Legal Marketing

Research Off the Shelf - DECEMBER, 2010: Vol. 25, No. 12 - Selections

WHAT’S NEW: From Information Today: Introduction to information science and technology (1 vol., $59.50); Implementing technology solutions in libraries – techniques, tools, and tips from the trenches (1 vol., $35); Research on Main Street – using the web to find local business and market information (1 vol., $29.95; Note – by Marcy Phelps, my fellow AIIP member!); Dancing with digital natives – staying in step with the generation that’s transforming the way business is done (1 vol., $27.95); Information nation: education and careers in the emerging information professions (1 vol., $35) www.infotoday.com

From Neal-Schuman: Why blog? Motivations for blogging (1 vol., $99.95); News and current affairs search and monitoring with RSS (1 vol., $99.95) www.neal-schuman.com

COOL SITES:  Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary http://libra.englang.arts.gla.ac.uk/historicalthesaurus/menu1.html. See a description at: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

RESEARCH TIPS:   For those of you who research government information, here is a major change: “The FDsys”: is replacing GPO Access: "GPO Access will be going away soon as the U.S. Government Printing Office rolls out the Federal Digital System (FDsys), an advanced digital system that will enable GPO to manage Government information from all three branches of the U.S. Government. Learn about the new system and its features, what content is available through it, and search strategies. Not only is FDsys a powerful tool for the public to access online, authoritative Federal information, but it also serves as a preservation repository for the content and a content management system for Federal agencies." http://www.llrx.com/fdsys.htm

Happy New Year from Balkin Information Services

Wow! Another year is almost at an end. We’ve been in business for 32 years! We’ve seen a lot of changes in our business and the legal industry. In 1978 Ruth started out managing small private law libraries. Now we provide research services, including business and competitive intelligence, market research, company listings and weird stuff to consultants, law firms, and companies of all sizes. We also help companies who want to do business with the legal community understand the market and target the right audience.

Happy holidays and thanks to all our clients, friends and colleagues from Ruth Balkin, Susan Rubinstein and Natalie Robertson. And special thanks to the Rochester Professional Consultants Network; I couldn’t have survived this long without you (http://www.rochesterconsultants.org/).

The 2010 NLJ Billing Survey

How Far Did Billing Rates Climb in 2010?

The National Law Journal's survey of billing rates provides the high and low rates for partners and associates at the nation’s largest firms. The Billing Survey makes it easy for lawyers to assess their competitors, and for in-house counsel to determine if they are getting the best deal.

Survey results include:

• -          High and low partner principal billing rates
• -          High and low associate principal billing rates
• -          Firm billing alternatives
• -          Associate and partner billing averages and medians
• -          Firm wide billing averages and medians
• -          Associate class billing data for firms that establish rates based on class

For more info, click here. $360.

 

The American Lawyer’s 2010 Law Firm Leaders Report

The American Lawyer’s 2010 Law Firm Leaders Report

Lower Leverage, Softer Profits and More Deequitizations: The New Normal

After two years of turmoil, the nation's largest law firms are settling into a new normal. That's the takeaway from The American Lawyer 's 2010 survey of leaders of Am Law 200 firms, which suggests that many of the changes implemented during the recession—smaller associate classes, postponed start dates for new hires, reductions in the equity pool, and scaled-back profit expectations—are here to stay, at least for a while.

The Law Firm Leaders Report digs into the leaders’ opinions on the current economy, as well as law firm management issues such as billing rates, alternative billing practices, cost reductions and training and staffing challenges.

This report also includes The Client’s View Survey. In September and October, The American Lawyer and the Association of Corporate Counsel jointly surveyed 453 corporate chief legal officers and general counsel. In that group, 128 head departments at companies with annual revenues of $1 billion or more. The Client’s View Survey offers results from those 128 respondents.

2010 Law Firm Leaders Report ($250)