Few law schools offer their graduates LinkedIn self-branding workshops as an employment game-changer before law firm hiring managers. Today, even when taught, self-branding coursework is outdated, even at the best law schools. Or, as widely lamented by attendees in my recent online seminar, marketing courses not offered at all.
To better advise artificial intelligence decisions, lawyers should know the benefits, shortcomings and best practices of incorporating insurance into AI risk management.
Contract management. Compliance updates. Discovery responses. Intellectual property portfolio management. These rote, often-time-consuming tasks can all be part of an in-house counsel’s day-to-day schedule. The problem? Many can devolve into costly time sinks for a legal department’s salaried talent.
As generative artificial intelligence stormed the scene over the past year with its snazzy Q&A interface, it was fair to ask whether existing ways of accessing knowledge, such as keyword search or templates, would become redundant. After all, why would you need those old ways of tracking down specific pieces of knowledge if you can just ask the all-knowing AI to call it up for you?
Many law firms are seeking to increase diversity, equity, inclusion accessibility and belonging within their team (collectively, “DEI”). Following are five tips for how law firms can apply DEI best practices in 2024.
As 2024 begins, so does the business of legal recruiting. And not surprisingly, we have already seen numerous transfers of law firm partners and groups. The market also anticipates several more major firm mergers this year. As we start this new year, I would like to broach the question, do you know who your legal recruiter is?
“It’s never going to go well,” Arizona attorney Lynda C. Shely says about the prospect of representing anyone you are close to, including family members and friends. Shely, the immediate past chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, works in private practice and has advised more than 2,500 law firms around the country on legal ethics matters.
The ABA Journal hosts the Mind Your Business column to facilitate lawyers talking to other lawyers about the business side of law. We had 12 contributions in 2023, and we've put together this roundup as a perfect way to help readers get in a growth mindset for 2024. Please enjoy, and scroll to the bottom to see how you could share your own wisdom next year.
As lawyers, whether we practice in a corporate legal office, a global law firm or an independent firm, we are all trying to position ourselves for success in a changing and more globalized legal landscape. We are also all facing challenges in recruiting and retaining the young lawyers who will help us get there. Lawyer exchanges are one tool that can be effective on both fronts.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, offices worldwide have been compelled to adapt to virtual or hybrid work models, transforming the way businesses operate. While the urgency to implement these changes may have diminished since restrictions have become almost nonexistent, the impact of virtual and hybrid work environments continues to resonate strongly, particularly within the legal industry.
There are few events in life more pivotal and significant than becoming a parent, especially for the first time. Yet even in today’s era of post-COVID-19 extravagant employee wellness initiatives that focus on mental health, many employers fail to recognize the importance of providing their workforce with the one benefit that will enhance both employee retention and job satisfaction: a robust parental leave policy.
Before you start drafting a plan to expand your firm into new territories or practice new areas of law, it’s important that you don’t fall into the habit of overworking yourself in order to achieve your business goals.
According to the Thomson Reuters 2022 State of U.S. Small Law Firms report, 22% of law firms admit that “differentiating your firm from your competition” is one of the top three goals or priorities for their practices. The report also indicates that 50% of firms find “challenges acquiring new client business” a moderate challenge, and 22% see it as a significant one. At the same time, almost three-quarters of the firms feel that the most competition comes from other law firms of similar size.
“Generative AI systems are made up of billions or even trillions of parameters trained on vast amounts of data, and their complexity makes their outputs notoriously difficult to explain. But can complex generative systems undergo meaningful audits?”
A JD degree is a gateway to various career alternatives. One of these opportunities, teaching law in a business school, receives little publicity and often is overlooked by law school graduates.
The ABA Journal wants to host and facilitate conversations among lawyers about their profession. We are now accepting thoughtful, non-promotional articles and commentary by unpaid contributors.
