I recently came across this video that discusses the basic topic of motivating people. I think you will be very surprised at what the research actually shows. Next time you need to motivate your employees, think about these simple concepts.
(Hat Tip: Darin Lynch — Thanks!)
“One really good attorney essentially takes the place of three outside counsel.”
This view was expressed by the Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Best Buy Enterprise Services Inc. in the May 2010 issue of Inside Counsel. “Their ability to triage, to understand an issue as it’s coming in, can save me immense amounts of outside counsel fees and in-house resources.” But why is this approach reserved only for in-house counsel — it is not.
Perhaps the distinction is not whether an attorney works in-house or outside, but whether the company has found the right attorney. Companies must seek out counsel that understand what it is like to live with decisions in a business environment — not those who just make insulated and unpractical recommendations. The difference between a really good attorney that can triage issues and solve problems and “outside counsel” is not the location of the attorney, but their skill, experience and approach.
The General Counsel Hotline provides a business-centric, proactive tool to allow clients the luxury of in-house counsel at a fraction of the cost. See how this program can turn three of your outside counsel into one.
Ethos Business Law is continuing its quest to evolve business legal services by launching a new program aimed at providing businesses with a strategic and efficient tool to reduce legal risk and costs. The General Counsel Hotline is a new, innovative solution for companies that do not have internal legal resources. It allows clients to sign up for a low-cost, monthly fixed-fee package and receive the following benefits:
How many times have you experienced the following:
The General Counsel Hotline is the solution. Clients are embracing this new model and it just might be a perfect tool to augment your legal practices. Contact Ethos Business Law today to find out how the General Counsel Hotline can decrease your legal risk and increase your bottom line.
I recently saw yet another example of why building and maintain relationships is one of the most important skills you must master in order to become a successful business person. While working with a client through a complex and tricky loan restructure, one of the participating lenders was experiencing significant pressure on its business from bank regulators, unrelated to my client. This pressure caused that lender to create problems in the loan workout. However, the lead lender and the borrower had developed a strong relationship over many years and were able to leverage that relationship built on trust and proven execution to allow all participants to come to a workable solution. Had it not been for the strong relationship between the lead lender and the borrower, the result would have been drastically different. (more…)
In an article published last week in Forbes, some experts have declared that deal-making is back, citing some large recent transactions:
While these deals certainly make headlines, I don’t think they do much for main street American business and more importantly, I don’t think you can declare that merger and acquisition activity is back based on these deals alone. (more…)
Ethos Business Law client, Risotto, was recently named one of the best Italian Restaurants by Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine. If you haven’t been there, give it a try and be sure to order the polpettone di faggiolini (traditional green bean soufflé served with melted asiago cheese and garnished with micro greens) — it is fantastic! Congratulations Risotto!
A recent article in the American Bar Association Journal highlights a trend in business legal services: The Outside General Counsel. This “trend” is nothing new to Ethos Business Law — it is the basis of our business model — our “Ethos!” Outside general counsel services, or fractionalized general counsel, are growing in popularity as business owners realize the value they can leverage from proactive, business-focused attorneys that have in-house experience, business education and law firm training. But how do these services work and why are they better? (more…)
Looking for a way to increase your retirement savings? Still trying to catch-up after the “Great Recession?” Worried about your increasing tax bills that may become even more onerous over the next couple years? If so, Cash Balance Plans may be something to look at.
Some of the interesting attributes of Cash Balance Plans include:
• Are a type of defined benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
• May be well-suited for high income-earning professionals and owners of small, closely-held businesses.
• Feature deferral of more pre-tax income than 401K or profit sharing plans.
• Can often be layered on top of a 401K or profit sharing plan.
I recently saw a research article here that provided a great summary of Cash Balance Plans. This was put together by Bernstein Global Wealth Management and was sent to me by Paul Borowski, one of their advisors (Paul.Borowski@bernstein.com). Take a look and see if this might be right for you.
Proprietary social media research conducted by Russell Herder and Ethos Business Law is being featured this week at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting taking place through January 31 in Davos, Switzerland. The 2010 event entitled “Improve the State of the World: Rethink, Redesign and Rebuild” has drawn an invitation-only participant list of 2,500 chief executives from global leading companies, government representatives from the world’s top 25 economies and fast-growing countries, and presidents of the world’s major universities.
Russell Herder and Ethos Business Law conducted a groundbreaking study with C-suite executives regarding corporate use of social media, as well as on the need for internal policies and training. The firms were contacted last month for permission to share key findings at the global event in a session entitled “The Growing Influence of Social Networks,” which featured the CEOs of LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning and Twitter, among others.
“Corporations need to recognize that the social Web has the potential to become a new mode of production and the new “operating system” of a business,” the Forum reported. “But companies face a crisis of leadership. Too many companies are reticent about incorporating social media into either the organization’s internal process or its customer strategy, viewing social networks instead as a threat to employee productivity, or a source of transparency for which some organizations feel unready.”
Russell Herder and Ethos Business Law have participated in numerous speaking engagements since the original research was released a few months ago. A free copy of the research white paper is available at here.
I recently saw this article in Larry Bodine’s blog. It is a great discussion on how attorneys can be more client-centric and service-oriented by adopting a different business model. It has long been my philosophy that attorneys must constantly redefine ways to create and add value to their clients. There are certainly better ways of measuring value than the number of hours spent on tasks.
I find one of the best way for a client to leverage value from its corporate counsel is through regular, proactive interaction. Simply spending time discussing a client’s business and future goals can prove quite productive. I often work as outside general counsel for clients on a retainer basis — not by hourly fees. This encourages clients to spend time working with their attorney on proactive strategies and removes the “time” concern. Moreover, this fosters a better relationship between the parties and allows the attorney to have a better institutional knowledge of the client. If you are still paying for every minute of your corporate attorney’s time, consider implementing a different business model.