As the newly appointed chair of the InnovAction Awards, presented by the College of Law Practice Management, I am extraordinarily pleased to announce that we are now accepting entries for the 2012 awards season.

The pace of change in the legal marketplace continues to accelerate.  If you have developed a new and better way to serve your clients, a breakthrough way to find new business, an efficient approach to managing your operations, or a truly innovative way to value and sell your services, you deserve the recognition of lawyers and clients in your region and worldwide by receiving a 2012 InnovAction award.

Past award winners include:  Berwin Leighton Paisner, LLPThe University of Toronto Faculty of LawThe University of Miami School of LawPro Bono NetAxiom LawNew Family OrganizationPractical Law Company, Inc.Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLPMallesons Stephen Jaques; Novus Law, LLC; and many more!  See the full list here.

Now in its 8th year, the InnovAction Awards conduct a worldwide search for lawyers, law firms and other providers of legal services who are engaged in extraordinary, game-changing, innovative activities.  The award entries are judged based on the following criteria:

  • Originality: Is this a novel idea or approach, or a new twist on an existing idea or approach?
  • Disruption: Does this entry change an important element of the legal services process for the better, and marketplace expectations along with it?
  • Value: Is the client and/or legal industry better off because of this entry, in terms of the affordability, ease, relevance or effect of legal services?
  • Effectiveness: Has this entry delivered real, demonstrable or measurable benefits, for the provider, its clients, or the marketplace generally?

Applications and more information are available at http://www.innovactionaward.com.  The submission deadline is June 15, 2012.

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Why Big Law Firms Implode

May 7, 2012

Anyone following the large law firm marketplace knows of the impending demise of another big law firm.  This time it’s Dewey LeBoeuf, the several-year old combination of Dewey Ballantine and LeBoeuf Lamb Green & MacRae.  At the time of this writing the firm is not, technically, dissolved.  But by the end of this week some [...]

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Superior Service is not for Virgins

February 28, 2012

I am quite fond of pointing out poor service posture in this space and on my Twitter feed.  As an adviser to service businesses such as law firms and legal vendors, I’ve come to learn first hand that a client-friendly service posture can help overcome objections to features and price.  A lawyer who has a [...]

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Law Firm Management Science: Ignore At Your Peril

January 13, 2012

“Imagine this business school case study:  A global business is managed by part-time leaders with minimal business training.  The business offers different products to different customers depending on the varying skills and interests of the local service providers, who also serve as the salespeople, project managers and product managers.  Pricing is customized to each transaction [...]

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‘Tis the Season… for Layoffs

December 20, 2011

Autumn is the time of year to see the orange and black of Halloween and the red and green of Christmas.  It’s also the season of pink slips.  As corporations reach the end of their fiscal year, the likelihood of senior management initiating layoffs is as certain as Santa Claus appearing in the Macy’s Day [...]

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Marketing Change – Differentiation Amid Upheaval

November 14, 2011

Clients have demanded changes from their law firms for years, but the economic downturn accelerated this process.  Law firms have begun to adapt business concepts that have proven to be effective in other business segments.  The most progressive law firms have embraced these changes and proactively seek opportunities to showcase their new capabilities to clients [...]

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Nobody’s Somebody Everywhere

November 14, 2011

I’m continually amazed at the curious phenomenon common to the legal profession, where we anoint to celebrity status certain lawyers who appear to have mastered a particular subject matter. It goes beyond wishful thinking and bleeds into blind optimism that somehow we are as world-famous, if not world-class, as we think. I visited four cities [...]

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The Legal Futures Conference, October 28-29 in Chicago

October 11, 2011

I have the good fortune to be a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management, a group of highly esteemed and accomplished professionals who have spent their lifetimes improving law practice in a myriad of ways.  My own humble efforts in this arena were recognized some years ago when I was nominated and inducted [...]

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Respecting the Rule of Law Even When It Hurts

July 6, 2011

It seems as if the entire Internet went wild when Casey Anthony was acquitted of the charge of killing her daughter, Caylee.  Anthony was found guilty of lying to police during the investigation but isn’t expected to serve additional time beyond the period of incarceration prior to her trial.  There was, and continues to be, [...]

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More on MBAs for CMOs

June 16, 2011

One of the most popular destinations on this blog is my post about the utility of  an MBA for a modern law firm Chief Marketing Officer, and the healthy discussion that ensued.  You can re-read that post here.  In short, I suggest that the traditional path to prominence in a senior law firm marketing role [...]

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