Attorney Journal, San Diego, Volume 136

SAN DIEGO

Volume 136, 2014 • $6.95

Analytics: The Ally Law Firm Leaders Need

Norm LaCroix 10 Safety Tips for Law Firms, Attorneys and Legal Professionals

Johnny Lee

McIntyre’s Civil Alert

Monty A. McIntyre Caution! A Management Buyout May Not Be the Way to Sell Your Company

Roger Neu

MEDIATOR OF THE MONTH

Laura Kass-Moreno

Full Spectrum Strategy

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE OF THE MONTH

Gil Cabrera

Sense of Duty

Attorney of the Month

Ross Jurewitz EXCELLENCE EVERY STEP OF THE WAY

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2014 EDITION—NO.136

TABLE OF CONTENTS features

6

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE OF THE MONTH

6 Gil Cabrera Sense of Duty

by Jennifer Hadley

8 McIntyre’s Civil Alert Monty A. McIntyre

12 COMMUNITYnews

16

EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Brian Topor EDITOR Jennifer Appel

22 Laura Kass-Moreno Full Spectrum Strategy

by Jennifer Hadley

PHOTOGRAPHY Bauman Photographers

26 Caution! A Management Buyout May Not Be the Way to Sell Your Company

STAFF WRITERS Jennifer Hadley Lisa White Karen Gorden

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES info@AttorneyJournal.us SUBMIT AN ARTICLE Editorial@AttorneyJournal.us

Roger Neu

28 10 Safety Tips for Law Firms, Attorneys and Legal Professionals Johnny Lee

30 Analytics

The Ally Law Firm Leaders Need Norm LaCroix

OFFICE 10601-G Tierrasanta Blvd., Suite 131 San Diego, CA 92124 P 858.505.0314 • F 858.524.5808 www.AttorneyJournal.us ADDRESS CHANGES Address corrections can be made via fax, email or postal mail.

Excellence Every Step of the Way MEDIATOR OF THE MONTH

CIRCULATION Angela Watson

WEBMASTER Mariusz Opalka

16 Ross Jurewitz

by Jennifer Hadley

CREATIVE SERVICES Skidmutro Creative Partners

CONTRIBUTING EDITORIALISTS Johnny Lee Norm LaCroix Roger Neu Monty McIntyre

ATTORNEY OF THE MONTH

22 Editorial material appears in Attorney Journal as an informational service for readers. Article contents are the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of Attorney Journal.

Attorney Journal makes every effort to publish credible, responsible advertisements. Inclusion of product advertisements or announcements does not imply endorsement.

Attorney Journal is a trademark of Sticky Media, LLC. Not affiliated with any other trade publication or association. Copyright 2014 by Sticky Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced without written permission from Sticky Media, LLC. Printed in the USA

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FEATURED PROFESTSHIOENMAOLNPTROFILE

2014

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SENSE of DUTY For more than 15 years, Gil Cabrera has made it his mission to use his big firm expertise to help small businesses, while using his law degree to better the San Diego Community by Jennifer Hadley “Bettering my community is at the crux of what is important to me,” says Gil Cabrera, founder of The Cabrera Firm, A.P.C. Whether that is through helping smaller business owners to have access to his years of big firm experience, or through his tireless community service, Gil says his focus on giving back is the direct result of his upbringing.

“My parents fled Cuba when Castro came to power. I was raised knowing that this amazing country welcomed them, and it instilled a sense of civic duty in me,” he says. “Being a lawyer provides an incredible opportunity to give back by serving the community and non-profits in particular. Charity and civic organizations always seek out attorneys for their Boards. I believe in using my law degree to do good for my community,” he adds.

BIG FIRM EXPERIENCE Cabrera cut his teeth in the legal community in San Diego by joining the renowned firm of Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP after graduating with his J.D. from Boston College.

While focusing his practice on business litigation, securities litigation, intellectual property and employment law, Cabrera received mentorship that still guides him in his practice today.

“As a second-year lawyer at Luce Forward, I had the privilege of working with Bob Steiner, who gave me every opportunity to 6

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 136, 2014

take on as much responsibility as I could handle. I was able to do half of the work involved in a six-week jury trial, and was hooked on trial practice. Our opposing counsel in that case was Chuck Dick, so I was able to work with two pillars of the San Diego litigation community, and I got to watch two of the best trial lawyers in town go up against each other. I learned so much from both of them about civility in practice,” Cabrera says.

After his work with Luce Forward, Cabrera joined another powerhouse litigation firm in San Diego, where he stayed for seven years. As senior associate with Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, Cabrera says “I had the privilege of working on one of the largest pieces of litigation in the country that went up to the California and US Supreme Courts on various arbitration issues. They were amazing experiences.” Additionally, Cabrera got his first taste of transitioning litigation clients into general counsel clients early in his career, which would ultimately drive him to launch his own firm in 2007.

MAKING BIG FIRM EXPERIENCE AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE “My years of complex business and corporate governance litigation experience at big firms led me to want to start my own firm and bring that experience to smaller companies who

© Bauman Photographers

OF

“ There is a strong commitment to civility in San Diego, which I don’t think exists in larger cites.” couldn’t afford big firm fees,” he says. As such, The Cabrera Firm specializes in representing clients in dispute resolution including pre-litigation negotiation, federal or state litigation, arbitration, mediations and other forums. In addition, Cabrera and his team provide outside general counsel services to companies and individuals needing day-to-day legal assistance.

The Cabrera Firm is able to do this on account of a structured low overhead approach that Cabrera adhered to from day one.

“Our small size allows clients to benefit from a streamlined method of staffing matters with a small and effective legal team capable of achieving excellent and efficient results. When we launched in 2007 we immediately went completely digital and used technology and vendors to compete effectively with significantly larger firms. We also refuse to nickel and dime clients. You will never see a .1 and rarely see a .2 on our invoices. Our typical clients are small, closely held companies, generally still run by the founders, with less than $50 Million in annual revenue.”

As for where Cabrera’s clients come from? “My business has been almost entirely word-of-mouth referrals from larger firms. I know they get a lot of good cases that for one reason or another don’t make sense for their firm to take, because I used to work for big firms. Those cases generally come to me during some stage of litigation, and through that process I wind up serving as their general counsel,” he explains.

However, the city itself also relies on Cabrera’s expertise when they find themselves in need of a highly experienced attorney.

Indeed, the city of San Diego has called on Cabrera to assist with some of the most contentious disputes and initiatives it has faced in recent years. For example, in 2005, Cabrera was appointed by the Mayor and City Council to the San Diego Ethics Commission, which monitors and enforces the City’s government campaign finance and ethics laws. Cabrera consequently served as the Ethics Commission’s Chairman from 2007-2009, and under his direction, recommended a complete overhaul of the City’s Lobbying Ordinance, creating greater transparency to San Diego lobbying activities, which the City Council passed.

