Author Archive

Which comes first? The Layoffs or the Merger?

In today’s rumor mill, Winston & Strawn and Heller are in merger talks. Substantiating the rumors, according to Legal Pad, is the supposed registration of WinstonHeller.com and HellerWinston.com. While Heller is not on record of laying off attorneys, they have seen the departure of numerous partners these past few months. In addition, they are on [ READ MORE ]

Hello, my name is AAARenee and I’m a Joiner…

A colleague on LinkedIn recently asked what others have been thinking – why does she join so many groups? The answer is simple. I am a Joiner. It’s not as bad as it sounds and if there was a support group, I’d probably join. Since childhood, I have always belonged to more than one group [ READ MORE ]

Working Alumni Networks

Sonnenschein laid off 37 lawyers and 87 staff. “We will do everything we can to help the people we have separated, to give them as much support and compassion as we are able to provide,” said Mr. Portnoy. He added that the firm is working with headhunters and search firms, its alumni network, and its [ READ MORE ]

Business Books

A couple weeks ago I e-mailed some of my closest contacts, and posted to Linkedin, a request for favorite business books. As promised, here are the top 20 (received at least 2 or more votes). For a full list of all 98 books, e-mail me. I also requested a summer reading list which I’ll post [ READ MORE ]

Fug or Fab?

Came across an interesting WSJ blog post today on women and fashion (heels, really) in the courtroom. I especially liked one of the comments that really takes into account that fashion, and how we dress in general, can be significant and should not be ignored: I once second-chaired a month-long civil trial (a highly charged [ READ MORE ]

Forward Motion for Pillsbury CMO?

I heard through the grapevine that Liz Pava, Pillsbury CMO, has resigned from her position. Her last day is rumored to be May 30th. This resignation follows on the heels of the launch of the new Pillsbury corporate identity package (see earlier post of May 16). Rumor also reports that it was definitely her choice [ READ MORE ]

Ya Think!?

File this one under the “no duh” column. Lawyers are introverts. Lawyers ranked sixth overall on a list of the 200 best jobs for introverts, just behind the loner braniacs who work as computer software engineers and accountants.(skip)Larry Richard, a consultant for Hildebrandt International, isn’t surprised by Shutkin’s findings. Richard specializes in law firms and [ READ MORE ]

A Logo by Any Other Name

I just read that Sutherland Asbil and Brennan has shortened their name and rebranded. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman has also rebranded and shortened their name (I’m a Pillsbury alum for full disclosure). I have to give kudos to Pillsbury for pulling off their new logo. I’m still trying to decide if I like it, but [ READ MORE ]

Give us your tired, your poor, your weary…

One of the ongoing challenges I have in law firm business development is effectively side-stepping the equity partners and non-equity partners who have few, if any, business development skills and/or simply lack interest in it (“It’s unseemly for a lawyer to have to ASK a client for business.”). However, managing partners rarely let you forget [ READ MORE ]

Advice for the Hiring Committee

Well, another CMO has resigned his firm and the hunt is on for his replacement. Makes me think about all the firms I have interviewed with and those red-flag moments … and a prior firm where I lived through several “interim” CMOs as they interviewed, and interviewed, and interviewed for a permanent CMO, only to [ READ MORE ]

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