practicehacker

Law.com has 2 recent posting this LPM member strongly encourages you review:

    What to do without local E-Discovery Rules……
   Amy Karan and Kansas Gooden point out: Lawyers should advise clients to develop a
   written document retention policy and sensitize clients to the potential risks
   including sanctions and adverse inferences for violations.

    Ignore Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX 404)at your Peril………
   Thus, it is critical for every entity to ensure that its records-retention policy
    includes appropriate triggers — called “litigation holds”

      It’s always alot easier to expand a relationship with a current client vs finding a new one.   Sales/Marketing 101.  Obviously previous posts on this subject gathered limited interest.  Since I consultant “Storage Solutions” to Mid-size companies here are some responses from clients I’m suppose too help:

• “since there is no HIPPA police, why get crazy..”  Senior Living complex
• “our competitors get sued, that’s our growth…”    Manufacture
• “we have never had that issue, don’t see it…”        Trucking firm
• “email’s, individuals cancel their own…”                  International Exporter
• “worse scenerio, we’ll pay some silly fine…”            Property Management Firm

     I’m sure Mazy has a smile reading this:  Bankruptcy Clients….

Ed. Note: This post is from John so I’m the subject. When I need John to give me social advice you know things are going downhill …

After reviewing a few of his recent post(s) I had to take a moment to drive down to Bolingbrook and reassure myself that Mazy hadn’t stop taking his medication and had no weapons within reach. The man needs a hug… the scathing letter he wrote to the New York Times is typical of someone yelling in a forest where even the animals don’t care. Loud, but not really effective; much like his farewell editorial in the June 2006 issue of the DCBA Bar Brief. Despite little outbursts like that … I must admit to a fondness for the guy. See, this is the time of year during which lawyers always seem to have a little extra time on their hands, which they inevitably use to read, reflect, and revisit past efforts (both good and bad). So we revisited some points of conversation yesterday such as

Monetizing a Blog: simple in principle (solicit advertisers or just use Google Adwords) but hard to execute and often of questionable value. Part of the problem is that Adwords displays any vendor – including your competitors – so it’s often not appealing to advertisers who want exclusive reign. Then there’s the problem of volume: unless your traffic is in the stratosphere (like say … porn), your payout is in pennies and hardly amounts to a hill of beans, besides which Google won’t even send a payout if it’s less than a certain threshold amount. But there is hope; often your web host will have a ready-made affiliate program in place so you can seamlessly move ads onto your blog. In the end however, since the PM blog is in the legal space the focus of the discussion should probably be legal work or technology consulting for lawyers. That is the real question … does blogging bring business? Different discussion altogether.

The Domain Name Lottery (what’s old is new): This is a blast from the past. Remember when someone paid $3,000,000 for “Alta Vista.com?” Well apparently the domain name gold rush is back on and people are buying up snappy phrases once again at a feverish clip. But wait … isn’t that cybersquatting? Isn’t that illegal? Actually no; don’t confuse domain speculation (a “legitimate” way to make money) with cybersquatting which is illegal. See, squatters will take a domain name that is “actively sought” based on the number of related search inquires and redirect those who visit the site to another site altogether (such as a porn site or what have you). Domain speculators on the other hand buy up names to either sell or use them – even if not for what you’d expect. You might say this second category of speculators is buying and selling futures of a sort – Internet domain futures if you will.

Example: Take my work with Mazy on the subject of bankruptcy. Economic conditions being what they are, bankruptcy is once again a hot issue. Take the 3 words: bankruptcy, attorney, Illinois. Those 3 words in some combination or other have grown to over 2.3 million listings. The trick is creating a name that fits into a growth sector like that.

Example: BioMedMedia.com is a name we own. We can activate a site anytime but instead of doing all the work, letting our competitors know what we’re doing, and invite new ones as well, it makes sense to first develop a business model and establish the company. It’s just common sense, and buying a domain name ahead of time is just good planning.

