Many people have views on how to develop a vision of change, of disruption. Having just created ElevateNext Law (with the incomparable Nicole Auerbach) and created a vision with Elevate Services and Univar, I wanted to share my “recipe.” It is a combination of George Bernard Shaw and Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Says Shaw: Some see… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Subscribe to Uncategorized RSS FeedNicole Auerbach honored as one of Chicago’s most influential women lawyers
Posted in Commentary, People, Places and Blawgs, UncategorizedKudos to our very own Nicole Auerbach, who was recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of Chicago’s Most Influential Women Lawyers. Here is how Crain’s summarized Nicole: After concluding that the billable hour model for pricing legal services needed to change, Nicole Nehama Auerbach helped form Valorem Law Group in 2008 to give clients… Continue Reading
Vanilla. Tastes good, but it’s a bad way to market.
Posted in Client Service, Commentary, General, UncategorizedIf you spend any time reading law firm websites, you soon come to one conclusion: all of them were written by the same person. We know this because all law firms say the same things–best schools, best lawyers, client-focused, great client serviced, alternative fees, focused, collaborative, efficient, blah, blah, blah. Some websites use more words… Continue Reading
Goodbye for now, Mr. Carr, but not forever.
Posted in General, UncategorizedIt is now public information that our colleague Jeff Carr has been named Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Univar, Inc. Univar is the “leading chemical distributor in the United States, providing more chemical products and related services than any other company in the marketplace.” We view Jeff’s departure from ValoremNext with mixed emotions. … Continue Reading
Links to my Art of Value podcast with Kirk Bowman
Posted in Pricing, Trends and Innovations, Uncategorized, Value TipsKirk Bowman has become one of the leading voices on value billing. Kirk produces the “Art of Value” podcast. He has interviewed an range of people who have offered so many great ideas on value, pricing and billing, including Ed Kless, Michele Golden, Peter Carayannis, the great Ron Baker, John Chisholm, and so many others… Continue Reading
Moving at the Speed of Business
Posted in UncategorizedBusiness moves fast. Really fast. Does your law firm keep up? If you think you do, think again. Do you think in days when your clients are operating in hours? Weeks instead of days. It is a rare law firm designed to move as quickly as clients often need them to move. What are you… Continue Reading
The Greater Fool
Posted in UncategorizedMost people spend their lives trying not to be the Greater Fool. We toss him the hot potato. We dive for his seat when the music stops. The greater fool is someone with the perfect blend of self-delusion and ego to think that he can succeed where others have failed. This whole country was made… Continue Reading
Winning the daily war within
Posted in UncategorizedI have internal demons. To ease the burden of these demons, I imagine that everybody has their share. Even if not true, believing it to be makes it easier to accept that I have demons. But deep down, I know I must fight mine every day. Every. Single. Day. My number one demon is complacency…. Continue Reading
Litigators: What’s your story?
Posted in Commentary, General, UncategorizedTrial lawyers see a case as a story. They are constantly thinking about the story and why the jury should care about it. Litigators see a case as a series of motions and briefs, depositions and documents. The stuff litigators see as the point of a case is just a road to the end.
Nicole Auerbach wonders why inside counsel aren’t changing faster
Posted in UncategorizedValorem Law Group’s Nicole Auerbach spends a lot of time talking to inside counsel. She has seen many who are leading major changes in their law departments, taking advantage of “the New Normal” to achieve unimagined savings for their companies. She also has met her fair share of inside lawyers who are handling things today… Continue Reading
Some free advice to recent law grads
Posted in UncategorizedFor reasons entirely unbeknownst to me, professors, law deans and others in law school frequently refer law school grads to me to suggest approaches to the legal workforce. Valorem doesn’t hire new law school graduates (or even recent ones), but I end up seeing an awful lot of resumes. I’ve put together a few thoughts… Continue Reading
Nicole Auerbach and lessons from a middle office with a view
Posted in UncategorizedMy partner Nicole Auerbach, proud owner of a middle office, recounts the lessons learned when she voluntarily gave up her corner office, and also those from some other risks she’s taken along the way. This is her story, as first posted in The Legal Balance. A Middle Office with a View BY NICOLE NEHAMA AUERBACH I… Continue Reading
Hugely successful GC on the role of Value Fees in highly successful law departments
Posted in UncategorizedWith his permission, I want to share with you a note I received from Ken Grady, the former General Counsel of Wolverine World Wide, Inc. and architect of the astonishingly successful Wolverine law department and its accomplishments in recent years. The topic I was discussing with Ken and others was whether Value Based Fees alone… Continue Reading
Corporate Executive Board identifies 9 efficiency trends in legal
Posted in UncategorizedI ran across a terrific post by Sampriti Ganguli of Corporate Executive Board, 9 Efficiency Trends to Watch for in Legal. The author identified the source of the conclusions drawn” As we reflect back on this past year, it’s worth looking back on what CEB has learned in analyzing legal departments’ budgets from over 300 different companies… Continue Reading
Discounted hourly rates are not alternative fees
Posted in UncategorizedI had to do a bit of catching up on my MCLE, so I watched a program entitled Attorney Alternative Billing Options and Their Ethical Considerations. Apart from the absence of any meaningful discussion of ethical issues, I was stunned by the speaker’s unequivocal statement that “discounted fees are a form of alternative fees.” I… Continue Reading
The Euro issue: a chance to avoid litigation?
