A centuries-old axiom asserts that the only thing constant is change. While the business of providing legal counsel and services might seem bland from the outside, consider two specific ways it is progressing: More Diligence in Hiring: "As law firms become more fiscally conservative and intent on saving costs, they are seeking to eliminate risk from their hiring protocol and make better hiring decisions," writes Danice Kowalczyk, ...
The below is a summary of top news in legal risk management for the week of January 9, 2012. A matter of ownership: "An American Bar Association commission is considering recommending that nonlawyers be allowed to take an equity stake in law firms for which they work while urging that an existing ban be maintained on the kind of outside investment in U.S. firms that is now possible in ...
One of the more interesting panels slated for the Legal Malpractice & Risk Management Conference is an open session that invites attendees to ask panelists tough questions related to legal risk. "All issues are fair game!," the program states. There are certainly some tough questions about securitization lingering in the minds of some legal risk managers. Increasingly, structured finance and law firm risk management go hand in hand. ...
The below is a summary of top news in legal risk management for the week of January 2, 2012. Provocative headline of the week: My Data Might Be Safer in the Cloud. PC World columnist Tony Bradley writes, "It can be argued that my data is actually more secure in the cloud than it would be under my own stewardship. And, by storing my data in the cloud I ...
Weekly Digest: Legal Risk Management
The below is a summary of top news in legal risk management for the week of December 19, 2011. Quotable: Regarding insider trading risk, "what we're finding is that, once you get on the inside, there's not the security there that [law firms] would like to see," said Brian Lynch, director of the risk practice group at IntApp, Inc. The Matthew Kluger insider trading case, which the Wall Street ...
Round-Up: Top Expert Witness Rulings of 2011
As most people who pay attention to the news cycle know, around this time of year there is a year-end "Top 10" list for everything. Including expert witness rulings. BullsEye, a legal blog, issued its round-up of the year's top cases earlier this month. From the post: Two Supreme Court opinions top our annual list of the year’s most important cases involving expert witnesses. While one of the Supreme Court ...
Cyber Liability and the LPL Insurance Marketplace
Data security had been a crucial priority for law firms for many years. And then two trends gained steam in 2011 that made it yet more important than it was before. As a consequence, cyber liability policies are among the most talked-about insurance instruments in legal risk management. Rogue hacker groups organized around common targets. In 2011, organized chaos like Anonymous and Wikileaks effortlessly embarrassed data-security experts who were responsible ...
Weekly Digest: Legal Risk Management
The below is a summary of top news in legal risk management for the week of December 12, 2011. Former Am Law 100 associate Matthew Kluger and trader Garrett Bauer, who were charged earlier this year for their role in a $37m insider-trading scheme, both pleaded guilty. Read the press release about the pleadings here. How can firms best guard against this type of risk? Tweet your reaction ...
2012 Keynote Presentation: Navigating in Uncharted Waters: How Changes in the Legal Market Will Impact the Law Firm Risk Environment
The 2012 Keynote Speaker will be James W. Jones, Senior Vice President, Hildebrandt Baker Robbins. His presentation is titled “Navigating in Uncharted Waters: How Changes in the Legal Market Will Impact the Law Firm Risk Environment.” In this presentation, Mr. Jones will discuss developing trends and offer some suggestions for how firms might think differently about risk in this rapidly changing environment. He will address how the legal market ...
The below is a summary of top news in legal risk management for the week of December 5, 2011. New study identified bad enterprise coding practices. If your firm has a password-protected area for clients or sensitive data, you'll want to check it out. [Ars Technica] On Facebook: "Avira and secure.me will offer customers in the US and Canada a bundled product package enabling better personal data and privacy ...