MAKING A BIG NAME IN SERVICE AND THE CITY Cabrera’s determination to give back to the community by offering his expertise to individuals and small businesses in San Diego extends to volunteering for the community as well. By way of example, Cabrera has served on the Board of Directors of the San Diego Master Chorale, the Board of Directors of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of San Diego, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the San Diego County Taxpayer Association, and the San Diego LGBT Community Center.

Likewise, he was appointed to serve on the San Diego Police Department Use of Force Task Force by then-Police Chief David Bejarano, and was ultimately named the Task Force’s Civilian Co-Chair, where he worked with then-Assistant Chief of Police John Welter and more than 100 other members of the Task Force to issue a report in 2001, recommending a whopping 100 changes to the police department’s procedures. Years later he would also be appointed by the Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California to the Ninth Circuit Lawyer Representative Committee, where he served as co-chair of the panel in 2012 and 2013.

Moreover, the City Attorney’s office reached out to Cabrera to help draft the impartial analysis of a highly publicized ballot initiative. Similarly, Cabrera was called in to help represent one of the parties in the disputes involving the San Diego Opera earlier this year, solidifying his position as one of the attorneys that the city turns to when it needs what the San Diego Union Tribune has called Cabrera’s “strong, even-handed enforcement of the law.”

FUTURE PLANS TO SERVE STILL OTHERS As far as the future is concerned for Cabrera, he intends to continue to do what he’s been doing thus far, and he intends to continue to do so in San Diego. “There is a strong commitment to civility in San Diego, which I don’t think exists in larger cites.

We have a very strong tradition of civility and I can honestly say that there is almost no lawyer that I’ve gone up against who hasn’t become a friend,” he says.

Clearly, Cabrera’s expertise along with his commitment to service has served him well thus far, as he was recently named to the Best of the Bar alongside his wife, fellow attorney Krista Cabrera. Earlier in 2014, Cabrera was also appointed by the City Council to the San Diego Convention Center Corporation’s Board of Directors, which leads one of the City’s most important sources of revenue. “I do hope to continue to serve this amazing city by serving in a public capacity in the future, but for now I’m just going to continue to provide the best client services possible at a competitive price, be civil in my life and practice, and serve the community wherever possible.” n Contact: Gil Cabrera The Cabrera Firm www.cabrerafirm.com info@cabrerafirm.com 619-500-4880 600 West Broadway, Suite 700 San Diego, CA 92101 Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 136, 2014

7

Reflective Listening McIntyre’s Civil A Key Skill for a LawyerAlert Organized Succinct Summaries

by Kendra Brodin

by Monty A. McIntyre, Esq. Monty A. McIntyre has over 29 years of experience as a mediator and arbitrator. More than 34 years of experience as a civil trial lawyer representing both plaintiffs and defendants in business and commercial, bad faith, brain injury, construction, land use/CEQA, medical malpractice, personal injury, real property and wrongful death cases. To schedule a meeting with Monty A. McIntyre contact Kelsey Hannah at ADR Services, Inc. at (619) 233-1323 or kelsey@adrservices.org

CALIFORNIA COURTS OF APPEAL Civil Procedure (Attorney Fees, Discovery) Bui v. Nguyen (2014) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2014 WL 5449782: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s order granting attorney fees under Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5.

The trial court abused its discretion in granting attorney fees under section 1021.5 because plaintiff failed to establish that private enforcement was necessary to protect the public from false advertising by defendant. (C.A. 6th, October 28, 2014.)

Evilsizor v. Sweeney (2014) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2014 WL 5449805: The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court and held that a trial court may impose sanctions under Code of Civil Procedure section 1987.2 against a litigant for belatedly withdrawing a motion to quash that, even though legitimately filed, was rendered unnecessary by a subsequent amendment or withdrawal of the subpoena. (C.A. 1st, October 28, 2014.)

Class Action Kight v. CashCall, Inc. (2014) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2014 WL 5573457: The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s order decertifying the class. On remand after an appeal, the trial court properly granted CashCall’s motion to decertify a class action alleging violations of California Penal Code section 632, which imposes liability on a “person” who intentionally “eavesdrops upon or records [a] confidential communication” and engages in this conduct “without the consent of all parties.” The class was properly decertified based primarily on the argument that the issue of whether any particular class member could satisfy the reasonable expectation of privacy test required an assessment of numerous individual factors, and these individual issues predominated over any remaining common issues, making a continued class action unmanageable. (C.A. 4th, filed October 9, 2014, published November 4, 2014.)

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 136, 2014

Employment Godfrey v. Oakland Port Services Corp. (2014) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2014 WL 5439289: The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court judgment of $964,557.08 in a wage and hour class action. The Court of Appeal found no merit in defendant’s argument that federal law preempts application of California’s meal and rest break requirements to motor carriers, or the other various arguments. (C.A. 1st, October 28, 2014.)

Legal Malpractice Kasem v. Dion-Kindem (2014) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2014 WL 5464694: The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s demurrer without leave to amend regarding the third amended complaint. Plaintiff sued for legal malpractice claiming her attorney negligently failed to designate and call an expert witness at the underlying trial on the issue of whether sewage qualified as a “Hazardous Material” under the lease after the trial court denied the attorney’s request to take judicial notice of statutes which included sewage in the definition of hazardous material. The demurrer was properly sustained because it was the trial court’s error in not taking judicial notice of the statutes, not attorney negligence, that caused the result.

Because plaintiff never appealed that decision, the trial court’s error could not be corrected. (C.A. 2nd, filed October 3, 2014, published October 29, 2014.)

Torts Amerigas Inc. v. Landstar Ranger, Inc. (2014) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2014 WL 5408653: The Court of Appeal affirmed the bench trial judgment in favor of cross-defendant Landstar Ranger, Inc. (Landstar). Truck driver Steven K. King sued AmeriGas Propane, L.P. (AmeriGas) for an injury caused by an AmeriGas employee who was unloading empty propane tanks from King’s flatbed trailer at an AmeriGas facility. AmeriGas settled with King and cross-complained against Landstar for equitable indemnity. The trial court properly found that Landstar did not violate Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations regarding experienced drivers, and

even if there had been a violation, it would not have been the proximate cause of the injury because the propane tanks were secure and stable during transit and when they arrived at the AmeriGas yard. (C.A. 4th, October 24, 2014.)

