that we’ve been talking about this for six years already:

We keep talking about changing or dying, and sometimes, changing an industry like the legal industry is like turning an ocean liner – it takes time. Will we see the monolithic shifts in the industry that we hope to in the next five years? The next ten? That remains to be seen. But we do need bold, strategic thinkers with varied characteristics and guts to be leading the charge. As Will Rogers said “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” Continue Reading Law Firm of the Future: Move it or Lose It

photo-1444653614773-995cb1ef9efaThis guide continues to be a labor of love for us, so I’m excited to announce that our Corporate Specialty Group is releasing their Third Edition of “Establishing a Business Entity In: An International Guide.”

This collaborative electronic guide offers a summary of key corporate law principles in 22 countries across the globe, serving as a quick, practical reference for those establishing an entity in these jurisdictions.

The guide continues our previous efforts to highlight and promote the collaborative efforts and expertise of our corporate lawyers. The group continues to work diligently to update the guide with the latest figures and regulations for their jurisdictions, and we will pursue regular revision and growth of this comprehensive guide to ensure we are providing the most up-to-date information for our firms and their clients. Continue Reading ILN Corporate Specialty Group Launches Third ‘Establishing a Business Entity: An International Guide’

photo-1457528877294-b48235bdaa68We continue to delve into the characteristics that will make up the most successful lawyers of the future. Last week, it was curiosity, innovation, open-mindedness, and a willingness to learn, which all really overlap. Today, we’ll look at what two more of the leaders in HighQ’s book on SmartLaw had  to say in answer to the question:

What do you believe lawyers and law firms need to do to prepare for the future of legal services?”

Continue Reading The Law Firm of the Future Will Need a Perfect Storm

photo-1447433865958-f402f562b843A couple of weeks ago, I shared HighQ’s eBook on Smart Law, addressing the question “What do you believe lawyers and law firms need to do to prepare for the future of legal services?” My response to their question is that firms need flexibility, and today and over the next few months, I want to look at what some of the other contributors consider to be essential to the future of the legal industry.

As I’m sure we all have our own thoughts on where the industry is headed and why, don’t be shy about sharing your answers to HighQ’s question in the comments, and responding to what the other contributors had to say as well!  Continue Reading The Right Way to be a Lawyer of the Future

photo-1469013078550-305e63b7c8f7Back in February, we talked about how lawyers can use Instagram to get noticed. Instagram still continues to dominate when it comes to social media, and whether you’re using it yourself, or you just want to have a better understanding of how it works because your clients are using it, it’s a great tool. That being said, I still stand by what I said at the end of my last post:

In summary, while I doubt that Instagram is going to bring lawyers new business, it’s another tool to have in your arsenal, and one you should know how to use, especially with the staggering usage statistics that we see, and the new account-switching feature that will make it immensely easier for brands to use.”

Instagram continues to roll out new features to stay competitive with other social media tools, and one of those features is what we’re focused on today! Continue Reading How Lawyers Can Embrace Instagram Stories

FirmoftheMonth1

August/September 2016

The ILN is proud to announce our latest firm of the month, Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth – Newport Beach, California!

Stradling is a premier business law firm with more than 130 attorneys in ten offices across California, Colorado, Nevada, and Washington. Stradling represents companies and other entities which seek a sophisticated law firm with experienced counsel to guide critical transactions and disputes. Originally founded in 1975 to represent Southern California’s most innovative emerging growth companies, Stradling is known today as a leading full-service business law firm representing high growth and established organizations at all stages of their existence, including formation, angel and seed financing, venture capital financing, mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, IPOs, and debt financings. They bring a tremendous amount of technical expertise to each transaction ranging from extensive corporate, securities, and finance experience, to specialized proficiencies in core areas such as executive compensation and employment, tax, intellectual property, environmental, and real estate law.

