Bob Denney was a kind, generous and insightful man who had his finger on the pulse of the legal profession like no one else. For nearly 30 years, Bob published a newsletter under the banner of “What’s Hot and What’s Not” in the legal profession. When the reports went digital, several of them were featured on Attorney at Work. In a few lines, he would use the breadth of his insights to clue us in on recent developments and upcoming trends. Bob passed away in October. In his honor, I would like to borrow his format as I look back over the recent past and a bit into the coming year. I lack both the breadth and depth of his knowledge and tend to more narrowly focus here on law firm marketing and its regulation. As every Elvis performer says, it’s not an imitation; it’s a tribute, one I hope he would have liked. Red Hot Law Firm Marketing Trends Marketing staff compensation. The first wave of law firm marketers were often high-performing administrative staff. They lacked respect, authority and the compensation they deserved — still true in many firms today. However, a talent war has pushed salaries for in-house marketers up 20% since pre-Covid times, recently cracking the $1 million mark.DEI. Years ago, the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) encouraged in-house counsel to include a law firm’s pro bono commitment when considering engagements. Today, perhaps more organically, corporate clients are starting to look at a firm’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion as a criterion for engagements. Hot Changes to state advertising rules. The past year has seen several states amend their ad rules, most of which bend toward more permissibility. Some states have adopted minor changes, e.g., New Jersey now permits TV ads to include music and animation.

Most lawyers I know have at least one thing in common. No matter their practice areas, or the size of their firm, or their work setting, they all wish they had more time. More time to live, to work, to spend with family, to exercise and on and on. Think of all the things you’d like to do if you just had more time. So, give yourself the gift of more time this holiday season. With these five ideas, you can create more time in your life to do some of those things you’d do with more time. Perhaps you will even have time to achieve your New Year’s resolutions for 2022! 1. Detox Your Contacts Assess whether the people in your life make it more difficult to have the life and practice you want. Do they take more than their share of your resources — late-night calls, impossible to please, extreme lateness, repeated last-minute cancellations, or constant “fire drills”? Think about what your practice would be like without those clients. How could you use those same resources to improve your life, your time, your services to other clients? It might be worth it to end a personal or client relationship to better use your resources for yourself and other clients who do not monopolize your time and energy or compromise your sanity. 2. Hire Someone to Take on Tasks  Are you trying to do it all yourself? Or maybe you are handling too many aspects of your business life or personal life? Assess the tasks that are never completed on time. See if there are any items that remain on your to-do list for months. These could be work-related or personal tasks. Maybe you need to hire a bookkeeper or a paralegal so you can focus on building your

>John Vithayathi John Vithayathi, who is currently pursuing his LLM degree from NUALS, Kochi, analyses the role of unwritten Constitutional principles in Indian Jurisprudence, vis-à-vis the Canadian Position. Introduction The Canadian Supreme Court passed a historic yet highly controversial judgement [Toronto (City) v. Ontario (Attorney General), 2021 S.C.C. 34 (Can)] recently. ‘Unwritten Constitutional Principles cannot be used as a device for invalidating legislation, that does not otherwise infringe the written constitutional provisions’. Supreme Court of Canada in Toronto (City) v. Ontario (Attorney General) Paradoxical as it may seem, this very same judgement that negates the value of unwritten constitutional principles also opens up an avenue for contemplating the nature and, more importantly, the function performed by such principles in the modern constitutional setup. This blog seeks to evaluate the status of unwritten constitutional principles in the Indian constitutional jurisprudence and explains how they might, quite ironically, be more deeply entrenched in the Constitution than a few written ones. Dichotomy of Opinions A constitution bench of the Canadian Supreme Court was considering the validity of a provincial legislation that redrew ward boundaries and reduced the number of wards while campaigns were underway for municipal elections in the city of Toronto. The question before the court was whether the legislation could be struck down if found contravening an unwritten constitutional principle such as democracy.  The majority bench answered the question in the negative, thereby effectively relegating unwritten constitutional principles to merely interpretative tools ‘that may aid in the purposive interpretation of the expressly mentioned provisions.’ The majority gave a very interesting justification for its decision by opining that a legislation that does not infringe the express provisions of the Constitution cannot be considered as being repugnant to the basic constitutional structure.  In an equally vociferous albeit minority opinion, Justice R.S. Abella endorsed