Colombo v. BRP US Inc. (2014) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2014 WL 5472421: The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court judgment for plaintiffs arising from serious injuries caused by a jet ski accident. One plaintiff suffered serious and permanent injury to her rectum, and the other plaintiff suffered serious and permanent injuries to her vagina when, because of operator error, they fell off a jet ski. Once in the water, both plaintiffs were injured when

the powerful jet thrust from the watercraft ripped their flesh. The Court of Appeal affirmed a judgment for one plaintiff of $3.385 million in compensatory damages and $1.5 million in punitive damages, and a judgment for the other plaintiff of $1.063 million in compensatory damages and $1.5 million in punitive damages.

Fiorini v. City Brewing Company, LLC (2014) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2014 WL 5743133: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s ruling granting a motion for judgment on the pleadings in a case where the plaintiff alleged that negligence and strict liability caused the death of his 23-year-old son after he drank two 23.5-ounce cans of Four Loko that each contained as much alcohol as five to six 12-ounce cans of beer and as much caffeine as approximately four cans of Coca-Cola. Because the complaint did not allege that City Brewing (1) exercised

any control over the cans of Four Loko after they were delivered to a regional distributor or (2) took an affirmative step to supply the Four Loko to Fiorini, City Brewing did not “furnish” the beverage to Fiorini, and the civil immunity in California’s dram shop statutes did not extend to City Brewing. (C.A. 5th, November 6, 2014.)

Honeycutt v. Meridian Sports Club, LLC (2014) _ Cal. App.4th _ , 2014 WL 5776200: The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s motion for summary judgment for defendant in an action where plaintiff suffered a knee injury during a kickboxing class while being assisted by an instructor at defendant club. The trial court properly granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment, ruling that plaintiff had signed a valid waiver of liability, defendant did not act with gross negligence, and the doctrine of primary assumption of the risk barred relief. (C.A. 2nd, filed October 21, 2014, published November 6, 2014.)

Lawrence v. La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, Inc. (2014) _ Cal.App.4th _ , 2014 WL 5499374: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s rulings granting summary judgment for defendant. The Court of Appeal agreed that the trial court erred in ruling that (1) defendants had no duty and breached no duty to install a fall prevention device on the window from which the five-year-old plaintiff fell; and (2) the accident was not caused by defendants’ failure to install a fall prevention device on the window. (C.A. 4th, October 31, 2014.) n

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 136, 2014

COMMUNITY news nTaking the helm of the only statewide bar association for women in California, CaseyGerry partner Wendy Behan was recently sworn in as president of the California Women Lawyers (CWL)at the organization’s 40th Anniversary Annual Dinner and Silent Auction at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in downtown San Diego.

In her new role, Behan will WENDY BEHAN serve a one-year term and head the organization’s board of governors – representing the interests of more than 30,000 women working in all facets of the legal profession throughout California. She has served on CWL’s board of governors and executive committee since 2011 and is past president of the Lawyers Club of San Diego – which also seeks to advance the status of women in law and society – currently serving on their advisory board.

Concentrating her practice on serious personal injury cases, class actions and pharmaceutical and medical device products liability, Behan has been involved in litigation against the manufacturers of metal-on-metal hip implants (DePuy ASR, Biomet, Wright, Stryker), Hydroxycut® and transvaginal mesh products. nHecht Solberg Robinson Goldberg & Bagley LLP (HechtSolberg) has been named a Tier 1 San Diego law firm in the areas of real estate law and land use and zoning law in the U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers 2015 rankings.

Firms included in the 2015 “Best Law Firms” list are recognized MICKEY MAHER for professional excellence with consistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. Achieving a tiered ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise.

“This is a tremendous honor as the rankings are based on peer and client input,” said Mickey Maher, managing partner with HechtSolberg. “Our more than 40 years of leadership in the San Diego real estate industry— transactions and business entities, land use, zoning and common interest developments – center on meeting the needs of our clients with high-value, practical legal advice.”

nKehr Law, APC is pleased to announce the recent hiring of William McDonald and Maria Posis of the McDonald Legal Group.

William is licensed to practice in California and Oregon. He brings with him 10 years of bankruptcy law knowledge and experience. In the past decade, William has successfully filed over 1,000 consumer and WILLIAM MCDONALD business bankruptcy cases under Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code. William earned his LL.M. in taxation from the University of Washington and brings estate planning as well as tax experience to our firm. In his free time, William enjoys golfing and outdoor activities. Maria brings over 11 years of experience managing business relations at the senior management level. Kehr Law is thrilled to have William and Maria as the newest members of its team and looks forward to bringing you a wider range of expertise as well as an unparalleled quality of service. nSan Diego Elder Law Center attorney Philip P. Lindsley has been appointed to the Executive Committee of the Trusts and Estates Section of the State Bar of California (TEXCOM), for a three-year term, which began on September 14, 2014.

“This is a great honor,” said Lindsley, “and an opportunity to PHILIP P. LINDSLEY serve the Trust and Estate and Elder Law Bars, as well as the interest of the general public. I look forward to whatever I can contribute to the Section from my experience in the fields of Elder and Special Needs law.”

The Trust and Estate Section of the California Bar has a membership of more than 5,000 attorneys from Eureka to El Centro. The Executive Committee directs the policies and affairs of the section and supervises the section’s activities, such as its educational programs, membership communications, publications, and standing or substantive committees.

Committees include Estate Planning, Income and Transfer Taxes, Trust and Estate Administration, Litigation, Incapacity (including Conservatorship, Guardianship, and Elder Law), and Ethics.

Have a Press Release you would like to submit for our Community News?

Email it to PR@AttorneyJournal.us

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 136, 2014

COMMUNITY news nHiggs Fletcher & Mack announced today the hiring of its newest Associate, Gerissa S. Conforti, to its family law group.

Conforti will play an important role in advising and counseling clients on family-related legal issues with an emphasis on delivering positive, costeffective results.

Conforti comes to Higgs from the GERISSA S. CONFORTI Law Office of Michael Stephen Berg where she was an Associate Attorney. Prior to that, she worked for the Law Office of Kurt David Hermansen. Other experience includes working at the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office in its Writs and Appeals Unit. Conforti graduated from California Western School of Law in 2009 where she made the Dean’s Honor List, won the Academic Achievement Award in Sexuality and Law and was selected as the Commencement Ceremony Student Speaker. Conforti obtained her LLM in Trial Advocacy in 2011 from Cal Western and earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Riverside. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for California Western School of Law Alumni Association and California Attorney for Criminal Justice. nJason Evans, an associate attorney with San Diego-based CaseyGerry, has been elected vice chair of the San Diego County Bar Association’s (SDCBA) Forum for Emerging Lawyers, representing thousands of young lawyers throughout San Diego. As part of SDCBA Forum’s executive committee, Evans will serve a one-year term as 2015 vice JASON EVANS chair, followed by the 2016 chair appointment. In both capacities, he will concentrate on leading San Diego’s emerging lawyers through education, events and community outreach.

