Category «Leadership»

Elon Musk’s ‘hardcore’ management style: a case study in what not to do

Professor Libby Sander explains why as a case study in how to implement organisational change, Elon Musk’s actions at Twitter will go down as the gold standard in what not to do. Among other things, the evidence shows successful organisational change requires: a clear, compelling vision that is communicated effectively; employee participation; and fairness in the way change is implemented. Trust in leaders is also crucial. Change management never quite goes to plan. It’s hard to figure out whether Musk even has a plan at all.

Subjects: Communication Skills, Employment Law, Ethics, KM, Labor Law, Leadership, Management, Social Media, Technology Trends, Telecommuting

Presenter’s Guide Series Part III: The Many Benefits of Question Forms

In the third in his series on presentations, Jerry Lawson recommends a simple yet powerful tool that presenters can use to improve presentation quality, especially in some special situations: Requiring audience members to submit all questions in writing.

Subjects: Communication Skills, Communications, Continuing Legal Education, Education, Presentation Skills, Training

The highest performing teams have rules

Patrick J. McKenna is a highly respected lecturer, strategist and advisor to law firms. McKenna’s experience has taught him that the best performing teams have discovered to operate effectively they need to formalize what they should specifically be able to expect of each other as members. He calls these expectations the group’s ‘Rules of Engagement’, and in this article he articulates that to be effective, these rules of engagement must be clear, consistent, agreed to and followed. A challenging endeavor in any workplace, but critical to high performing and innovative law firms.

Subjects: Communications, Leadership, Legal Profession, Management

Confidence in the Supreme Court is declining – but there is no easy way to oversee justices and their politics

Recent evidence showing that Virginia Thomas, wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, sent at least 29 text messages to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows urging him to help overturn the 2020 election has reignited a long-simmering debate about judicial ethics and the nation’s highest court. Professor Eve Ringsmuth writes, “As a Supreme Court scholar, I think it is important to recognize that there is no formal code of conduct guiding the work of the Supreme Court, which contributes to a lack of clarity regarding the ethical boundaries for justices.”

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Ethics, Leadership, Legal Research, United States Law

Presenter’s Guide Series, Part II – Dealing With Difficult Questions

Attorney Jerry Lawson is a legal tech expert with decades of experience delivering effective presentations. In this, the second part of a multi part series, Lawson shares insightful recommendations and techniques to successfully manage what can be challenging interactions with audience members during the course of a presentation.

Subjects: Communication Skills, Communications, Continuing Legal Education, Education, Presentation Skills, Training

The Practice of People Law

Jim Calloway is the Director of the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Management Assistance Program. He informs us about the range of legal services delivered by what have been designated as “primary-care lawyers.” From Calloway’s perspective, there is people law, and there is business/corporate law. Over the years, there has been a greater divergence in these two types of law practice focuses. He makes the case that increasingly, these are completely different types of law practices, with different types of challenges and processes. Calloway believes this is not only true but profound. He views it as profound because consideration of the differences should inform and impact the method of legal service delivery depending on the type of client.

Subjects: Communications, Education, KM, Law Firm Marketing, Legal Marketing, Legal Profession, Management

Libraries and the Contested Terrain of “Neutrality”

Rick Anderson is University Librarian at Brigham Young University. His commentary addresses timely, thoughtful and critical conversations and knowledge sharing around the issues of censorship, book banning, library ethics and professional responsibility across communities.

Subjects: Education, Ethics, Free Speech, Information Management, KM, Leadership, Legal Research, Libraries & Librarians

The intentional law office

Legal sector analyst Jordan Furlong writes that it’s taken two years of rolling pandemic lockdowns to shake us from our torpid habit of gathering together only to work alone. Over the next decade, a Stanford professor estimates, US workers will spend a quarter of their work time at home — “the number of person-days in the office is never going back to pre-pandemic average, ever.” This has obvious ramifications for corporate office space, employee well-being, and even climate change. But the workplace itself is ground zero for this change, and there will be enormous ramifications in this regard alone. Furlong’s thought provoking essay identifies critical choices that can be made that will result in better outcomes for law firms moving forward.

Subjects: Communications, KM, Law Firm Marketing, Leadership, Management, Telecommuting

Listening to the Client

In over 30 years of working with law firms on improving productivity and profitability Heather Gray-Grant has seen countless marketplace surveys on the incredible value of client feedback mechanisms. In many instances it’s been labelled as one of the fastest and most effective ways to boost firm revenue. So, you’d think that law firms would be all over this business practice as a standard operating procedure. But…not so much. Gray-Grant discusses how to effectively execute client surveys and audits that will benefit firms as well as customers.

Subjects: Communications, Data Mining, KM, Legal Marketing, Legal Profession, Management

How Data Analytics Can Change the Way Law Firms Do Business

Lisa M. (Bradford) Mayo, Director of Data and Analytics at Ballard Spahr LLP identifies how and why data and analytics are on the forefront of much of the firm’s modern technology offerings. Unlike many firms, Ballard’s data and analytics function sits inside their Client Value and Innovation department, where they have some latitude with a research and development budget and the directive to “fail fast” if they determine a proof-of-concept did not meet our needs. The firm’s data management mission statement says in part that we “contribute to the firm’s strategic goals by using innovative technologies, a variety of flexible and adaptive data sources, artificial intelligence/machine learning, and ongoing data literacy education to help redefine the Firm’s internal performance objectives and accountability drivers and transform how the Firm delivers legal services to its clients.” Just 48 words but loaded with meaning and purpose, both for now and in the foreseeable future.

Subjects: AI, Big Data, Case Management, Competitive Intelligence, Ethics, Information Architecture, Information Mapping, KM, Leadership, Legal Marketing, Technology Trends

July 2024
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Jun
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31