Jaime Angeles, Partner of Angeles & Lugo Lovatón (Dominican Republic), is scheduled to speak at the 2012 annual meeting of the New York State Bar Association, IP Law Section on January 24, 2012. the topic will be The Legal Impact of Social Media and Cloud Computing, and will include privacy, contractual and intellectual property issues.

Harvard Business Review, The Balanced Scorecard Report article abstract (November-December 2011), by David A. Lubin, Amy Longsworth, Randall H. Russell 

Capitalism is a dynamic system for creating economic value. It continues to evolve as the world changes. What once were considered externalities in the 20th century (side effects or consequences of industrial or commercial activities that affect other parties without being reflected in the cost of the goods or services involved) are being reconsidered in the 21st century. The focus now is on "shared value"— a new conceptualization defined by Michael Porter as the policies and operating practices that enhance the competitiveness of a company while simultaneously advancing the social, environmental, or economic conditions in the communities in which it operates or is emerging. Creating shared value, far from being corporate philanthropy or social obligation, is now becoming understood as a key strategic pathway for revenue growth and durable profitability in the 21st century.

National Law Journal (December 7, 2011), by Adrian Dayton

Most of you will have seen the famous Apple commercial, "Think Different." The ad featured clips of the "crazy ones" — Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., John Lennon, Charlie Chaplin, Richard Branson, to name a few.

Originally, Steve Jobs cut a track with his own voice narrating, but in the end he used the voice of Richard Dreyfus. He explained to biographer Walter Isaacson that in the end he didn't want the commercial to be about him. He wanted it to be about Apple.

The commercial is isn't really about Apple either, though; it is about a concept. The concept that even though you are mocked, fired, kicked out of your own company or worse, you still can change the world. The commercial was effective because ideas are so much more powerful than advertisements. Most commercials leave us entertained at best; the Apple spot actually is inspiring.

So what is the trick? What can law firms learn from the way that Jobs marketed? Jobs was passionate about great design and creating truly great products. His gift to the world was turning his ideas and leadership into something tangible. His commercial was great because it captured the idea and the value of Apple, and shared that concept as a gift through this short video. Firms need to be willing to share what inspires them.

I often hear this complaint from firms resistant to share online: "We don't want to give anything away." They are so worried about giving away the firm secrets that they are afraid to share the most valuable gift they have to give, their insights. How can your firm turn what it is about into a message that resonates? The answer will be different for every firm. One thing is certain, though: It is worth figuring out.

Fortunately, Apple didn't erase the version in which Steve Jobs narrates; you can take a look at it here. I don't think the Jobs narration makes it any less powerful, that's the great thing about the best ideas — they don't really belong to anyone. At the end of the day, whether the voice came from Steve Jobs or Richard Dreyfus, the message resonates.

Adrian Dayton is an attorney and author of two books, Social Media for Lawyers: Twitter Edition (ARK 200) and LinkedIn & Blogs for Lawyers: Building High Value Relationships in a Digital Age, co-authored by Amy Knapp. (Anticipated in January 2012 by West Publishing). Learn more at http://adriandayton.com or by following him on Twitter @adriandayton.
http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202534773480

WSJ Law Blog (December 12, 2011), by Jennifer Smith

While a number of global law firms have dipped their toes in the social media pool, relatively few have taken the plunge into genuine interactivity, according to an audit released today by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell.

The company looked at how 110 global law firms used LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and other social media from April to mid-May of 2011.

The upshot?

“It’s just getting going,” said Bryn Hughes, the company’s marketing and communications manager in international markets. “For the legal sector, I think they are slow to adapt to new technology.”
Firms appear interested in using social media as a marketing platform, particularly outfits based in places with excellent internet penetration: New York, Canada, the United Kingdom and Western Europe. Still, most of those surveyed use social networks as one-way channels to distribute company news, and few embraced blogging and YouTube or integrated social media widget into firm web sites, the audit found.

Hughes said that lawyers he had spoken with seem interested in using social media, but remained cautious about liability, client confidentiality and the potential embarrassment of posting erroneous statements online.

Here’s the snapshot of the findings:

• 77% of firms surveyed had profiles on LinkedIn
  
• 31% used Twitter
  
• 29% used Facebook
  
• 10.9% used YouTube
  
• 8% had official firm blogs
  
• 7% used social media widgets to integrate firm web sites

Notable exceptions to the trend include an apparent one-man social media juggernaut by a U.K. lawyer named Danvers Ballieu, now with Pinsent Masons LLP in London. He has a Twitter handle, a blog and also runs a so-called legal “boot camp” for technology and Internet folks.

And add YouTube to the list of adventurous things that have found fertile ground in Amsterdam (of course we are referring to tulips and bicycle transit).  Offices there of the firms CMS Derks Star Busmann, Houthoff Buruma and NautaDutilh have all posted videos to the site promoting their work or services, with the latter using YouTube as part of a guerilla marketing campaign, the audit found. Click here to see an example.

Kevin O’Keefe of Lexblog lasered in on the audit’s blogging results with this post over on Real Lawers Have Blogs. He writes that lawyers are only now getting over “their their own institutional fear of blogging and social media,” and says many blogs now published by lawyers exist only to boost search engine rankings.