Evans, who joined Casey Gerry in 2012, is a key member of the firm’s complex litigation team, focusing on consumer class actions, product liability and serious personal injury litigation.

Active in the American Association for Justice, Consumer Attorneys of San Diego and the Lawyers Club of San Diego, he also serves on the board of directors for Youth Tennis San Diego, a non-profit organization dedicated to serving San Diego’s youth through educational and athletic programming, including hundreds of after-school-tennis programs.

nThe San Diego-based law firm of Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek has added Tamatha Clemens as of counsel to the firm’s family law practice. Clemens has over 17 years of legal experience in the area of family law. Her practice involves both settling and litigating all types of family law matters, including child custody and support issues, spousal TAMATHA CLEMENS support matters, division of property, domestic violence restraining orders, domestic partnerships and navigating through high-asset, complex family law matters.

Prior to joining Seltzer Caplan, Clemens was an attorney with the Law Offices of Sandra Joan Morris. Clemens is a member of the San Diego County Bar Association and State Bar of California. She is also active in the Lawyers Club of San Diego and volunteers with the organization’s annual Read-In at Central Elementary School. She received her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and a B.A. from the University of California, Riverside. nWilson Turner Kosmo LLP is pleased to announce that Robin Wofford has been appointed chair of The National Association of Minority & Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF).

NAMWOLF is a national, nonprofit organization that promotes diversity and equality in the legal profession by fostering successful ROBIN WOFFORD relationships among preeminent minority- and women-owned law firms and private/public entities. Wofford has been active in NAMWOLF for over ten years. She has served on the organization’s board of directors for three years and has spearheaded many committees and cochaired annual and business meetings.

As chair of NAMWOLF, Wofford will oversee a diverse board of directors as NAMWOLF continues to grow and establish itself as a leader in promoting diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. NAMWOLF currently has almost 130 law firm members, covering 36 states. The organization continues to recruit new members to join NAMWOLF and corporate and public entity partners to utilize these talented firms. Wofford is a partner at Wilson Turner Kosmo and has over 25 years of trial experience. Her practice focuses on employment and general business litigation.

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 136, 2014

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EXCELLENCE EVERY STEP OF THE WAY From client education to client experience and excellence in results, Jurewitz Law Group focuses on empowering clients from injury through verdict and beyond.

“IT’S

not enough to have good lines of communication with our Personal Injury clients. It’s just not meaningful if one side of the conversation has all of the information in terms of legal procedures and regulations. We are big advocates of educating our clients throughout their entire experience with us,” says Ross Jurewitz, Founder and award-winning Trial Attorney at Jurewitz Law Group.

The reason Jurewitz is so committed to educating clients is because the focus of his firm isn’t just on delivering results.

“Although achieving a great result for our clients is important, and to some the most important metric, we believe that the client experience is just as important. We strive to help our clients through their injuries and the difficult litigation process to make it the best experience possible,” he says. “We want their experience with our firm to be great. We want them to feel like they had an excellent advocate, someone who made them feel good through the process.”

PEACE OF MIND THROUGH EDUCATION Jurewitz’s desire to become an attorney started young, when he was “a surfer and punk kid in Southern California, always 16

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 136, 2014

by Jennifer Hadley

trying to go against the grain,” he says. “The first time I can remember thinking that I wanted to be an attorney, I was about 10 years old. I don’t think I even knew why, but over the years I really enjoyed standing up for those who were picked on because they were weak. I admired those around me who did as well,” he recalls.

When he went to work early in his career alongside James Hoey, who became one of Jurewitz’s mentors, the decision to focus his efforts on personal injury was cemented. “I really enjoyed the mixture of being able to help someone who needed help due to no fault of their own, and the ability to fight against a bully in the form of an insurance company,” he says.

Jurewitz knew that learning all that he could through experience in the areas of case law and trial strategy was the only way to effectively beat the insurance companies. He also knew that he wanted to make sure his clients received not only excellent rewards for their injury, but that they were also well educated about the process they were about to embark on, so that the litigation experience would be as pleasant as possible.

Moreover, when Jurewitz decided to open his own firm in 2010, he decided that in addition to offering advocacy for personal injury victims, his firm would also offer clients help in securing Social Security Disability benefits if their injury resulted in a long-term or permanent disability.

ATTORNEY

OF THE MONTH

© Bauman Photographers

2014

© Bauman Photographers

The Jurewitz Law Group: Stacey O’Neill, Joshua Hernandez, Breanna Ybarra, Lee Jurewitz, Ross Jurewitz, Clarisa Hernandez, Margarita McDaniel, Elissa Croce, Hallie Vanoli

“Our typical personal injury client has significant or catastrophic injuries caused by someone else’s negligence. Most of our cases are auto/motorcycle/traffic accidents, but we also represent people injured in slip and fall accidents, workplace accidents, cruise ship accidents and accidents covered under the Jones Act on navigable waters. Our typical Social Security Disability client has undergone a catastrophic change of their life which has prevented them from working at all for at least one year, and possibly much longer into the future,” Jurewitz says.

At the initial meeting with clients, Jurewitz makes several things clear to his clients. “They are frustrated. They have often been bombarded by calls or letters. We let them know that the stress is no longer theirs. We take on the stress and their only job is to go to the doctor, to get their health back, and to try to get better,” he says. At the same time, he also offers them the resources to learn what their lawsuit will entail.

“We believe in educating our clients and prospective clients throughout the personal injury process with free books, white papers, and videos so that they can make informed decisions about the handling of their case and the case strategy involved. We have published a personal injury book and are in the process of publishing books about motorcycle accidents and Social Security Disability,” Jurewitz says. “That way they know why we are recommending what we are recommending and why we are using the strategy we are using. It all begins with why for us, because we want our clients to have a great experience with our office. We firmly believe that an informed and educated client is the best client.”

EXCELLENCE IN ASSISTING FELLOW ATTORNEYS “We are unique in that we are one of the few Personal Injury firms which also handles Social Security and Disability Claims,” 18

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 136, 2014

Jurewitz says. As a matter of fact, it is his wife, Lee Jurewitz, who heads up the firm’s Social Security Disability practice, where she and her team work diligently to get Social Security benefits approved for clients by personally guiding them throughout the long and trying process of negotiating the bureaucracy of the Social Security Administration.

