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Davis Miles opens New Mexico office

Arizona-based Davis Miles PLLC has expanded its geographical presence by opening an office in New Mexico. Eight new lawyers will staff the new office with expertise in commercial litigation, real estate, tax, personal injury, domestic relations, bankruptcy, probate, estate planning, and other areas. The firm enjoys the reputation of being the only firm in New Mexico that acts as provider of services for Oklahoma-based Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. Pre-Paid Legal offers Legal Service Plans to the public by providing access to highly rated law firms and their attorneys for a fraction of the price one would generally pay. This constitutes a third of the firm's total work in the country including the Arizona office.

New Mexico is reportedly experiencing substantial growth and provides an excellent opportunity for legal expansion. The firm is banking heavily on its competence and efficient customer service capability to create an edge over the other law firms of the region. East Valley firms are increasingly handling more sophisticated legal matters that were once considered outside the immediate legal domain.

09-07-2006

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Firms redefine "perks" to suit attorneys

Law firms across the country are coming up with new and innovative ways to retain attorneys. The term "perks" has been redefined, with attorneys being offered extra privileges like janitor services, back-up babysitting, laundry and dry cleaning pickup, home catering services, and mentoring programs to attract and retain top legal talent.

Each time an attorney leaves the firm, North Carolina-based Kennedy Covington Lobdell Hickman reportedly loses $200,000 to $250,000. Offering extra benefits is a way of working around the situation. Latham is one of three Los Angeles firms with big Washington offices; the other two are Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and O'Melveny & Myers that offer benefits like free use of gym, breakfast on Friday, and an employee fun day. Extra benefits, it is hoped, will help increase productivity and better the work/life balance for employees.

Also, many firms organize frequent lunches, dinners, and cocktails, and in-office events like deck parties in the library to hold on to interns. Washington DC-based Arnold & Porter organizes a casual dinner at the Managing Partner's home, cocktails, a baseball game, and a karaoke night for the summer associates. These extras also serve to attract talented students in a competitive hiring environment. Similarly, IP firm Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner organizes social, cultural, and sports events, and firm-hosted dinners and receptions for summer associates to help them familiarize with the firm's community. In order to cope with long working hours, high stress and demanding bosses, many firms also provide stress counseling and psychiatric help as part of their benefits.

09-07-2006

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Clifford Chance named world's first billion dollar commercial law firm

Clifford Chance, named Law Firm of the Year at The Lawyer Awards held in London on June 27, 2006, has become the world's first billion-dollar business firm, registering record profits from advising on deals across the world. It is also said to be the biggest billing law firm ever with revenues of $20.39 billion and 6557 partners sharing a profit of $6.6 billion. The law firm attributes its success to a special focus on national and international M&A deals. Last year, Clifford Chance topped three tables for worldwide M&A, advising on 444 deals globally which were valued at a total of $490bn.

Law firm billings have steadily risen over the past nine years, from $8.19 billion in 1997 to $ 20.39 billion in 2006. In a survey conducted by Legal Business, five firms dominate the legal market: Clifford Chance, Freshfields, Linklaters, Slaughter and May, and Allen & Overy. The same survey revealed that Linklaters enjoyed the reputation of recruiting more millionaire partners than any other firm, with 124 of the firm's partner earnings crossing the $1.8 million figure during the last financial year. Partners at Clifford Chance are earning an annual average of $ 1.5 million, which is 26 per cent higher than last year. Even newly qualified lawyers now earn $1,03,861, an increase of 7.8 percent over last year.

08-30-2006

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Small yet special

The global legal market over recent years has seen the emergence of 'boutique firms' competing with full service law firms in specialist areas. Why the shift?

Most attorneys at big firms find themselves working more than 80 hours a week. Boutique law firms give space to lawyers and help them in maintaining a work-life balance. Lawyers generally favor boutiques over big law firms owing to more autonomy and the chance to grow with an organization that they can call their own. With smaller, more specialized firms, attorneys can focus more on fewer clients and offer individualized attention. Numerous big companies prefer boutique law firms to handle their legal affairs, knowing that they get focused attorneys producing better work at less cost.

Carolyn Elefant, founder of leading energy boutique The Law Offices of Carolyn Elefant, said in a recent interview with LawCrossing, "If you're unhappy with what you're doing in the profession, if you're considering leaving the profession, that's fine; but you should really see if solo practice might give you some of the excitement or the freedom or even the financial opportunities that you might be looking for outside of the practice of law." Carolyn Elefant began her blog MyShingle.com to help solo practitioners network together and to offer advice to attorneys starting their own practices.

