« June 03, 2007 - June 09, 2007 | Main | June 17, 2007 - June 23, 2007 »
June 16, 2007
Saturday's Charon QC
See his Oscar Wildean "Advice is the Curse of the Drinking Classes..."
Posted by JD Hull at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)
June 15, 2007
When you work, you are marketing.
When we are working, we are always marketing--and constantly sending clients barrages of small but powerful ads. Positive ads, negative ads, "true color" ads. From the 12 Rules of Client Service, see Rule Six: When You Work, You Are Marketing.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Atlantic Review: G8 Summit Sum-ups
From the Atlantic Review, the Berlin-based press digest, here are two round-ups of last week's G8 summit (here and here) by Joerg Wolf.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)
June 14, 2007
Larry Bodine: "Tales From The Front"
At Larry Bodine's LawMarketing Blog, see "Tales fom the Front: Getting Business from Corporate Clients". The post turns on what in-house lawyers are saying about their outside counsel at a conference Larry is attending in Dallas, Texas. One GC wishes that lawyers who pitch her on the phone would "get their heads out of legal publications and read trade magazines and the Wall Street Journal, so they can learn about my business before they call me." Well, that makes too much sense.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)
June 13, 2007
Announcing The Generation X Riddle Contest....
7/01/07 UPDATE: WAC? is extending the deadline. New deadline for submissions is July 9. Winner will be announced on July 13.
To win, you must supply the best answer to the riddle:
"How many Generation X associate lawyers does it take to screw in a light bulb?"
Here's a sample but not necessarily suggested answer: "Ten. One to screw it in. One to feel good about himself/herself for just showing up at his/her $130,000 job that day. Eight to blame their parents, others or unforseen events when the project fails."
Deadline for submissions is July 1. Decision of WAC? is final. Winner to be announced on July 6, and will receive an e-mailed collection of WAC?'s past most empathetic posts on Work-Life Balance and The Work Ethic. Next month's contest: Same riddle with Baby Boomers, workaholics, plantation overseers.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 06:45 PM | Comments (0)
June 12, 2007
Brit Bloggers Blitz U.S.
Following the lead of Justin Patten at Human Law last October, more British bloggers will be hosting the U.S.-based Blawg Review. See "The British Are Coming".
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Gerry Riskin: Investing in Client Service
Literally. And it's just what What About Clients? wanted to hear.
Wall Street may like companies that get client service. See Client Satisfaction may be EXTREMELY Profitable at Gerry Riskin's Amazing Firms, Amazing Practices. Excerpt: "In my opinion, there is an overabundance of information in law firms and a dearth of client-relations training. If you are a Managing Partner, you may want to balance this disparity."
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:52 PM | Comments (0)
LawFuel
See New Zealand-based LawFuel.com. Whatever this is or is evolving into, this site is about as international as you can get: a combined global legal news service, news digest, press release service, clearinghouse and cyber-bulletin board for lawyers in private or public practice. Huge empahsis on American legal world but hasn't gone overboard there. So far, it's interesting, busy, inclusive and fun.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:36 PM | Comments (0)
June 11, 2007
Are we Rome yet?
"Are we Rome, or not? At a crude level, the parallels are striking..." No matter what your politics, or country of origin, this June 7 article at Salon by Gary Kamiya on a hyper-obvious comparison--and one on everyone's mind anyway--is worth your time. WAC?'s answer? No, clearly not; the U.S. has yet to stretch itself as thin as Rome did, and we still haven't dumped our better principles. We have miles to go, and more nations to manhandle. But the momentum is there.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:32 PM | Comments (0)
The Sopranos: Is ISO 9000 training for the family in order?
The Sopranos was HBO's masterwork. It started in 1999 and ran its 86th and final episode last night. Yeah, Tony and his family survived. The best television series ever came to an end--but you didn't really think HBO and Chase Films was going to kill off movie sequels along with the family, did you?
Like a genuinely responsive law firm, a winning litigation strategy or a successful American political campaign, Tony and the Soprano crime family either prospered or perished--and lived or died--on the family's "rapid response" apparatus working or not working well. Last night Tony and what's left of his crew put it all together at the last moment.
But they were getting cocky, sloppy and slow to react.
So "now" the clan from New Jersey badly needs a firm retreat. And to consider an ISO 9000-like continuous improvement model, some training, performance auditing and a new plan so they will be ready in the future--if only in the ether of our imaginations--to ward off evil-er forces and make some serious scratch. Enough said.
On a personal note, I never saw this show until it show entered its third season--and then I caught up quickly. In fact, and setting a bad example for fellow TV-weaned baby boomers, I have watched close to zero network or cable "series" television over the past 40 years. It's not a matter of having good taste or loving Leaves of Grass or The Upanishads more. Rather, it's because hardly any of the shows over the years have been interesting, exciting or funny. Some are even painful for a human to watch. I viewed Friends and Seinfeld in their heydays for 10 or 15 minutes each and was disturbed for days, especially by the portrayals of the male characters. But The Sopranos was an exception. It was well-written, intriguing, different, fast-moving and, most of all, the funniest television show ever made. Somehow real. Disturbingly American. And always hilarious.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:59 AM | Comments (0)