Not surprisingly, as a result, Jurewitz says that his firm gets not only referrals for personal injury cases from fellow attorneys, but that they often come to the Jurewitz Law Group for help in this arena as well. “We have the resources and skills not only to achieve great results for victims, but to help them solve their problems or difficulties arising from their injuries.

For those who refer their personal injury clients for help due to long-term or permanent disability that would qualify them for Social Security Disability benefits, we make sure that their clients’ disability benefit needs are looked after and provide a sort of second opinion to clients to reassure them that their personal injury attorney is handling their case smartly,” Jurewitz says. “There is no better friend for a personal injury lawyer than another personal injury lawyer who supports their efforts and their strategy for their client.”

“We know the level of trust it takes for other attorneys to refer their friends, family, and clients to another attorney and we try our utmost to make sure that trust is repaid. We track the source of all client referrals and acknowledge the referral when the client contacts us. Throughout the handling of the client’s case, we can keep the referring attorney up to speed with the general stage of the case if desired, or we can simply wait until the end of the case and send a generous referral fee out of the blue. Attorneys are often surprised by our results and the amount of the corresponding referral fee, as we can often sew a purse out of a sow’s ear. Cases that are initially evaluated at $25,000 or less are often settled in the six figures,” he says.

PROVIDING EXCEPTIONAL CLIENT EXPERIENCES

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In addition to Jurewitz’s efforts to educate his clients before and during the litigation process, the firm is known for being one of the most technologically advanced firms of its size in San Diego. “We are constantly looking at how to incorporate technology into achieving greater results for our clients and delivering a better client experience. We were one of the first law offices in California to move to a paper-less office, and one of the first to adopt cloud capabilities for sharing case information with clients and experts. We are also adopting increased use of video-conferencing with clients and complete back-end sharing of case files with our clients through secure cloud portals,” Jurewitz says.

Furthermore, the Jurewitz Law Group also has two offices in San Diego. “We have an office Downtown and another in Carlsbad, so our law offices are always a convenient drive for our clients,” Jurewitz says.

Indeed, an exceptional client experience is so important to Jurewitz that he has intentionally sought out mentors and coaches to ensure that his practice is second to none when it comes to client service. “Ben Glass, a personal injury attorney and legal marketing guru in Fairfax, Virginia, opened my eyes to education-based marketing for clients. Ben harnessed and demonstrated to me something that I already believed was true: that an educated client is the best client and providing helpful information and education to the public is the best way to attract that type of client,” he explains.

Ross and Lee with their daughter, Ryan

Similarly, Jurewitz is grateful to have found a business coach who has helped his practice to thrive. “Samy Chong’s ability to read people and their motivations has helped tremendously in learning how to manage our expanding team of employees. Along with his ability to help with streamlining our production systems so that we can work even more efficiently and use our time to make the most of the time-intensive needs of our clients to build value into their cases, he also helps me to look at opportunities and problems from a whole different perspective. He forces me to look at situations differently and think about other options I never considered since our backgrounds are so different: I’m a lawyer, and he’s a Buddhist restaurateur,” Jurewitz chuckles.

“I work with Samy and a handful of very successful attorneys throughout California to hone our practices,” he adds.

Some of Jurewitz’s mentors are a little closer to home. “Since meeting in law school, my wife Lee has been my best friend and a sounding board in every major decision I have made in my practice and personal life. I tend to think strategically and am very determined to achieve my goals. Lee is more deliberative and patient about considering all information before making a decision. As the result, she balances me out and our clients greatly benefit.”

LEADING BY EXAMPLE IN COMMUNITY ENDEAVORS Despite having a busy practice with a 3:1 ratio of staff supporting the firm’s attorneys, and having two San Diego offices, Jurewitz Law Group still finds time to lend support

Contact: Ross Jurewitz Jurewitz Law Group www.jurewitz.com raj@jurewitz.com (888) 233-5020 San Diego: 600 B Street, Suite 1550 San Diego, CA 92101 Carlsbad: 701 Palomar Airport Road #300 Carlsbad, California 92011 20

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 136, 2014

EXPERIENCE © Bauman Photographers

to various organizations, as well as taking on pro bono cases for injured children. “We are the only law firm in California that offers to represent children injured in auto accidents for free through our Free Lawyers for Kids Program,” Jurewitz says.

Likewise, Jurewitz is a founding member and advisor for Teens Against Distracted Driving, which is a nationwide association of lawyers who educate teens about the dangers of driving while distracted.

Finally, the Jurewitz Law Group chooses a charity each quarter to contribute their time and money towards. These have included the San Diego Brain Injury foundation, Sports for Exceptional Athletes, the San Diego Food Bank, and local beach cleanups throughout San Diego County. The Susan G. Komen Foundation also receives a great deal of time and money from the Jurewitz Law Group, as Jurewitz’s wife, Lee is a breast cancer survivor. “Lee was diagnosed in 2012 and has gone through extensive treatment and reconstruction for her cancer. Having watched what she went through emotionally, mentally and physically has been amazing to me. Her strength and determination to get through her illness is inspiring and leaves me awestruck,” he says.

As far as the future is concerned for Jurewitz and his rapidly growing practice, it looks like new offices will soon be appearing on the horizon. “We are looking to strengthen our presence in North County, South Orange County and South Riverside County with offices in those areas. Our Social Security Disability practice is also continuing to grow, allowing us to handle more client cases, and to have a more national presence,” he says.

And of course, for Jurewitz, an admitted “huge University of Texas Longhorns sports fan,” the possibility always exists to open another office in Austin, Texas. In the meantime, Jurewitz plans to continue helping his clients throughout greater San Diego, and making sure there is time to give back to his team, his community and his family, which also includes his 4-year-old daughter, Ryan. “Lee and I love to travel, and the frequency of our travel increased after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

It was a reminder not to put off important goals until later,” he says. “Fortunately, today she is doing great and so is our firm.” n

» EDUCATION • J.D., Washington College of Law, American University, Washington, DC, 2000 • B.A., Political Science, University of California, San Diego, 1997 • Minor: Law & Society

» AWARDS • TIME Magazine: Leaders in Personal Injury Law (March 18, 2013) • Newsweek®: Nationwide Leaders in Auto Accident Law (September 3, 2012) • Million Dollar Advocates Forum

» ASSOCIATIONS • San Diego County Bar Association • Consumer Attorneys of San Diego • Consumer Attorneys of California • North County Bar Association • American Bar Association • American Association for Justice (formerly ATLA)

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 136, 2014

21

Full Spectrum

STRATEGY Laura Kass-Moreno’s years of litigation and transactional experience provide the creative, strategic bandwidth needed to successfully mediate cases to resolution

by Jennifer Hadley “What others see as an impasse, I view as a challenge and address the issues from a variety of perspectives—never giving up or losing hope that we might still reach a resolution. By asking creative and thought-provoking questions, I examine the possible range of monetary awards, the probability of obtaining such an award at trial, the time and expense required to arrive at such an outcome, the present value of money and weighing the benefits of a mediated resolution today, against the prospect of leaving the dispute to fester, with costs and emotions escalating in the interim, pending resolution on a later date in another forum,” says Laura Kass-Moreno, mediator with The National Conflict Resolution Center.