In 1993, Fred Bartlit left Kirkland & Ellis to start his own litigation boutique, Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott. In the last 13 years the firm has become one of the U.S.'s top litigation practices, with a client list that includes General Motors, Merck, Reebok, Hewlett Packard, Pfizer, and Morgan Stanley. The current trend is for boutiques with specialty in intellectual property, employment, or family law to be most successful. Major U.S.-based boutique firms include Jackson Lewis, Littler Mendelson, Allen Matkins, Kenyon & Kenyon, Beveridge & Diamond, and Kleinfeld Kaplan & Becker.

The movement is not restricted to law firms alone. Attorneys at the law departments of major corporate houses are beginning to leave for boutique firms. Morgan Stanley's former vice chairman Joseph R. Perella recently started his own boutique firm, Perella Weinberg Partners, which provides corporate advisory and investment management services. In fact, the concept of boutique firms has proven so attractive that even Wall Street firms such as Cravath Swaine & Moore have, on occasions, described themselves as boutique, reports practicallaw.com.

However, the big question remains: is there room for boutique firms in the current global market? Large firms do not agree, opining that clients prefer the advice of law firms specializing in different practices. The size of big firms enables them to provide resources smaller firms may not have. So can boutique practices survive in the long run? The answer remains in the hands of young lawyers and their clients.

08-30-2006

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White & Case may become first U.S.-based law firm tied with Romania

White & Case is exploring the possibility of joining forces with Romanian law firm Tuca, Zbarcea & Asociatii. This would make White & Case the first American law firm trying to set up shop in that country. Only two UK-based law firms Clifford Chance and Linklaters are presently operational in Romania, which is dominated by local firms. This will be a crucial step by White & Case to further its international presence. The newspaper Ziarul Financiar reports a strong growth these days in the number of deals in the country's law community.

After Romania's amalgamation into the European Union, the local legal market has witnessed mergers, acquisitions, further privatizations, EU compliance and the internationalization of litigation and arbitration. The fact that other parts of Europe, especially Central and Eastern Europe, were in a state of saturation with already developed law firms aided the process. In addition, the Romanian law market has also liberalized recently to allow easier access for foreign lawyers and companies to set up shop.

The prevailing trend is for most international law firms to collaborate with Romanian law firms on a case-by-case basis for specific transactions. The advantages of this strategy are that international firms have their cooperation, but not burdened by their problems; they are involved in project costs but not office maintenance costs. This may be changing, however, as international law firms develop working relationships with Romanian firms, and then gradually enter the mainstream market.

08-30-2006

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Greenberg Traurig continues expansion

After strengthening its base in intellectual property practice, Greenberg Traurig has undertaken the expansion of its real estate practice. The law firm has maintained its strategy of hiring attorneys from other law firms, and the latest entrant in the firm is former employee of Bryan Cave, Jonathan S. Margolis, who joins as a shareholder in the real estate practice at the firm's New York office. Earlier, the firm had appointed six new shareholders and seven new counsels in its New York office to strengthen its core practice areas. This was considered a crucial development in terms of the firm trying to make its mark in the local market. Previously, Greenberg Traurig raided White & Case and appointed a partner at the firm's IP practice, also in New York.

08-30-2006

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Multitalented attorneys and marketing

In an era of cutthroat competition, law firms are looking less for attorneys with specialized knowledge, and more for those with the talent and training to take the initiative in associated fields. The days are gone when attorneys could continue their jobs just because they were branded as good lawyers. Nowadays, with increased workload and client expectations, law firms are increasingly hiring people who, besides knowledge, possess multiple skills and a drive for sales and marketing to benefit the firm.

The majority of law firms dole out marketing training to attorneys in the hope of preparing them for client service and giving them problem solving strategies to further firm interests. The training is aimed at building up a sense of commitment, and it is taken a sign of strength as an employee when lawyers develop their personal skills by working on their sales and marketing skills. The same skills may also help in building better and long lasting relationships with clients.

Major corporations and law firms hire professional consulting and training firms, which are considered instrumental in improving sales productivity and increasing revenue. Experience in business strategy, operational management, organizational change, and strategic execution, allows them to be entrusted with the responsibility of diagnosing and clarifying sales issues, improving execution to drive immediate results, and building organizational competence to enable long-term success for law firms. Several firms including Arnstein & Lehr, Dorsey & Whitney, and Godfrey & Kahn have hired services of professional training firm Akina Corporation to provide classes to their attorneys. With the appropriate tools in place from marketing training, attorneys are in a better position to achieve success and increase revenue for their firms.

08-30-2006

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