That said, one of the biggest problems for lawyers is not that they lack choices, but rather that their industry throttles itself (or at least threatens to squelch the younger, more tender practices) by being too restrictive. But you should still make an effort to break from the break with the institutional format, especially if you’re a small firm or solo. Take for example names such as ScottFreeMe.com or DriveThruLegal.com. Of course asking Mazy to push the edge is like watching a cat walk the fence viewing both sides, this is when I throw something and say damn it choose. Use your background, culture, professional experience hell your a lawyer for peat-sakes, buy the way my find friend you just missed another: iraniangreencard.com is taken. I was thinking Iranianlawyer.com, we’ll see how long it takes for Mazy or someone reading to purchase this…

As noted in this article and my recent post on the subject, the bankruptcy of hip/hot cell phone company Amp’d Mobile could have far-reaching implications for this niche industry. Here is what was noted in that blog

Hypergrowth Not To Blame. On June 1st, Amp’d filed for Chapter 11 citing growth as a disruptive element to their back-end infrastructure. In the days following, a more complicated picture emerged though, implicating Verizon Wireless, the carrier from which Amp’d bought network time at wholesale, in a strong-arm scheme to recover more than $30 million in back payments.

One of a Kind or First of its Kind? According to its Chapter 11 documents, Amp’d's problem wasn’t a lack of customers (it reportedly had about 200,000) – it was that the customers weren’t paying. Instead a full 40% of its subscribers had missed payments amounting to roughly $2 million, or a month’s payroll. In short, the real cause of the Amp’d meltdown was good old fashioned red-blooded American mismanagement and capitalist greed. Not to mention poor customer credit screening. The real question is whether these factors will play a part in the fortunes of all such players, or whether Amp’d was an orphan – a lone gunman, an outlier – or whether it was merely the first salvo in an oncoming landslide.

Can Amp’d Get a Better Signal? Could Amp’d recover? Possibly. Short answer ‘Yes’ with an if … long answer ‘No’ with a but. To stay competitive Amp’d will have to deliver better pricing, better handsets and equipment, or better services in the future. Then there are the deep discounts that Amp’d will have to provide to compete with Virgin Mobile and the unique content and services it will need to stay on top of Boost Mobile and Helio.

document automation :: process consulting :: e-discovery consulting

Springer, Brown, Covey, Gaertner & Davis is interested in adding an Associate Attorney with at least 2 years of litigation experience. According to partner Mike Davis:

• they will teach the recruit bankruptcy law and practice

• they would like someone who is outgoing and interested in being very active in the DuPage or Kane County Bar Association

The Firm says that this would be an excellent opportunity for a young lawyer interested in building a practice to learn a specialized area of law.  Send your resume to Michael J. Davis, Esq.

The DCBA Bankruptcy Law & Practice Committee invites you to attend their upcoming seminar, Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention & Consumer Protection Act of 2005. The speakerwill be Glenn Stearns, Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee. If you attend both the morning and sessions, the seminar will be worth five hours of MCLE! The topics covered will be:

1. Eligibility to File & Receive Discharge.
2. Preparing the Petition, Schedules & Plans, Domestic Support Obligations.
3. 2006 Model Plan & How to Make Money Flow the Way You Want it to.
4. Payment Advice, Tax Returns & Compliance with Section 521.
5. Automatic Stay Issues
6. Getting Through the 341 Meeting, Confirmation & Requirements and Post Confirmation Issues & Discharge.
7. Beyond the Basics.
8. Emerging Case Law and Discussion of the Means Test

Note: Early Bird Rates are good until one week before the seminar and registration is limited to the first 65 registrants. Advanced registration is required to reserve a seat and receive materials.

The event will be held Monday, March 19, 2007 in the classroom of the Bar Center (126 S. County Farm Rd., Wheaton, IL 60187) .

Morning session registration begins at 8:30am and seminar begins at 9:15am.

Afternoon session registration will begin 12:30 pm and seminar willresume at 1:00 pm.

Please visit www.dcba.org and go to the bottom of the page to view the event flye and to print registration form (flyer will be available online in about a week).

Eric J. Delgado, Bankruptcy Committee Co-Liaison