In most practice areas, a lawyer’s marketing efforts should focus on generating a strong referral pipeline — from both business colleagues and other lawyers alike. If those efforts are successful, you’ll probably need some guidance on attorney referral fees. Here it is. There are Clear Guidelines—Mostly No referral fees permitted for non-lawyers Can lawyers pay referral fees to non-lawyers? Most attorneys know they cannot share fees with non-lawyers. The ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, adopted by most states, are quite clear. Rule 5.4 (a) states that “a lawyer or law firm shall not share legal fees with a non-lawyer.” Rule 7.2 (b) states that “a lawyer shall not give anything of value to a person for recommending the lawyer’s services.” A referral fee is certainly something of value. (See Michael Downey’s article in the ABA Litigation Journal, here, explaining the nuances of Rule 7.2(b) and the “nominal” gifts of gratitude allowed.) Referral fees permitted for lawyers Attorneys can share referral fees with other attorneys, as long as they comply with the governing ethics rules. Under Rule 1.1 of the Model Rules, for example, “lawyers” can only refer to competent lawyers. Rule 1.5 (e) specifically governs referral fees between attorneys, and spells out certain requirements, including these three: The division is in proportion to the services performed by each lawyer or each lawyer assumes joint responsibility for the representation;The client agrees to the arrangement, including the share each lawyer will receive, and the agreement is confirmed in writing; andThe total fee is reasonable. While the last two clauses are self-explanatory, many lawyers have questions about the meaning of the first clause. Some mistakenly believe that all fee division arrangements must be proportional. The rule is clear that this is not the only option. Non-proportional arrangements are allowed if “each lawyer assumes joint responsibility.”

Gargi Yadav, a 3rd Year law student pursuing BBA LLB (Hons.) from The Northcap University explains the relation between appreciation and appropriation in fashion law. Introduction Perhaps the most clear-cut and significant definition of cultural appropriation was given by Susan Scafidi, an author and law professor at Fordham University, who wrote in her book “who owns culture?: Appropriation and Authenticity in American law” as follows. “Taking intellectual property, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, or artifacts from someone else’s culture without permission. This can include unauthorized use of another culture’s dance, dress, music, language, folklore, cuisine, traditional medicine, religious symbols, etc. It’s most likely to be harmful when the source community is a minority group that has been oppressed or exploited in other ways or when the object of appropriation is particularly sensitive, e.g. sacred objects.”(1)   Susan Scafidi, “Who Owns Culture?: Appropraition and Authenticity in American Law” While this may appear to be a well-intentioned act that treads on the foundation of cultural inspiration, the danger of such appropriation is that the cultural outcome may one day become entirely disconnected from its original community. In fashion, cultural appropriation refers to the usage of non-dominant culture in a way that disregards its original meaning or fails to give credit to its source. It is not a new phenomenon but has existed for decades. Consider the seventeenth century. The three-piece suit, which is the typical ensemble of Islamic nations, was adopted by English and French aristocracy. Similarly, dandies from the English Regency period adopted the Indian “churidar” into the slim fitting pants. “Appropriation occurs when a style leads to racist generalizations or stereotypes of where it originated, but is deemed ‘high fashion,’ ‘cool’ or ‘funny’ when the privileged take it for themselves. When power is imbalanced, cultures are no longer mingling; they’re being redefined externally

Is your day filled with internal meetings, Zoom calls with clients, and trips to the courthouse? Manage it all at a glance with Outlook categories. Try these tricks, adapted from Affinity Consulting Group’s “Microsoft Outlook for Legal Professionals.” Introduction to Categories Categories allow you to “color-code” emails, tasks, appointments and contacts. Categories carry across Outlook. If you create a new category while updating an appointment, that same category will be available for email, tasks and contacts. Categories can be used to color-code things, and they can be used to filter. Each category is assigned a color. While you can assign multiple categories the same color, most people assign each category a unique color to help distinguish them at a glance. Color-coding is especially useful on your calendar. Setting Up Categories From your email, categories are found on the Home ribbon. From your calendar, click on an appointment to open the Meeting tab where you’ll find categories. You can also find them by right-clicking on an email, appointment, task or contact. Whichever way you open the categories dialog, from Categorize, select All Categories… at the bottom of the list. Outlook contains categories like red, blue and yellow out of the box. Either rename those to something meaningful to you or delete them and start from scratch. When setting up categories, think about ways you’d like to color-code your calendar (or emails, tasks and contacts). What do you want to be able to tell at a glance? Do you want to know whether your meetings are internal ones, ones with the client, or ones with the court? Set up a category for each of those. For example, if internal meetings are yellow, client meetings are red, and hearings are blue, just by glancing at your Outlook calendar, you’ll know what types of

As a solo law firm, you are small but mighty — able to run a lean business operation, offer customized and competitive pricing, and outperform your BigLaw competitors through personalized legal services delivery. Yet year after year, the biggest struggle for solo practitioners and small law firms is finding time to do what matters most: marketing and growing their practice. Developing a smart growth strategy will help you move from survival mode to building mode. Smart Growth Strategy for Your Small Firm If you want to grow, it’s important to understand how to tap into your firm’s strengths. A smart growth strategy leverages your people, processes and data so that you can gain a competitive advantage. Whether your small firm is a startup or well established, it’s important to prioritize a growth strategy that can support the firm’s expansion into the future. Signs of Failure Having an effective business growth strategy will also protect you from some of the common symptoms of a failing firm, such as: Scaling too quickly without the resources to back up your rapid growth.Creating a weak or imbalanced staffing structure that is inefficient, poorly trained or mismanaged.Missing out on valuable revenue because of lack of clarity on your niche practice areas, target market and competition.Misdirecting marketing, branding and advertising campaigns, which then fail to deliver results and generate leads. Elements of Success Key elements to incorporate in your firm’s growth business plan include clarity on your firm’s mission and value propositions, niche practice areas, pricing, staff organization, and key metrics by which you will measure your growth. With consistent review sessions on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis, you’ll have a steady guidepost throughout your growth journey. Here are eight ways to ensure your growth strategy succeeds. 1. Work smarter (not harder) through streamlined systems.