Posted in UncategorizedThere has been a great deal of speculation about the collapse of the European common currency, the Euro, should Greece withdraw from the Euro or if Spain’s banking system collapses. It is impossible to know how long or whether the Euro will last. Indeed, given the relative cost to countries like Germany, bailouts are much… Continue Reading
Make v. Buy decisions by clients should worry outside counsel
Posted in UncategorizedThe results of a recent ACC survey are out, and the results should worry outside lawyers. According to a article on the survey from Inside Counsel, the amount of work corporations are referring to outside lawyers is declining, in some cases rather significantly. The results of the survey show: 37% of GCs planned to hire… Continue Reading
Disaggregation pushing demise of BigLaw?
Posted in UncategorizedCorporate Counsel is out with a fascinating article, Bye-Bye Big Firm. The article focuses on disaggregation as a disruptive force in the change cycle. And while this is true, it is only part of the story. The unbundling of services has allowed new entrants into certain markets, particularly in the process and content buckets (see… Continue Reading
Nicole Auerbach now a fellow-elect in the College of Law Practice Management
Posted in UncategorizedMy partner Nicole Auerbach received word last week that she has been elected a fellow in the College of Law Practice Management. Way to go Nicole. A well-deserved honor. Here’s why: The College Law Practice Management was formed in 1994 to honor and recognize distinguished law practice management professionals, to set standards of achievement for… Continue Reading
Can you operate at the speed of an in-house lawyer?
Posted in Client Service, Commentary, UncategorizedMy friend Mark Herrmann of Aon writes for Above The Law, sharing his insights as an inside lawyer. I read his post religiously because I learn a lot. Today, Mark wrote Inside Straight:How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Ignorance about the fact that in his new job, he doesn’t know as much… Continue Reading
Billing when you add no value
Posted in Commentary, Hourly Rates and Alternatives, UncategorizedI just received a bill from my local counsel on a very small case. The bill is less than $200, but I am annoyed. Why? Because I am getting billed (in 3 separate entries) for reviewing an order granting our pro hac vice motion (.1), drafting a letter to me forwarding the order (.2) and… Continue Reading
Valorem grows even more!
Posted in People, Places and Blawgs, UncategorizedOn the heels of announcing that patent litigator Marty Lefevour has joined our numbers, Valorem is happy to announce that Paul McDonald has joined our number, fresh off his stint as Senior Counsel at Kraft (Paul is 6th from the left in this photo). Before his tenure at Kraft, Paul was a senior associate at… Continue Reading
One great client
Posted in Commentary, People, Places and Blawgs, UncategorizedSome clients make you love working for them. They make you want to excel. They bring out the best you have to offer. DSW is one such client, and I just have to share the experience we had yesterday. In December, we won a trial for DSW. It was the company’s first trial–they want to… Continue Reading
New book on customer service
Posted in General, People, Places and Blawgs, UncategorizedComing February 7, Uncommon Service was featured today in the Daily Stat. Here is the write up on the book from the HBR store: Most companies treat service as a low-priority business operation, keeping it out of the spotlight until a customer complains. Then service gets to make a brief appearance – for as long… Continue Reading