If it sounds like Kass-Moreno has a comprehensive understanding of disputes, and unique approach to mediation, that’s because she does. A mediator, mentor and instructor for NCRC for the last 15 years, suffice it to say, she’s successfully resolved countless cases, using her broad view perspective.

Interestingly, what many people didn’t know was that when KassMoreno first began her mediation practice in San Diego in 1999, she came armed with 8 years of complex business, construction, real estate and professional liability litigation. That preceded an additional 9 years of experience in transactional entertainment law, handling labor and employment matters, securities filings and compliance issues, supervision of shareholder lawsuits, mergers and acquisitions, financing, and the acquisition, protection and licensing of intellectual property.

Creativity as Keystone “I always wanted to be a lawyer,” says Kass-Moreno. “I am not

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sure why, but it was always the career I wanted,” she adds. As such, Kass-Moreno graduated from New England School of Law in 1981. “I came to Southern California after my last law school final and before my formal graduation. Through a friend of my sister, I was introduced to the law firm of Friedeman & Menke in Orange County and was offered a position 2 days after my interview. I did not go back to Boston for my graduation—I went to Disneyland instead,” she recalls with a chuckle.

Kass-Moreno admits she was something of an anomaly in her field at the time. “There weren’t a lot of women practicing in my field of law, but I was fortunate to receive tremendous mentorship and training. I was sitting second chair in a trial in my first year,” she says. Kass-Moreno would later go on to join Murchison & Cumming in Los Angles, where she would ultimately meet her husband, Ken Moreno, now Senior Partner at Murchison & Cumming in San Diego.

After 8 years of civil litigation practice, Kass-Moreno was ready to put her experience to use in a new, but complimentary arena. Kass-Moreno explains, “I transitioned into being the first in-house counsel for NTN Communication, Inc., a pioneer in multi-platform, interactive gaming. I was responsible for negotiating, drafting and implementing agreements with vendors, licensees, and licensors including the NFL, MLB, HBO and major hospitality venues. I was able to develop positive relationships by exploring the particular needs and interests of the contracting parties, rather than focusing on positions and demands. Who better to put contracts together than someone like me who had a lot of experience understanding why partnerships and contracts fell apart?”

JOURNAL

FEATURED MEDIATOR

OF THE MONTH

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2014

After nearly 20 years of work as a practicing attorney in Orange County and Los Angeles, Kass-Moreno had seen one chief problem arise time after time. “Whether it’s civil litigation or even as in-house counsel, people are arguing over the same things. It’s money, terms, conditions, demands, but there are always underlying issues,” she says. So when it was suggested to her by Judges Adrienne and Michael Orfield that she consider mediation so she could use her strategic thinking,

negotiating skills and relationship—building abilities to help others identify those underlying issues, and resolve them; she went for it.

Strategic Solutions “Mediation affords the parties with the unique opportunity to customize a resolution that meets their particular interests.

I enjoy working with the parties and their counsel to arrive Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 136, 2014

23

Laura with husband of 26 years, Ken Moreno.

at creative solutions where it seemed that no resolution was possible. As a mediator, I am much more than a conduit for offers and counteroffers between the parties,” she explains.

Continuing, Kass-Moreno says, “From the outset of the process, I strive to establish a relationship of trust and inspire the confidence of the attorneys and their clients. I treat even the most challenging personalities with courtesy, understanding and respect. I believe it is essential to preserve the dignity of each party and acknowledge the contribution of counsel. My goal is to gain a better understanding of core elements of their respective claims and unmask the undisclosed, underlying interests. If one strategy doesn’t result in movement by the parties, I change direction and pursue another inquiry.”

By way of example, Kass-Moreno successfully mediated the controversial matter between representatives for the Children’s Pool in La Jolla, and the Animal Rights Protection League where the parties had temporary restraining orders against each other.

“The Animal Rights activists established a presence to protect the seals and their young pups from outside human intrusion. The advocates for the Children’s Pool felt their rights had been violated in that the area had been expressly bequeathed to these swimmers,” she explains. In the end, Kass-Moreno was able to help the parties to reach a “detailed, concrete resolution which made it possible for these highly competing interests to co-exist in peace.”

Hard Work as Way of Life Kass-Moreno has realized tremendous success, and satisfaction from her mediation practice, despite the fact that it took San Diego attorneys a while to become familiar with her. “Nobody knew me, or knew I had been a litigator,” she says. She says she built her practice largely by word-of-mouth referrals from 24

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 136, 2014

attorneys she worked with and those who attended the NCRC training seminars she taught. Once she began to carve a name for herself, it was her hard work which kept attorneys returning, and referring her to still others.

“I work hard. I use every effort to settle a dispute, leaving no issues outstanding and making sure all parties sign a settlement agreement so the deal is done before concluding the mediation.

I am on many of the panels at NCRC and have mediated cases as part of nearly all of these panels. The cases that I find most rewarding are those involving challenging and complex issues, ranging from business disputes, employment matters, intellectual property claims, a wide variety of real estate issues, claims involving homeowner’s associations to personal injury cases and professional malpractice.”

As far as the future is concerned, Kass-Moreno has no intentions to transition out of mediation, or end her work as a mentor of the credential program at NCRC. “I have the pleasure of working closely with candidates to help them improve their mediation skills,” she says. “And of course I’m a huge proponent of the mediation process. As long as the parties are talking, there is hope for resolution and it is up to me to facilitate meaningful negotiations, and provide the opportunity for creative solutions.” n Contact: Laura Kass-Moreno National Conflict Resolution Center www.ncrconline.com lkassmoreno@gmail.com (619) 977-5208 625 Broadway, Suite 1221 San Diego, CA 92101

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 136, 2014 7/12/13 25 5:04 PM

How to Increase Your Law Practice Cash Flow by Helping Your Clients Choose Their Own Fees

by Alexis Neely

CAUTION! A Management Buyout May Not Be the Way to Sell Your Company

by Roger Neu

You own your business and have been agonizing over having to go through a marketing and sale process and then not knowing what will happen to your employees. Then, what you believe to be the perfect solution appears right inside of your organization. A key manager or group of managers has approached you with the proposition of buying the business. The discussion then centers on how you can avoid having to take the company to market and how management’s purchase will provide certainty for the ongoing employment of your employees.