In addition to its corporate practice, Stradling’s complex business litigation team has deep experience across a spectrum of matters, including securities class actions, merger and acquisition litigation, consumer class actions, trade secret and unfair competition cases, intellectual property disputes, and government investigations.  Their lawyers are experienced in handling matters from inception through appeals and in the event the dispute cannot be resolved, Stradling  has experienced trial lawyers that have tried cases before judges and juries in state and federal courts across the United States. They also handle the day-to-day litigation needs of their clients utilizing creative approaches to effectively resolve commercial, contract, and business tort disputes, as well as deploying strategies to handle portfolios of litigation.

The firm’s public finance lawyers represent municipalities and public agencies in finance and redevelopment transactions throughout the western region and ranked #1 as a bond, disclosure and underwriter’s counsel firm in California for the third year in a row.

Continue Reading ILN Firm of the Month – Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth – Newport Beach, California!

photo-1452690700222-8a2a1a109f4cToday, I’m bringing you a guest post from my friend, Lance Godard, a Business Development Manager at Fisher & Philips. I know that “cross-selling” is often a hot (maybe too hot!) topic, and Lance delves into some candid reasons for why it may not be working – if you really want to make it work for you, take a look at his thoughts on the subject.

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Whether you call it cross-marketing or cross-targeting or some other variation on the theme, cross-selling is not a new concept for most lawyers and firms. And it’s not particularly complicated to do: align the work you actually provide a client with the services they need, and implement a program for connecting their needs with your practices. Easy-peasy, right? Continue Reading Are Your Cross-Selling Efforts Stalling? Maybe You’re Doing It Wrong…

photo-1461783436728-0a9217714694Two weeks ago, we took a look at two brands (Rolex and Farmers Insurance) who are doing content marketing right, with the idea being that when we look outside the legal industry, we can often find transferable lessons that can be applied to our own strategy and execution to improve what we’re doing.

The original post by Neil Patel looks at 8 brands, and this week, I want to look at two more of them for some additional inspiration – let’s stretch our collective imaginations and see how what those in completely different industries to our own are doing successfully might translate to legal! Continue Reading Tune in to (Two) Other Brands for Inspiration

photo-1450101499163-c8848c66ca85A leading Hungarian commercial bank had been offered securities held on a securities account owned by a “Sparverein,” a specific Austrian legal entity similar to a savings club, as collateral for a credit agreement with a separate entity. As the bank was unfamiliar with the corporate form of a Sparverein, and the laws applicable for such entities, it raised several questions and the bank wanted to ensure that its collateral would be valid and enforceable. These questions, among others, related to whether the Sparverein is allowed to offer its funds as collateral in general, and with respect to loans granted to a third party in particular, as well as the enforceability of the security deposit in a liquidation procedure or any other insolvency situation.

The bank, being a key client of ILN Hungarian member, Jalsovszky Law Firm, approached the firm to get their assistance with the matter in Austria. Partner Gábor Pázsitka contacted Dr. Andreas Bauer of the ILN’s Austrian firm, Brauneis Klauser Prändl Rechtsanwälte GmbH (bkp), and following the necessary administration, bkp examined the case further and learned it would be a challenging one. Continue Reading ILN Member Firms Work Together to Assist Hungarian Commercial Bank

Young woman loking at virtual graphics in futuristic background

A few months ago, I was contacted about SmartLaw.

SmartLaw is the idea that there are three keys to a law firm’s success – their clients, their culture and the intelligent use of technology (this is per HighQ, a technology company who provides enterprise collaboration, file sharing & content publishing solutions to leading law firms, corporate legal teams, and banks). About SmartLaw, they said:

It’s no longer news that the business of law is changing. Business structures, billing models, and even client expectations are very different than they were just a few short years ago.

The way firms compete and who they compete with; the staff they employ, or choose to outsource, and where in the world they’re located; and the importance of business analytics and big data are all relatively new concerns in law.

No matter where your firm is at now, SmartLaw is about mastering the fundamentals to make sure you stay competitive in the future.”

We know that the business of law has been, and is changing – though there’s still some disagreement about whether there’s total “disruption” or just a gradual shift. But either way, most of us can agree that things are different today than they were 10 years ago. Even five years ago.  Continue Reading Are You Ready for the Future of Legal Services?