Giving away good ideas may seem counterintuitive, but providing free attorney thought leadership is one of the best ways to get new business. The purpose of creating thought leadership content is to provide answers, make sense of complex information, and chart a future course for a reader, viewer, or listener. By consistently generating high-quality content and publishing it to the right audiences, a lawyer will generate awareness, build trust, and develop new business opportunities. Many lawyers don’t realize these benefits, however, because they’re concerned about giving their ideas away. When they do create thought leadership content, they hold back. Their concerns are rooted in a belief that their insights will be put to use, independently, by a prospective client, and thus their efforts will be wasted. This belief is understandable but mistaken. A prospective client isn’t searching for a solution to a complex legal challenge so they can implement the solution themselves. They’re seeking clarity so they can assess what they’re faced with and identify the right expert to help guide them forward. A lawyer’s stock-in-trade is providing knowledge in exchange for a fee. It may seem counterintuitive, but one of the best ways to generate new business opportunities is to share your best ideas for free. Free Attorney Thought Leadership Content is Your Proxy A very small number of the world’s greatest chefs, such as Grant Achatz of Chicago’s famed Alinea restaurant, can offer a single, unalterable tasting menu for an astronomical price and pack the house every night. For the top chefs, their reputations precede them. They’ve earned such high levels of trust that people will accept what they’re serving and pay handsomely for it, sight unseen. For the other 99.9% of restaurateurs out there, offering a menu of options with explanations of ingredients and cooking techniques is

>In this post, the author has explained the meaning and the laws associated with the concept of Deceptive Similarity under the Trademark Laws in India. Introduction Trademark has been defined in Section 2(zb)of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 as: “A mark capable of being represented graphically and which is capable of distinguishing the goods/services of one person from those of others and may include the shape of goods, their packaging, and combination of colors”. Trademarks are essential in developing a company’s brand name and goodwill. It not only aids in the creation of brand value but also aids in the generation of revenue. A trademark is vulnerable to being infringed and/or misused because it is so important. One such way of a trademark is making “deceptively similar” trademarks. Interpretation and Scope of Deceptive Similarity The concept of deceptive similarity has been discussed under Section 2(h) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 as: “A mark shall be deemed to be deceptively similar to another mark if it so nearly resembles that other mark as to be likely to deceive or cause confusion.” In layman’s terms, deceptively similarity of marks can be defined as similarity between trademarks that can lead the general public of average intelligence to believe that the mark in question is somehow related to a registered or well-known trademark. According to Section 11(1) of the Trademark Act, 1999, “a trademark cannot be registered if it is deceptively similar, or identical, with the existing trademark and goods and services, that is likely to create confusion in the mind of the public at large”. Criteria for a court of law or tribunal for determining deceptive similarity The criteria for the determination of the deceptive similarity of marks had been decided in the case of Cadilia Healthcare Limited v. Cadilia Pharmaceutical Limited, where the Hon’ble Supreme

Does your law firm work allocation model leave too many associates behind? Historically, work allocation in law firms has primarily been driven by partners. When a partner chooses an associate to help them with a matter, their skills are important, but so is the associate’s proximity and the impression they’ve left on that partner. As their working relationship deepens and the associate’s experience widens, they can quickly become the go-to person when that partner needs help. The Problem with the ‘Proximity and Familiarity’ Model On the surface, this seems like a win-win. The partner wants the best person on their matters and has no reason to look elsewhere unless their preferred associate is unavailable or unequipped for the matter at hand. But work allocation based on proximity and familiarity risks conscious and unconscious bias, leading to unfair work distribution among a firm’s associates. If a partner monopolizes an associate, they are also depriving that associate of experience working with other partners and denying other partners the help of that associate. When the Center on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School explored law firm work allocation in 2017, longtime partners confirmed that traditional work allocation has an implicit bias toward associates who can easily develop relationships with partners. “An associate’s talent and abilities are critical and the key selection criteria, but unintentionally, people are sometimes drawn to those they think they can work the easiest with — those who studied in the same university, are into the same sports, have the same kinds of interests,” said Bas Boris Visser, a partner at Clifford Chance. This is just part of the reason why some firms, especially larger ones, have been gradually shifting away from this model. Some have appointed one person to make or approve assignment decisions for a firm or practice