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January 19, 2010
NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION PUBLISHES A
COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO MANAGING A LEGAL PRACTICE
“Best Practices In Legal Management”
– The Definitive Resource for Small Firms and Managing
Partners
With information ranging from strategic planning to business
development to space planning and design, the New York State Bar
Association has published a comprehensive guide on how to manage a legal
practice. Best Practices in Legal Management: A Comprehensive Guide
provides practical tips from almost 100 experts with a combined 800
years of experience, as well as a variety of useful forms and templates.
Best Practices is a collaborative effort of the State Bar
Association’s Committee on Law Practice Management (LPM) and the
Association of Legal Administrators New York City Chapter (ALANYC).
“In clear language and with real life examples, Best Practices
offers a roadmap for attorneys who are just starting new firms, and it
also has everything experienced legal administrators need to know about
managing a firm,” said New York State Bar Association President
Michael E. Getnick (Getnick Livingston Atkinson & Priore, LLP of
Utica and of counsel to Getnick & Getnick of New York City).
“Members of the Law Practice Management Committee, under the
leadership of Committee Chair Gary A. Munneke, along with their ALANYC
partners, have put together a one-stop source on building and running a
thriving practice. It is an invaluable tool for every small- and
medium-size firm.”
Munneke, Professor of Law at Pace University School of Law, said,
“Best Practices provides a blueprint for achieving success and
avoiding error in running a modern law practice. It is comprehensive,
informative and – despite its serious nature – fun to read.
I want to thank all the contributors from the LPM Committee and the
ALANYC for creating such a useful guide.”
The Principals of Best Practices, Kimberly
Swetland, President of the ALANYC Chapter (Director of Administration
for Harris Beach PLLC), and Barry Jackson, CLM, CPA, Past President of
the ALANYC (Executive Director of Davis & Gilbert LLP), said,
“Our vision, to write and publish THE book on Best
Practices in Legal Management, in partnership with NYSBA,
represents our commitment to lead the way by providing the legal
industry with the information and resources necessary to be successful
and manage a law firm.”
The book addresses all aspects of law firm management with checklists
of best practices and practical steps to meeting goals. The 424-page
book also contains a comprehensive list of Web sites and other helpful
resources.
Highlights include:
- Strategic and Organizational Planning:
Creating a business framework to meet a firm’s goals; developing a
mission statement (“who you are”), vision statement
(“what you want to be”) and strategic plan (“how you
get there”).
- Business Development: Creating a smart client
base; forecasting business opportunities; responding to requests for
proposals (RFPs); evaluating the profit potential of a prospective
client; identifying and managing potential client conflicts of
interests; marketing your firm; and managing client
relationships.
- Legal Practice Management: Recruiting and
developing the best attorneys; determining associate compensation;
structuring a paraprofessional staff; analyzing a practice group’s
profitability; and CLE requirements.
- Human Resources: Creating an HR function to
match a firm’s needs; getting the best support and
paraprofessional staff; evaluating employees; employee relations;
determining compensation and benefit packages; developing data systems;
understanding sexual harassment and diversity
considerations.
- Financial Management: Structuring partner
compensation; planning a budget and cash flow; setting up accounts
payable and receivable; analyzing a firm’s
profitability.
- Procurement: Understanding the best choices
for procurement.
- Operations Management: Managing risk; records
management; employee safety issues; and a sample 34-page business
recovery plan for disasters.
- Technological and Systems Management:
Structuring a technology policy including internet and email use,
assessing the efficiency of your IT system, designing computer,
telecommunications and document management systems.
- Space Planning and Design: Maximizing space
efficiency while enhancing its atmosphere; getting the right new space
including the lease structure; planning a move; and office
security.
The cost of the book is $139 for New York State Bar Association
members and $179 for non-members (prices do not include applicable sales
tax; shipping is free of charge in the continental U.S.). To purchase a
copy, please visit www.nysba.org/BestPracticesGuide or call
1-800-582-2452.
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Founded in 1876, the 77,000-member New York State Bar Association is
the official statewide organization of lawyers in New York and the
largest voluntary state bar association in the nation. The State
Bar’s programs and activities have continuously served the public
and improved the justice system for more than 130 years. For more
information, visit us at our Web site at www.nysba.org.
Founded in 1971, the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) is an
international organization of more than 10,000 members representing more
than 20 countries. The New York City Chapter (ALANYC) was founded in
1977, is the largest chapter of the ALA, and serves approximately 500
legal management professionals. The mission of the ALANYC is to
enhance the knowledge and professionalism of its members through
high-quality educational programs in legal management, provide timely
information which will enable members to perform their jobs more
effectively and efficiently, and increase the visibility and credibility
of the profession of legal administration. Visit us at our Web
site at www.alanyc.org.
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