(to fully enjoy the passage, click on the title and launch in your Facebook)

The Passover Seder, the oldest continuously observed religious ceremony in the world, tells the story of the Jews’ Exodus from Egypt. Jewish tradition says that people of each generation must imagine that they personally had departed from Egypt, and the sages say that each generation must tell the story in its own terms.

The sages probably did not intend this.

Moses is Departing Egypt: A Facebook Haggadah

Joseph is going to Egypt.

Joseph and Pharaoh are now friends.

Elijah is a bit tipsy, but off to a good start. 30,000 households down, and it’s only 6:30!

Pharaoh is sad to report that my father has entered immortality. I have taken his place in government and will do my best to honor his name.

Joseph Congratulations to you, my master.
Pharaoh Who are you, and why are you writing on my wall?
Joseph I meant no disrespect, my master.
Advisor He is an Israelite. There are many of them. I do not know whether they are with us or against us.
Pharaoh Let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they join with our enemies in time of war.

Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah finally figured out why we’re supposed to tell the story of the exodus at night. It’s because it says “all the days of your life!”

Ben Zoma Huh?
Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah You see “Days of your life” means days only, but “ALL the days of your life” means nights, too.
Ben Zoma Oh, I always thought that referred to after the coming of the Messiah.
Pharaoh sent The Israelites Bread of Affliction.

The Israelites This stuff tastes awful.
The Israelites This year are we slaves, next year may we be free!

25 things you didn’t know about me by God
1. Guilty pleasure: Smiting people.
2. I had another universe once, it was so much better than this one. But I got really wasted one night and lost it in a game of craps. 🙁 I’m never doing that again.
3. In my old universe, the really cool one, the dominant species was a race of hyper-intelligent beetles. It was so cool. Unfortunately, when I lost that universe I also lost the beetles-as-master-race patent, so now I have to settle for primates.
4. I picked up this universe at a 50%-off sale. I thought I was getting a bargain. But as soon as I took it out of the box at home, I figured out why: space and time are both a bit bent in places, and most of the mass is missing. I wish I had saved the receipt.
More
Pharaoh has taken the Which god are you? quiz. Pharaoh is Ra, the Sun god. Ra represents light, warmth and growth.

The Israelites has used Yes We Conserve to pledge to Seal and caulk air outlets.

The Israelites We might as well use extra straw to keep out the hot desert air.

Pharaoh has posted an Album: Construction of Pithom and Raamses.

The Israelites I’m the 432nd slave from the right!
Bernie Madoff The pyramid scheme is a good concept, but you need to think bigger.

Elijah is feeling very harried. 3 million houses left, and it’s already 7:30!

Hillel sent You sandwich.

Youngest son Why is this night different from all other nights?

Parent What do you mean?
Youngest son Well, there’s the drink-four-times thing, and the matzah thing, and the dip in salt-water thing. What’s up with that?

The Israelites has written a note on God’s Wall: We’re suffering! See See Wall to Wall

Rabbi Yehoshua Had a few too many at dinner and spent the whole night at Akiva’s arguing about the Exodus.

Rabbi Tarfon My head hurts.

God has written a note on The Israelites’ Wall: Yeah, I see. Listen, sit tight, and I’ll think of something. See See Wall to Wall

Moses has taken the Which god are you? quiz. Moses is Osiris, God of the Dead. Dressed in white flannel gown, Osiris ruled over the Egyptians and taught them farming.

God Note to self: This is getting really annoying. I have got to add a Commandment outlawing this stupid Which God Are You Quiz. I think I’ll word it broadly so that no one can possibly misunderstand my intentions, and I’ll put it right up front where they can’t possibly miss it.

God has written a note on Moses’ Wall: Moses, stop wasting time and do something about this whole slavery thing. See See Wall to Wall

Pharaoh has used Yes We Conserve to pledge to Use dryer less.

Pharaoh This is a no brainer, as I live in a desert. Also, dryers haven’t been invented yet.

Moses has written a note on God’s Wall: Er, me? See See Wall to Wall

God sent Moses burning bush.
God has written a note on Moses’ Wall: Yeah, you. See See Wall to Wall

Moses has written a note on Pharaoh’s Wall: Let my people go! See See Wall to Wall

Mark Zuckerberg You see? It’s all about the social graph. Israel talks to God talks to Moses talks to Pharaoh. There must be some way to make money off of this.

