Ahead of the Curve
October 2020
PURPOSE
The Professional Development Advisory Committee’s (PDAC) purpose in providing you this communication is to further its goal of periodically sharing topical information regarding the legal industry. Our hope is that one or more of the updates will provide a spark of insight to assist with your work on behalf of ALA as well as within your firm or legal department.
Past Issues
"FINDING A PATH FORWARD TO REGULATE THE LEGAL INDUSTRY"
Some important changes for the legal profession are underway and a sea change seems possible. The most important decision to be made is whether lawyers will continue to regulate themselves or if a new supervisory body — probably some form of an independent, nonprofit regulator with delegated authority over some or all legal services — will come into being, as happened in the U.K. in 2010. The changes are being forced by this truth: A client of substantial means can get very good legal representation for civil or criminal matters. The same is not true for civil legal problems of the less wealthy or poor. This group is large, better informed and unwilling to have their rising level of expectations ignored.
Learn more.
Resource: Gerald Knapton, Law360 (requires a free subscription)
"REDEFINING LAW FIRM FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IN AN ERA OF UNPRECEDENTED ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY"
The pandemic has forced law firms to reevaluate their expenses, refine their budgets and review their overall operations to adapt to an environment of perpetual uncertainty. To understand their approach, options and considerations, LSQ engaged Ari Kaplan Advisors to benchmark a range of metrics and perspectives from leaders at an array of organizations.
Learn more.
Resource: Ari Kaplan, Law Journal Newsletters
"HOW TO MANAGE A HYBRID TEAM"
Your employees’ needs are always varied. But right now, as many companies navigate returning to an office in some shape or form, your team members are likely contending with vastly different situations. Some have limited or no childcare or are managing their kids’ online school; some have health issues that preclude them from returning to in-person work; and some are eager and excited to get out of the house and head back to their cubicles. As the leader, how do you manage these various circumstances while treating everyone fairly?
Learn more.
Resource: Rebecca Knight, Harvard Business Review (requires free subscription)
"4 TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE VIRTUAL COLLABORATION"
Team collaboration done right is a powerful force to align a group of individuals to accomplish a common goal in the most effective way possible. But even the best collaborations, filled with smart, capable, and experienced team members, can be a struggle. Done wrong, collaborative projects can feel like a waste of time where individuals spend more time talking about doing things than actually getting things done.
Learn more.
Resource: Elizabeth Grace Saunders, Harvard Business Review (requires free subscription)
"2020 LEGAL MARKET REPORT: HOW INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY IS RESHAPING THE BUSINESS AND PRACTICE OF LAW"
If the traditional practice of law were a kitchen appliance, it would be a slow cooker with a few basic settings that got the job done … eventually. It would then bill you for every hour it was plugged in, and insist that the wait and the cost were well worth it for you. It would also simultaneously insist that no one could do what the slow cooker can, despite you seeing the ads for appliances that were faster, cheaper and equally effective.
Learn more.
Resource: Legal Executive Institute
