Law and Politics
I have assiduously kept this blog and all my writings focused on the effective and efficient practice of law, not personal beliefs or politics. Those are mine and to be shared only with friends and family. You don't read my thoughts to be persuaded to vote one way or the other. However, a friend's post today on his blog has prompted me to speak out, prompted in part by the enormity of the current financial challenges of our time.
One perspective that I've heard echoed frequently is a paraphrase of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930's: Even if wrong, it's important that we do something! Something is better than nothing because of the crisis of confidence. At least with something in the works, people believe we're moving forward and will fix whatever the problem is.
I generally agree with this ... but I also see a massive redistribution of wealth in the current proposals which, frankly, scares me. The rhetoric of the candidates does nothing to build confidence in me despite the fact that I will vote for one of the candidates for one very simple reason: His philosophy concerning judicial appointments, appointments that in my opinion far outlast the impact of a president on other fronts. We've lived through many ineffective presidents ... but their terms last 4 years or 8 at the most. Their appointments often last decades, a far more significant impact.
Getting back to the economy. The current crisis, I'm told, began with the housing industry and the mortgages created when buying a house. Loans were given to people who couldn't afford to maintain the payments. But, those loans were kept current until the interest rates were raised. Don't forget that many of these people could also make the new payments but for the fact that they lost their jobs -- their jobs were eliminated by outsourcing, by changes in technology and by other factors. Now comes Wall Street with new products that wrapped these mortgages into new securities instruments. These securities instruments were sold ... and there was no one the homeowner could turn to for the purpose of adjusting the term or rate of the mortgage ... a blank wall appeared before the homeowner. The bank no longer owned the mortgage.
In the recent IndyMac fiasco, the FDIC came in and worked with the homeowners, changed rates and terms of the loans. Homeowners stayed in their houses and no bail-out money was needed. In effect, the FDIC pulled out an old technique used in the 1930's. In the 1930's, Roosevelt froze bank assets and mortgages. Similarly today, foreclosures could be frozen for 30/90 days, or whatever time needed, until a reasoned solution could be developed.
Why is it that our current leaders have such a short memory of history? Are they so bent on eliminating the "middle class" and transferring more wealth to those who don't need it? Some have said we're enhancing corporate socialism ... I was taught in school that socialism was intended for the working folks -- even if you objected to this form of government. Where are the working folks in these new proposals?
Apparently, a lot of people agree with me ... Congress has just "junked" the current proposal. I'm sure another will be on the table shortly. But, it was really disheartening the other night to hear Gov. Corzine of New Jersey, a former securities industry chief executive, say that he dislikes the current bill, but it's better than nothing, that something must be done!
History will be made in this election. Good or bad, depending on your point of view. But, clearly the next generation is being mapped out for us as I write this comment. Be sure to vote and make your voice heard.
Karl Robe talks with Ed about public relations and image.
Karl Robe, APR, possesses 15 years experience, during which he has counseled c-level executives from Fortune 100 companies to start-ups in business-to-business, public affairs and leadership communications. As an author, presenter and coach on a multitude of communications topics, his insights have appeared in The Strategist, Cris Manager, Wisconsin Law Journal and numerous other venues. Karl has achieved an Accreditation in Public Relations (APR), certifying a candidate's knowledge of public relations practice, communications, theory, management science and ethics.
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Airstream progress update
We started with my wife's dream of being part of the Airstream cult. After our first Airstream trailer was "totaled," we started over, almost literally from the ground up. I've discussed this before.
We expected to be on the road by this time ... the progress is much slower than expected, and more costly...like any construction project that is twice as expensive and twice as long. But our trailer is being built with care, love and creativity.
This picture is taken from the inside out towards the front window...(our living room)....the inside stainless steel skin is going to be riveted in place very soon!!!! You can see the two 12 volt batteries in front, the box on the lower right is the tankless water heater/furnace, the box on the left is the base for the refrigerator and that is the bathroom sink..... not in place....just resting.
Law Firm Marketing During Crisis & Chaos
During an economic crisis, yes, some call it a depression, Heather Milligan has some cogent ideas to market your practice:
- What are your clients’ key industry pubs reporting on today? Understand how the financial markets impact their companies.
- If your clients/referral sources are at risk, call and see how you can be of service to THEM. Not just their companies, but THEM. If their company is on the brink of collapse or bankruptcy, their first concerns will be about putting food on their table, not who is handling the filings.
- Face time. Face time. Face time. You need to be, and stay, top-of-mind with your key contacts.