God Aren’t you the CEO of Facebook? Listen, the old version was so much better. Tell your engineers to bring it back.
Mark Zuckerberg Actually, I’d like to stick with the new one for now.
God I’m sick of seeing all these quizzes! I command you to bring back the old one!

Mark Zuckerberg is fleeing to Tarshish.

Pharaoh has written a note on Moses’ Wall: Up yours! See See Wall to Wall

Mark Zuckerberg and a whale are now friends.

Moses has used Yes We Conserve to pledge to Use trees to control sun and shade.

Moses Back in my day job as a shepherd (which I still hope to return to some day), a few strategically planted trees made all the difference in the world on a hot day.

Elijah is sloshed

God sent Pharaoh a plague: blood.

Advisor No big deal. Our magicians can do that, too.
Pharaoh OK. Whatever.

Pharaoh has written a note on God’s Wall: Nice try. I’m not impressed. The Israelites stay. See See Wall to Wall

God sent Pharaoh 9 more plagues.

Advisor Uh-oh. These are the fingers of God!
Pharaoh OK, I give. 10 plagues is enough.
Rabbi Jose The Galilean Which means that when God later smote them at the Red Sea with his hand, they got 50 plagues.
Rabbi Eliezer No, I think it means 200, since each plague was sent with fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble.
Rabbi Akiva Dude, you missed a comma. Fierceness was its own plague. So that’s five plagues per finger, or a total of 250 plagues.
Pharaoh Will you guys stop running up the score?! You already won! Just stop!

Pharaoh has written a note on The Israelites’ Wall: Get out of here! See See Wall to Wall

Moses has written a note on The Israelites’ Wall: Quickly, people! Just grab everything and go! See See Wall to Wall

The Israelites But what about the bread? We’re in the middle of this great recipe.
Moses Just grab what you can and go! Now!

The Israelites has posted an Album: Fleeing from the Egyptians.

Elijah 100 times as many houses to visit, and presents to lug around, too. How does Santa do it?

Santa Claus We young folks have all the energy! 🙂

Elijah has used Yes We Conserve to pledge to Power chariot by magic horses instead of internal combustion engine.

The Israelites has written a note on Moses’ Wall: Um, there’s a lot of water in front of us, and a bunch of angry Egyptians behind us. Any ideas? See See Wall to Wall

Moses has written a note on God’s Wall: Er, over to you. Any ideas? See See Wall to Wall

God has written a note on Moses’ Wall: Stretch out thy rod over the waters. See See Wall to Wall

Moses is crossing the Red Sea.

The Israelites has posted an Album: Fishes of the deep.

Pharaoh has written a note on The Israelites’ Wall: Now I’ve got you right where I want you!! See See Wall to Wall

Pharaoh is very wet

Elijah is just about ready to call it a night. This gets harder every year.

Pharaoh and Satan are now friends.

God has used Yes We Conserve to pledge to Run sun on nuclear fusion instead of natural gas.

God This way, I can save enough energy to prevent the Earth from.. oh wait, never mind.

God sent The Israelites a Torah.

God Just so you know, the one I wrote for the hyper-intelligent beetles was so much cooler. I miss them. Sigh.

Here endeth the Seder.

This year our ceremony still contains some time for reflection, and some ability to remain on the same topic for more than a minute or two. But next year, may our ceremony be faster, divided into bite-sized chunks, and with each utterance no more than 140 characters. And so we say together,

NEXT YEAR IN TWITTER

I left Big (trying to be Mega-) law several years ago for a much smaller (75 attorneys) boutique. I’ve never been happier.

Personally, I find the Big Law model to be broken. Year after year, I would see rates go up, and partners hit a wall with what their clients would pay. Good partners, with healthy practices, would leave in pursuit of a smaller platform where they could reduce not only their rates, but, more importantly, the rates of their associates.

The news this week remains the same from Big Law: more law firm layoffs, summer class reductions and fall class deferments.

At LMA’s annual conference last week one thing was obvious: Big Law wasn’t well represented. In today’s tightened market, is it wise to leave the business developers and marketing mavens home while your competitors are brainstorming with the likes of James Carville and Mary Matalin?

I just flipped through the Attendee Roster provided by LMA. Only 35 AmLaw 100 firms were represented. Unfortunately, an overwhelming majority (23) of the firms sent only 1-2 people. And, only eight sent five or more people. A total of 87 representatives from the AmLaw 100 attended the conference.

Yet time and again, I met senior marketers from smaller, non-AmLaw firms. We sat around discussing the opportunities the economy is affording our firms. I met marketers from around the country who were there to take in the rich and dynamic content LMA had to offer.

