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The Independent Business Law Firm

Table of Contents
Publisher's Note
 

Reel Law: Global Perspectives
 

Contributors
  
   Mark A. Cohen
   
  Joseph B. Altonji

   
Mark Ross
          Silvia Coulter
 
  Markus Hartung
   
 
Emma Ziercke
Tim Corcoran
 Tim Corcoran

Michael D. Short
       All IBLF Contributors 
featuredvideos  Global Legal Market Videos
What & Why Behind Swiss
Vereins


Big 4 Law Network


Quick AILFN Links
 

About AILFN Video 

LinkedIn
 
About Law Firm Networks
           Wikipedia
           Directory of Networks
            The Future of Networks 
Featured Networks

LEX Africa
AILFN News

AILFN launches  LOCATE LAW NETWORKS , a new network search engine that connects clients with vetted member networks all over the world.

Member News

Salaberren y Lopez Sanson (SyLS) is the leading legal and tax boutique business law firm in Argentina. "SyLS brings a great deal of expertise to our network, and we look forward to working with the firm's well-respected lawyers." International Lawyers Network Executive Director Alan Griffiths.

Spiegel Sohmer (Quebec) Joins 
Ally Law
Spiegel Sohmer is a full-service business law firm providing practical solutions in the areas of tax law, tax litigation, estate and succession planning, corporate and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions, real estate transactions, start-ups, and commercial litigations. 

GGI Welcomes Windels Marx (NYC)
Windels Marx is a full-service law firm that helps harness opportunity and mitigate risk with a team that provides businesses with the service, quality, and value essential to a trusted relationship.

Hall & Wilcox (Australia) Joins International Lawyers Network
Hall & Wilcox enables clients, people, and communities to thrive by practicing smarter law. Smarter law is how they help their clients achieve their business objectives.
Read More...

León, Mora & Co. (Panama) Joins MSI Global Alliance
Established in 2007 and based in Panama City, León, Mora & Co. offers accounting, audit, and tax consulting services.
Sponsors
      
 
 

Networks & AILFN In the Press

 
Networking Time, Asian Legal Business
 

The Future of Law Firm Networks, The Lawyer (referencing AILFN)
 
 Requests for Qualifications - RFQ
Global Legal Expertise, Experience, and Quality - RFQ

When examining the business side of law firms as set out on websites, brochures, and media, one is struck by the emphasis placed on size. Much is made about the number of lawyers (e.g., "We are the world's largest firm"), the number of offices, the year founded -- these numbers provide the identity of the firm. 
 
The relevance of size standards has dramatically changed in the last 10 years. Unbundled and specialized services means law-related work can be efficiently outsourced. Boutique firms have intruded on departments in full-service firms. Technology has transformed the need to have 50 offices. Legal procurement functions in corporate offices have become increasingly important, and measurable quality standards are being introduced.
 
What has also changed is locating law network members in each country. Locate Law Networks has solved the problem of networks only being known by members of the networks themselves. Network members can now be found in every country by lawyers with a single click.
  
Next month the individual expertise and experience of 300,000 lawyers at 3,500 fully-vetted law firms with 5,000 offices will also be accessible with "one click."
 
Requests for Qualifications (RFQ) (More information)
 
RFQ - Realizing the Power of Law Firm Networks
Stephen J. McGarry
President
cab
Cab Companies and Law Firms Are Taking the Same Route

 
  Mark Cohen
  CEO
  Legal Mosaic
 
 _________
 YouTube


  Via Mimesis Law
   

Mies van der Rohe, the noted architect, remarked: "Architecture depends on its time." The same can be said about business structure - it depends on its time. A paradigm shift is occurring. Technology has enabled the creation of new business structures. It has facilitated a decentralized delivery structure, creating communities that connect sellers with buyers. This is sometimes called the collaborative or sharing economy, where individuals deploy underutilized assets - everything from cars and apartments to lawyers - to "share" with buyers. This eliminates centralized institutions that control supply and stifle competition by protectionist self-regulation. It has produced  "faster, cheaper, better" delivery of goods and services available on an as-needed basis.  Two examples of this phenomenon are the taxicab and legal industries. Each is in the throes of what Clayton Christensen calls "disruptive innovation."
future
Competing in the Future - The Need for New Thinking on Law Firm Strategic Advantages 
 
  Joseph B. Altonji
  Principal
  LawVision Group


   Michael D. Short
  Principal
  LawVision Group
If the last few years have made one thing clear in the legal industry, it's that not all firms are built with comparable strategic strength and resilience. Similarly, it is clear that the competitive positioning many firms pursued in the years prior to 2007 is no longer adequate. A "strategy" of growing bigger by geographic or lateral expansion while competing on price and "full service" mantras appeared to work when the demand for legal services exceeded the supply (as was the case prior to the recession) but was exposed as a non-strategy when supply exceeds demand (our post-recession situation). In an interesting twist of fate that transcends law firm size and geography, we now find ourselves in a world of winners and losers. 