Well, nothing could be further from the truth. One of the first things management will say is that they can come up with at least 25% of the purchase price. Let’s use a $50M sale price which means they would provide $12.5M. TRANSLATION: 26

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 136, 2014

Roger Neu is both a CPA and an attorney with over thirty (30) years of experience in mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) of privately held companies. Mr. Neu’s extensive experience in the M&A field, combined with his accounting and tax background and experience and training at Price Waterhouse, provide a solid base for planning and structuring mergers and acquisitions. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Roger_Neu .

“Management believes that a bank will lend them $12.5M against the assets of the company.” So what management is really doing is the same thing that any buyer would do, which is using your assets to obtain senior debt from a bank for a portion of the purchase price. They are not putting their own money into the deal as equity.

Since the managers have little or no funds they will now take it upon themselves to go to the market to find private equity funds and mezzanine lenders to fund the balance of the transaction. TRANSLATION: “You are not avoiding taking the company to market, but have, in fact, put the marketing process into the hands of management instead of controlling the process yourself.” Numerous articles have been written over the years that address the inherent conflict that exists when the person that is marketing the company (management) is the same person that is buying the company (management). Two key problems arise. First, management has no incentive to get investor groups to put a high value on the company because it will reduce the percentage that management can retain. A

$50M value may require an equity investment of $20M. If management has $4M to invest and outside investors add equity of $16M, management only gets a 20% interest. If, however, the total price is $40M with only a $10M equity requirement, the investor equity would only need to be $6M and management would retain 40% of the Company. Second, a quasi-fund raising and marketing campaign by the managers will pollute the buyer pool in numerous ways that will be detrimental to a future sale if management is not successful.

The managers will assure you that they will be the ones doing the heavy lifting to get the deal done and it won’t be at all onerous for you. TRANSLATION: “Instead of putting their full attention on running the company, management will now be busy trying to organize their own buyer group and trying to put funding in place. In addition, you and the company will have to do all the same work (and usually more) in providing due diligence information to various private equity groups and lenders.” No investor is going to provide $50,000,000 in funding without putting you through all the paces.

Management will also be in for some surprises. Management told you how they are going to purchase the company and protect the employees. TRANSLATION: “He who has the money rules and if management is not putting up a significant portion of the equity, management will not control the company.” The investors will control the company and will operate it to obtain the highest rate of return without regard to retaining all of the employees.

You, however, could be in for the biggest surprise of all! Even if you do sell to management, what is to prevent them from reselling the company in six months, one year or whenever? So, even if management, by some unusual set of circumstances, actually did acquire control, they could resell in a short period of time to a totally unrelated party and the guarantee for your employees and your continuing legacy that you thought you had will no longer exist. Management could even double escrow the deal. While putting together management’s financial backing at the $50M price management may be negotiating a follow on sale transaction at a higher price.

You were probably told that the management buyout would also avoid the probability of letting the world know that you are for sale. To the contrary, since many people will have to be part of the management buyout process, it is much more likely that your employees and the rest of the world will know that you have put a “for sale” sign on the business. It is much easier to maintain confidentiality in a well-run marketing process.

If the issues noted above are not already sufficiently concerning, this should get your attention. “You will be negotiating against your management in the buyer/seller process.” Negotiations can get intense and generally the management side will be trying to satisfy numerous parties including lenders, private equity groups and each of the individual interests of each manager. Some hard feelings in the context of a completed management buyout may be OK, but “some hard feelings” can turn into blatant animosity if you should decide that management’s final package is not adequate and their deal falls through. Now when you get ready to go to market you will be doing so without one of your most valuable assets, which is a motivated manager or management team. Management will also have expended a great deal of energy in trying to pull their deal together and will have a very limited appetite (and even less enthusiasm) for wanting to go back through another sale process.

Proceed with a great deal of caution (if you want to proceed at all) if your manager or management team wants to try to buy your company. It is something that sounds good and you want it to be true, but it generally isn’t true. If, however, the owner is intent on pursuing a management buyout, the advice of an M&A Law Firm will be your best ally in maneuvering through all of the minefields and giving you the best possibility of closing a transaction on satisfactory terms and conditions. n Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 136, 2014

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10

SAFETY TIPS for Law Firms, Attorneys and Legal Professionals

Violence committed by clients against attorneys and legal professionals is real. It happens in small towns and big cities, and in small and large legal practices. Some practice areas are more volatile than others, such as divorce and family law, dispute resolution, employment law and real estate litigation.

Particularly in a bad economy with high unemployment, tempers are short and more people reach levels of desperation.

While dramatic cases like shootings at law firms make headlines, the majority of security incidents among attorneys and staff are unreported because they involve harassment and lowerlevel threats. In the privacy of attorney-client meetings, emotional and sometimes irrational individuals lash out at their lawyers.

Money is often at the heart of disputes and many attorneys are confronted with disagreements about their billable hours. Clients become upset and irate about how their case is proceeding or the outcome of a case. Meetings that involve elevated voices and foul language can be the precursor to a physical altercation.

Receptionists and other staff in law firms also encounter angry, hostile clients. Although experienced receptionists have a thick skin and are sometimes trained in how to manage harassment by clients and opposing parties, there are situations when they are truly threatened and in danger.

Law practice management should include systems and procedures that ensure workplace safety and violence prevention for attorneys and staff. All law office employees should acquire the skills to recognize and manage threatening, potentially dangerous individuals. Client-facing legal professionals need tools to protect themselves and prevent early-stage situations from escalating into major, dangerous events.

Here are 10 safety tips for attorneys and legal staff.

1. Create a safe work environment for receptionists. Ensure receptionists have a clear view of the office entry way with little opportunity for people to sneak in or hide, particularly doors, elevators, and all traffic flow. Design the front desk to provide a barrier between receptionists and clients but also allow easy escape. Delineate a clear understanding of where clients are allowed to be in the lobby and front desk area.

Remove office objects from the front desk that are potential weapons and keep them stored in drawers or cabinets— staplers, scissors and letter openers. Keep computer screens and family photos away from public view.

2. Establish safe meeting areas for clients and attorneys. Safe areas can include windows to allow co-workers to see 28

Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 136, 2014

by Johnny Lee what is occurring inside but still maintain confidentiality.

Meeting areas should have two entrances so attorneys and staff can avoid being cornered. Before entering meeting rooms with potentially threatening clients, remove potential weapons from them.