For instance, I attended the Senior Marketers program on Wednesday. In my break-out session there were 20 marketers. Only two people in the room came from a firm sized 100 attorneys or more. Yet, they were there learning strategic planning lessons from Mary K. Young at Zeughauser. What an incredible opportunity.

In today’s Above the Law post, When Clients Bite Back, I find the sentiment is shared. We, the smaller firms, are in the driver’s seat:

“DuPont and other clients, hit by the recession, are pressing firms for fixed fees or 10 to 25 percent discounts, industry consultants said. Lower overhead of smaller firms, such as 210-lawyer Hiscock & Barclay LLP, permit them to charge less than DLA Piper LLP or Latham & Watkins LLP, which have thousands of lawyers. Partners at smaller firms charge $500 to $600 an hour as top fees compared with as much as $1,000 at large New York firms.”

That’s all this industry needs, clients figuring out that they can get quality legal work for half the price.

What would a conference in DC be like without a political speaker or two? Now, imagine if those speakers did not share on politics, but on what we love … communications.

James Carville and Mary Matalin hit a home run with the Legal Marketing Association’s audience last Thursday with their keynote address: “Changing How You Brand.”



It appears that whether you are a Democrat or Republican, a “mega law” lawyer or solo practitioner, no matter what industry you are in, today is a unique time to communicate a message, and we have fewer resources to do it.

Ms. Matalin hit home with her observation that the old adage that perceptions are reality is no longer true … reality is reality.

We are faced with a tough economic reality in both politics and the legal/business community that we need to operate within. We no longer have the luxury of creating a perception … we live in the reality of a recession and tough economic times.

She emphasizes that we, the communicators, need to be brought into the strategy sessions at the beginning, not after the crisis hits. We need to be part of the team, crafting the messages.

Mr. Carville pointed out, to the pleasure of the crowd, that as communicators “we’re not paid by the word, but by the thought.”

Speak to Human Nature

As communicators, we need to speak to human nature, the human mind. We need to have a story to tell. We need to keep it simple. And repeat it often.

The message, no matter what it is, must lend itself to a narrative. A point driven home by Mr. Carville who pointed out that the principles of effective communication are universal.

Simplicity, relevance and repetition. Exclusivity.

  • Relevance of the message to the people you’re communicating to.
  • The less you say, the more you hear.
  • What can you say that the other guy can’t?

The simplicity of the message is the key to communicating it. The problem with the current administration and the economic crisis is that few people understand “derivatives” or “toxic assets.” However, it was easy to communicate and understand Bush’s “War on Terror” or Reagan’s “The Bomb.”

How would Carville brand today’s law firm??

An audience member asked how Mr. Carville would brand today’s law firm. Without skipping a beat he came up with the following:

Tomorrow is not going to look like yesterday. Everything is going to taste different when this is all over. We’re never going back. Law firm message should be that we’re innovators. We’re taking you to the world that is going to exist. We’re ready, we’re prepared. Our competition is suited to a 2006 world; we’re suited to a 2016 world.

Back in 1977, Bates v. Arizona paved the way for legal marketing as a concept, industry and career for many of us.

The concept of free speech, while a cornerstone of our society, seems to be lost on the law. It has been tossed aside again and again because, for some reason, lawyers and the law are “different” than plumbers, electricians, auto-mechanics and others who sell services that we “unsophisticated” consumers purchase.

And now the latest law suit in defense of free speech has been filed. AVVO, love them or hate them, might break down another wall. Their Web site allows for client testimonials, which are banned by the Florida Bar Association.

According to The National Law Journal, “Public Citizen’s suit argues that the Florida Bar Association’s rules violate attorneys’ free speech by holding them accountable for client posts on Web sites that the attorneys don’t control.”

It will be interesting to see where the law suit goes. I, for one, am rooting for free speech!

This year I had a choice: To LMA or not??

For the first time since 1998, I am not on an LMA Committee, local board, or the International Board of Directors. My program (which was AWESOME, by the way) was rejected by the conference committee, so I was flexible on whether to attend the LMA national conference or another program this year.

I chose to attend LMA’s annual conference because I found their program to be far superior than any other conference I had seen.

And I have not been disappointed.

While the economy has affected the attendance, and maybe they had to economize on the Gala tonight, the speakers and programming have remained intact, top notch, and relevant to today’s technology, economy and business trends.

Between the Scenario Planning session yesterday, and the Matalin/Carville keynote address today, I have received my firm’s money’s worth.