- For we marketers, time to start thinking about clearing our budgets of “unnecessary” items. Now might not be the best time to kick-off a rebranding campaign or overhaul the website. I’m not going to ask for a high-capacity color laser printer right now. End-of-year charitable contributions/tables-of-ten will soon be reaching your desks. How are you going to evaluate them?
Three Lenses for Law Firm Recession Survival
The days of multi-million dollar profits per partner and rapidly rising triple-digit associate salaries were never real for most law firms, especially when considered in light of the demographic of law - more than 70% are in small law firms. But, now firms big and small, conservative and highly leveraged, all feel the business pressure from the economic downturn.
Big Law and the "Value Revolution"
On September 26th, ACC is planning a live webcast seminar to introduce its "value revolution," designed to teach about lowering large law firm fees to corporate clients.
Continue Reading...Fujitsu Scanner Raffle -- FREE
We have the great opportunity to offer, free, a Fujitsu Scanner, S300 portable unit. Read for more details.
General Counsel & The Future of the Profession
I had the pleasure of talking with Paul Williams of Major, Lindsey & Africa. Paul focuses his energies on placing lawyers as General Counsel of major corporations. From his perspective, he suggests that General Counsel today receive more respect. Of course, GCs today have a much larger budget for legal fees than ever before. And many GCs come from the ranks of major law firms. Coming from the elite law firms and handling such large sums of money, one would expect private lawyers to give the corporate lawyers more respect. Also, in many cases, GCs are increasing the size of their legal departments as one way to control legal costs ... they can “purchase” the legal talent at wholesale (as an employee of the legal department) rather than retail (law firm associate or partner).
Following are some of my thoughts and conclusions drawn from my conversation with Paul. Not wanting to attribute words or ideas to Paul that he may not have intended, I will accept responsibility for the following conclusions that I reached from our conversation:
Lawyer Education to Benefit Clients
In many states, the practical skills concerning “The Business of Law”® that lawyers most need to keep their practices profitable and problem free – training in effective client service and law practice management techniques – either are not covered or actively eliminated as legitimate MCLE credits. They also happen to be skills that no law school faculty offers either. In fact, in conversations I’ve had with educators, their view of law as a profession means that any such programs about effective client communication are trade-oriented and therefore inappropriate for law schools. The result was described several years ago in The Wall Street Journal by the publisher of the New York Law School Law Review, who observed that law school students are “reading about the law rather than engaging in it,” with the result that “when they graduate, young lawyers rarely know how to interview clients, advocate for their positions, negotiate a settlement or perform any number of other tasks that lawyers do every day.”
Continue Reading...Tom O'Leary talks with Ed about leveraging the Internet to increase revenue
Tom O'Leary is the owner of The Attorneys ATM, a marketing and advertising firm based in Cincinnati, OH and the author of How to Dominate Google, Yahoo and MSN. In the past decade, he has assisted more than 400 small and medium sized businesses with their marketing strategies, with a focus on leveraging the Internet to increase revenue.
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Click here to download your free copy of How To Dominate Google, Yahoo And Msn.
Lawyers' responsibility for clients' trust funds
Managing and accounting for client funds held in trust is a personal responsibility of the lawyer. Although there are a number of good computer software programs to assist with trust accounting, including QuickBooks by Intuit, the lawyer who receives clients’ trust funds bears all the responsibility of accounting for every penny. In an accounting sense, these funds are a liability of the law practice to the client, must be kept in an entirely separate account, and cannot be commingled with any other law firm funds. Recent challenges to the country’s banking system raise the specter of bank failures, with wide impact on the American public. Lawyers, for example are the subject of recent inquiries because of their IOLTA trust accounts.
Continue Reading...Tom Kane talks with Ed about importance of conducting client interviews
Tom is a former practicing lawyer, who spent more than 22 years as a marketing person for law firms, both in-house and as a consultant. He is the author of LegalMarketingBlog.com, which has enjoyed a No.2 ranking for legal marketing on Google and Yahoo for more than two years. His last in-house position was as Chief Marketing Officer for a large national law firm.
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Work ON your business
And in your law practice, the fact that you haven’t paid sufficient attention to “The Business of Law”® doesn’t’ mean you shouldn’t/can’t start now. Today is Labor Day, hopefully a day of rest for you … start tomorrow to work “on your business,” not just “in your business.” And build something of value (otherwise known as goodwill) that can be passed on to your family, your estate, when you’re ready to retire. You don’t have to just close the doors and walk away.