FixFix the Woman or Fix the Law Firm? 
    
    Markus Hartung
    Director 
    Bucerius Center on the Legal     Profession 

 
    Emma Ziercke
    Research Assistant, Non-               Practicing Solicitor
    Bucerius Center on the Legal     Profession
 
Why Law Firms Need to Stop Focusing on Gender Equality

Sheryl Sandberg's "Lean In" campaign revitalized the debate between opposing perspectives on gender diversity: those who believe that women should change to get ahead in the workplace, and those who believe that the workplace should change to accommodate women. Which perspective is right? Many law firms are investing in gender diversity programs. But are these programs actually improving diversity?

How to Get to "Diversity"

Everyone seems convinced that diversity is a good thing. For the vast majority of law firms, "improving gender diversity" means increasing the number of women in the partnership. 
  
 
Reel Law: Global Perspectives  ReelLaw
  
FutureLaw 2016 | Track A: Barriers to LegalTech Adoption

Stanford Law School

FutureLaw 2016 Track B:
The New Legal Tech Communities
 

Stanford Law School
cultureHow to Create a Collaborative Law Firm Culture 
 Silvia Coulter
 Principal
 LawVision Group


 _ _________
 You
Tube


 Via the LexBlog Network
Today's law firm strategies include a strong focus on retaining good talent. This is important to focus on because clients will tell us, if asked, that they consider a law firm's team to be part of their own internal team. So, retaining valuable talent, as many readers likely know, means staying connected to the clients. Retaining talent, especially at the mid and junior levels of the firm, can be as complicated and as simple as creating a collaborative culture. Much is being written about how collaborative cultures will facilitate improved client service and higher profits. But little is being written about how to achieve a culture of collaboration. Below are some steps to implement a collaborative culture: 

1. Put the same effort into interviewing firm members and employees as the effort that is put into interviewing clients. Aligning the goals of the firm with lawyer and staff expect ations is critical to keeping productive talent. 
complianceCompliance Looks to LPO to Avoid the Regulatory Enforcers

 

   Mark Ross
  VP of Legal Services
  Integreon




  
 

RoboCop 's ED-209 famously warned us back in 1987: "You have 15 seconds to comply. You are in direct violation of Penal code 1.13, Section 9."

Although the consequences of non-compliance for today's corporate offenders are not quite as severe as those portrayed in the Hollywood cult classic, agencies like the DOJ and SEC in the US, the FCA in the UK, and a plethora of other regulators are policing corporate conduct with ever-increasing voracity.

Tim Corcoran

 

  Tim Corcoran
  Principal
  Corcoran Consulting Group



  
 

Imagine this business school case study: A global business is managed by part-time leaders with minimal business training. The business offers different products to different customers depending on the varying skills and interests of the local service providers, who also serve as the salespeople, project managers and product managers. Pricing is customized to each transaction and rarely follows a cohesive strategy, save for the fiat that prices must increase each year.  

Marketing consists of promoting the business's capabilities, which are presented as vast and unparalleled. Customer demand has been a constant for as long as anyone can remember. 

Editor Last Word - Editor's Note
 Jennifer Kain Kilgore
 Attorney Editor
 IBLF
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Connect With AILFN!
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We at AILFN have been busy the past few months, fastidiously working on current projects and prepping fantastic new ones for the coming year!

We recently launched Locate Law Networks, a search engine that grants you access to 3,500 firms with 3,000 attorneys in 5,000 offices  in 200 jurisdictions. All that knowledge and all that expertise is available to anyone who needs it.

Meanwhile, that's not even the most exciting thing we're doing. We are launching  RFQ, Requests for Qualifications, which brings all that knowledge right to the client. We are very excited about this groundbreaking venture! Happy holidays to everyone, and thank you for such a wonderful first year! Stay tuned for 2017!


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Disclaimer:  This email provides information on developments in the global legal profession. It is published by AILFN for information purposes only. The opinions are solely those of the authors, not of AILFN, members, representatives, or employees.
AILFN (the Association of International Law Firm Networks) is a new association that represents the common interests of global and regional law firm networks. AILFN has four purposes: (1) enhance the position and recognition of all networks in the legal market; (2) establish common principles to maintain standards of quality; (3) provide a forum for networks to exchange information; and (4) negotiate agreements with vendors that can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of networks.