“Those blogs provide nothing of value and cast the illusion that there are too many law blogs,” O’Keefe writes. “In fact, law firms are just beginning to see the power of blogs and social media.”

Marcasur (July-September 2011 issue)

In an interview with Marcasur, a Spanish language, Latin-American IP magazine, Robin Rolfe discusses her early years as a lawyer, her successful tenure as Executive Director at INTA for 17 years and her accomplishments as founder and president of the consulting firm, Robin Rolfe Resources, specializing in strategic planning and practice management services for IP law firms.

You may view the article here.

Congratulations to Lara Kayode, Managing Partner of O. Kayode & Co. (Nigeria), on her recent election to the INTA Board of Directors, effective January 1, 2012. 

Peer Monitor Index (October 28, 2011), Hildebrandt Institute

In a recent executive report, the Hildebrandt Institute indicated that until recently, firms had generally been doing a good job of balancing their headcount against slowly growing law firm services demand. But firms have stepped up their hiring in recent months in a modest return to traditional seasonal hiring patterns. But while firms were hiring, demand slowed as the year has progressed, widening the gap between law firm capacity and available work. Whether this trend continues will depend on the performance of the broader economy and whether we see continued recovery in litigation and transactional work.

Perhaps the bigger question is the challenge presented for 2012. Read the whole report here.

A Look at the Pros and Cons of Value Billing Models

Inside Counsel (December 15, 2011), by Mike Evers

25 The 2011 Futures Conference was held recently at the Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law, so I start by thanking Dean Harold Krent and his staff for letting me audit this very practical discussion among in-house counsel, law firms and consultants. This was a dynamic conference that hit on the major changes in how legal work is getting done, ranging from disruptive technology innovation to project management discipline to the use of alternative service providers.

I will focus on what I believe is the essential take away message from this conference, and by far the most relevant to anyone who practices law for a living: Hourly billing as the predominant model for buying legal services may finally be on its deathbed.

The client may be Pfizer, featured at the conference for its use of an Alliance network of “BigLaw” firms that are retained on a fixed fee basis. The client may be a next door neighbor paying $99 to use software from Legal Zoom to compose a will. Whether a matter is complex or simple, litigation or transactional, clients are embracing value billing models that offer price certainty.

What are the ramifications of value billing for legal careers? I believe compensation, job satisfaction and performance metrics will all change significantly.

For attorneys at law firms, the change in performance metrics will be dramatic. Associate bonuses will no longer be tied to hours billed. Partner compensation will align with net profitability figures, not gross revenue totals. That’s significant, but it’s just math. The most dramatic impact will relate to job satisfaction. I spoke with an outside attorney from Pfizer’s Alliance network, and she describes the non-hourly orientation as life changing.

Think about what hourly billing does for one’s mindset. The treadmill of chasing hours never stops, justifying hours becomes a defensive exercise and the lifestyle of tracking hours causes a tremendous amount of stress. Removing the almighty hour as a business objective frees a good lawyer. Focusing on results and net profitability leads smart people to engage in behavior that is efficient, creative and at times even experimental. All of a sudden, daily work life in a law firm becomes less of a grind. I really believe that value billing offers a structure that can make life in a law firm more pleasant and ultimately more rewarding. We may even hear the word “fun” used on occasion by law firm attorneys when describing their jobs.

Harvard Business Review, The Daily Stat (December 9, 2011)

51% of female senior executives typically wear black to work, compared with just 18% of their male colleagues. But the preponderance of males gives the C-suite an overall bluish hue: With men and women counted together, 36% of senior executives typically wear navy blue, 26% favor black, 8% prefer brown, and 8% prefer gray, according to a CareerBuilder survey of more than 550 hiring managers in leadership positions. 63% of senior executives typically wear business casual; only 14% wear suits.

Source: Behind the Boss: A Peek at Company Leaders' Personal Style

AmLaw Daily (December 2, 2011), by Claire Zillman

The legal sector continued to make modest gains on the employment front in November by adding 100 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics's preliminary employment report released Friday. The sector also added 400 jobs in October, according to the seasonally adjusted figures included in the BLS report.

While encouraging, the uptick in legal hiring over the past two months doesn't offset the 1,200 jobs the industry lost in September (the legal sector also shed 300 positions in August). July, during which the industry added 4,100 employees, remains the year's bright spot. The legal sector has suffered a net loss of 1,000 jobs in 2011 and is down 3,100 jobs since November 2010, according to BLS statistics.

The nation's overall unemployment rate, meanwhile, dropped to 8.6 percent last month, its lowest level in two-and-a-half years. The New York Times cited two factors as driving the decline: employers hiring 120,000 people in November and 315,000 abandoning their active job searches.
The dip in unemployment comes four weeks before the scheduled expiration of extended jobless insurance benefits, which allow some unemployed workers actively seeking a job to receive government payments for up to 99 weeks. The Times reports that millions of people have already exhausted their benefits, and Congress's failure to renew the extended benefits program will affect as many as 1.2 million in January alone.