Ahead of the Curve

Past Issues

"'THE LAST STRAW': THE PANDEMIC IS ACCELERATING KNOWN NEED TO CUT ADMINS"

There are long-term savings, firm leaders and experts agree, but the short-term gains are minimal. The real driver is about shaping the law firm for the future. Note from PDAC member: This article weighs the short-term economic preservation against the need to lay the groundwork for the future law firm structure in "what is an interesting moment of confluence between differing generational skill sets, technology and new working conditions in a post-pandemic world." Many firms have been revamping how they do things in recent years and legal administrative assistants are less prominent than they once were. Economics are certainly a factor, but the need to balance this against the firm culture should not be ignored.

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Resource: Patrick Smith, The American Lawyer (requires free subscription)

"ABOVE ALL, THIS CRISIS TOO WILL PASS"

Two months, it turns out, is a long time. For most law firms, 2020 looked as though it was going to be a banner year. Whispers could be heard that a recession was inevitable, though probably not for a while. Markets felt robust. Besides a prescient few whose warnings fell on deaf ears, that the world was ill-equipped to deal with a global pandemic, who would have thought that a crisis of this magnitude would be triggered by a flu-like virus? One cannot yet assess what the economic impact will be on countries and economies, far less on individual law firms and their clients. Sudden economic stops like these are unprecedented in the modern developed world.

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Resource: Rob Millard

"KPMG FUTURE OF HR 2020 INSIGHTS"

Download the report to uncover insights from more than 1,300 human resources executives globally on how they are shaping the future of work and their own organizations.

Read the survey report to learn how different HR groups are choosing to address today's challenges including:

• workforce shaping: HR's defining challenge
• the importance of employee experience by design
• cracking the data code through workforce insights

See a path forward for HR that requires some fundamentally new thinking about what HR does and how it is built to deliver.

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Resource: KPMG Advisory

"THE LANGUAGE OF FINANCIAL LEADERSHIP"

Whether you are making a big speech as a CFO or having a one-to-one business conversation, there are simple ways to ensure your message is heard, says speechwriter, author, and TEDx speaker Simon Lancaster.

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Resource: Hosted by Oliver Rowe, Financial Management Magazine Podcast

"FORCING ATTORNEYS AND STAFF BACK TO OFFICES MAY NOT INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY"

Stress, long commutes, and morale are three reasons why forcing employees back to the office may backfire. And there are more than three reasons.

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Resource: Jordan Rothman, Above the Law

"DELOITTE STEPS UP US LEGAL PUSH WITH LAUNCH OF LEGAL BUSINESS SERVICES ARM"

Big Four accountancy firm Deloitte has stepped up its U.S. legal offering with the launch of a Legal Business Services practice offering managed legal and consultancy services. Three senior executives have been hired — from alternative legal services firms Integreon and Elevate and consultancy Gartner — to help spearhead the expansion of the business, which aims to help corporate legal departments ‘accelerate the transformation of the business of law’." [Note from PDAC member: Pretty much a press release, but interesting expansion for the U.S. group; however, they still can't offer legal advice due to the U.S. bar rules outlawing multi-disciplinary legal practices.]

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Resource: The Global Legal Post

"7 STRATEGIES FOR PROMOTING COLLABORATION IN A CRISIS"

Our research on the 2008 financial crisis, however, shows that collaboration leads to sustainably higher commercial performance. In this article, we offer seven actions that leaders can take to foster collaboration.

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Resource: Heidi K. Gardner and Ivan Matviak, Harvard Business Review

"RESEARCH: POOR HEALTH REDUCES GLOBAL GDP BY 15% EACH YEAR"

COVID-19 has put health on the agenda of every company. Businesses have adapted to remote work, reconfigured physical workspaces, revised logistics and supply networks, and changed operating procedures to cope with the pandemic’s effects. Never before has the direct connection between the health of the global population and our economic prosperity been so visibly demonstrated.

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Resource: Jaana Remes, Martin Dewhurst and Jonathan Woetzel, Harvard Business Review

"THE GOOD YEARS MADE LAW FIRMS COMPLACENT AHEAD OF THE PANDEMIC, REPORT FINDS"

This article extracts some key findings from the Altman Weil Law Firms in Transition survey.

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Resource: Dylan Jackson, Law.com (requires free subscription)

"THE NEW ABNORMAL"

As companies get back to business, CEOs are asking: how will the way we’ve worked change the way we work?

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Resource: Dale Buss, Chief Executive

"ALTMAN WEIL SURVEY LAW FIRMS IN TRANSITION 2020: AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY"

Did law firms adapt and transition as needed to achieve lasting competitive advantages? Some did while most did not—at least not in full. This year’s survey highlights the persistent disconnect between what firm leaders agree they should have done during the intervening years and what they actually accomplished. The survey findings point to the many opportunities still available to firms that choose to pursue them.

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Resource: Altman Weil, Inc.

"RETHINK WORK-FROM-HOME EMPLOYEE PERKS"

As working from home stretches into the summer and beyond at many companies, some firms are adopting interesting, innovative incentives to maintain engagement and productivity among telecommuting employees.

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Resource: Paul Bergeron, SHRM