3. Install security technology. Technology helps protect employees, reduces the severity of incidents and provides ways to quickly respond to situations. Consider installing buzzer doors that allow entry only after verification of the visitor. Provide panic buttons for attorneys, receptionists and other staff to discreetly notify others of a potentially dangerous situation before it escalates. Cameras and adequate lighting also help deter assailants.

4. Train all attorneys and staff how to handle angry clients.

Defusing skills and knowing how to de-escalate hostile behavior are essential for attorneys and client-facing employees. Listening skills, redirecting negative behavior, setting boundaries and assault awareness are all acquired skills that should be continually honed with training and practice. There are many free online resources and security consultants who provide these services.

5. Establish a workplace violence policy and procedures. These should include clear instructions on how employees can report any concerns. Just as important as the method of reporting is an environment where all employees feel safe and supported. A danger that occurs in all workplaces, including law offices, is domestic violence spillover. When employees face domestic violence threats they must feel comfortable enough to inform their manager about embarrassing, private matters.

6. Provide employee assistance programs. Employee issues also arise from within a law practice. Human resources should provide support programs to employees with disciplinary issues or personal problems. This type of support helps prevent acts of violence and helps create a stronger, healthier workplace.

7. Develop risk and threat assessments. When a threat by a client emerges or is identified, a law office needs a process to determine the likelihood and severity of the threat. A process that gathers information, collects and reviews evidence and weighs warning signs is part of a good threat management system. Connections and relationships with local law enforcement and security professionals are paramount to risk

analysis. Front desk personnel should be given descriptions of the threat with safety instructions should identified individuals arrive at the law firm.

8. Utilize legal resources to increase employee protection.

Workplace restraining orders and trespass orders can always be obtained. Misdemeanor charges such as telephone harassment, stalking or property damage can be levied to create a paper trail for a threat, and the charges warn the individual not to harass legal professionals pending the trial. Many states also have a victim notification system that automatically calls any phone number once a person is released from jail.

9. Establish emergency response procedures. Should a threat ever become a reality, emergency response procedures help prevent a bad situation from becoming a complete catastrophe. A system that notifies all employees, has escape and lockdown procedures and support mechanisms for emergency response personnel are all components of crisis management.

10. Coordinate and communicate with neighboring businesses. It is important neighboring businesses are aware of potentially threatening, dangerous individuals. When a man bent on killing an attorney opens fire, anyone in the vicinity can be a target. Not only can emergency management be coordinated, but the surveillance of individuals and potential risks is increased through such community partnerships.

Law firms committed to workplace security ensure safe workplaces through the design of their facilities and the implementation of accessible, sophisticated technology. They train attorneys and employees in basic security skills to help mitigate hostile encounters.

Conscientious law firms provide support for employees in need and establish an environment where their concerns can be disclosed. Safe law firms establish and practice threat and emergency management procedures that are vital in maintaining a safe workplace. While shootings in law firms are rare, the much more common hostile encounters with clients are sometimes warning signs that should be taken seriously.

These safety tips provide a general framework for establishing a safer law office, but the key requirement is to recognize threats against attorneys and legal professionals are real and can happen anywhere. n Johnny Lee is president of ePanic Button and director of Peace at Work. ePanic Button is a PC-based panic button and incident notification system that helps protect front line employees and prevent early-stage situations from escalating into major, dangerous events. He was previously the Workplace Violence Specialist for the Office of State Personnel in Raleigh, North Carolina, Training Director for the UNC-Chapel Hill Injury Prevention Research Center’s PREVENT program, and Victim Services Coordinator for the Asheville, North Carolina Police Department. For more information on Attorneys, Law Firms and ePanic Button visit: http:// epanicbutton.com/law-firms-attorneys-and-legal-professionals.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7290693

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Attorney Journal San Diego | Volume 136, 2014

29

ANALYTICS The Ally Law Firm Leaders Need

by Norm LaCroix

DO YOU KNOW WHAT (AND WHO) DRIVES THE PROFITABILITY OF YOUR FIRM? CAN YOU DISTINGUISH AMONG THE CLIENTS THAT TRULY MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO THE BOTTOM LINE AND THOSE THAT MERELY ADD “NOISE” TO THE TOP LINE? While you may know who the biggest revenue producers in your firm are, do you know which among them make the most meaningful contributions to the bottom line? Can you measure the impact of changes to multiple key performance indicators, your drivers of success? Can you provide real and timely insight for decision making based on those performance indicators? Are you able to access a full range of data and information when you want it, totally independent of an already burdened IT organization? Can you or your team respond in minutes to the myriad of ad hoc requests for information from all sides of the organization?

If you can’t answer yes to these questions, there is almost certainly a serious information gap that exists between actual business performance and timely actionable measures needed to drive strategic solutions, which needs to be bridged.

The professional services industry, and legal in particular, has undergone dramatic change, and market dynamics everywhere have been altered in a lasting way. Competitive pressures, more cost-sensitive and better informed clients, rising expenses and static fees have challenged law firms as never before. These changes have driven the need for integration of analytics and business intelligence management tools into the business process of professional service firms in order to be able to access truly relevant data, discover real knowledge, make informed decisions and take the actions necessary to provide a meaningful competitive advantage, improve service to clients and potentially enhance profitability.

The embrace of business intelligence and analytics as an embedded management tool, however, requires a mindset that not all law firm leaders, practitioners or managers embrace, or even understand. It requires a re-set at all levels of the

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organization and needs to be an investment priority in much the same way it has become in the corporate world. Given the proliferation of user-focused BI tools in the marketplace today, that investment is modest, however, compared with the historical “IT-centric BI platforms for large-scale systems” according to the Gartner Group, which “have tended to be highly governed and centralized, where IT production reports were pushed out to managers and knowledge workers.” While ad-hoc querying and other analytic tools have been available, “they were never really fully embraced by the business analyst masses, primarily because they are perceived by most as being too difficult to use,” the Gartner report adds.

In recent years, as a result, demand for user-friendly BI tools has shifted the focus of platform emphasis from “ITauthored production reporting, to governed, business-userdriven data discovery and analysis,” the report adds. So today, there is little reason for law firm management not to join their corporate client colleagues in the use of the most sophisticated business analytical tools to better manage the business of law. n Norm LaCroix has more than 20 years of experience in the legal industry. As a senior executive of one of the world’s leading law firms, Norm was responsible for the management, development and profitable growth of the firm.

He increased profitability by integrating business intelligence and analytical tools into the management of the broadbased business activities of the firm. For more information, visit decisionanalyticsgroup.com. Article Source: http:// EzineArticles.com/8347503

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