Like many LMA members, I am Tweeting live, you can follow me @heathermilligan, or to get a full conference report, #LMA.

I’ll get some posts up as soon as I can, but really, I have not wanted to miss a moment of the sessions, the networking, and the exhibit hall.

Kudos to our conference committee, especially John Hellerman, for whom I have a newfound affinity and Doug Hoover, who takes my feedback with the sincerity in which it is given, for pulling together what I believe to be our best conference to date (and I’m saying that privately as well).

Yes, I wanted to go to the Legal Marketing Conference. And, yes, I would have loved to go to the ABA Techshow, too. Instead, I’m at work at my computer alternating between two rooms (#LMA and #techshow) on Tweetchat and commenting where I can. It does makes me feel better in a virtual world to be participatory. Listening is good, too. But if you don’t use Twitter, you won’t have a clue.

Remember the Cluetrain Manifesto: Markets are conversations. Conversations on Twitter are soundbites – or rather, writebites at 140 characters or less.

This morning at the LMA conference, James Carville, the king of soundbites, was the keynote speaker. Here’s a taste of what my colleagues twittered:

LindsayGriffith Carville – simplicity, relevance & repetition #LMAabout 1 hour ago from TwitterFon

heathermilligan Relevance of the message to the people. Less you say, the more you hear. #lmaabout 1 hour ago from Twittelator

nancymyrland #LMA James Carville: Find out what you can say that others can’t. What can we market that our competitors can’t?

heathermilligan Carville can live life, raise kids, on a sound bite. “love your neighbor as you love yourself.” a whole religions was built on that. #LMA about 1 hour ago from Twittelator

LindsayGriffith Then, once you find that, keep driving that point home – Carville #LMA about 1 hour ago from TwitterFon

michaelzukewich RT @SonnyCohen: Carville is a natural born Tweeter. I’m counting 48 one liners all under 140 char. Consistent w/his message of simplify #LMA

What are we learning here? Tell a story, be clear, and repeat…Repetition, repetition, reputation. The medium is still the message.

Meanwhile, at the ABA Techshow on Tweetchat:

kevinokeefe Legal profession makes trending topics on Twitter with #techshow http://twitpic.com/2pwbg9 minutes ago from TweetDeck

matthomann RT @jordan_law21 “#techshow now at #4 on Trending Topics. Let’s get to #1 before this session ends!”11 minutes ago from Twittelator

jordan_law21 #techshow Someone asked a question by raising their hand and speaking. Old school.29 minutes ago from web

TomMighell I am tweeting directly from the podium at #TECHSHOW29 minutes ago from TweetDeck

What are we learning here? Constant innovation is the key to relevancy.

You can reach me @SusanLWard

I for one think there are WAY too many conferences out there this year. After reviewing all of the agendas, speakers and networking opportunities of each, I settled on The Legal Marketing Association’s annual conference.


If you haven’t checked out the agenda, you can view it here (pdf).


I will be Tweeting live from the sessions I am attending, as will others, and will post recaps here for the following programs:


Wednesday

  • Senior Marketers’ Program—LMA Masterminds: Leading Change
  • The Risks of Ignoring Future Uncertainty & How Scenario Planning Can Help
  • The Art of High Performance Leadership Under Pressure
  • Creating High Performance Cultures: Delivering Increased Employee and Customer Satisfaction and Financial Performance
  • Accelerating Coaching Success: A Master Class
  • Mastering the Strategic Planning Process



Thursday

  • Knowledge Is Power: Using Knowledge Management to Boost Business Development and Bring More to Clients
  • Thought Leadership: The New Frontier of Strategic Marketing



Friday

  • Fast Forward® 2: Taking Coaching to the Next Level



As always, you can follow me on Twitter @heathermilligan. To follow the live Twitter stream from the conference, follow the hashtag #LMA.

“Leadership is the art of setting direction for others and getting them to move in that direction with competence and commitment.” — Elliott Jacques and Stephen Clement

Speaking truth to power: Now is the time for managers to lead and leaders to emerge in law firms of all sizes. Power is spread among individuals in a partnership. In law firms, that power is restricted to attorneys, who were trained to practice law and more often focus on getting results. Strong leadership keeps law firms aligned among highly independent and skeptical thinkers.

Stephen Mayson in Law Firm Strategy wrote, “Those who have difficulty with the concept of organizational capital are usually regarding their own individual performance and contacts as key to the firm’s productivity and competitive success.” The challenge for the managing partner is to keep high-achieving individuals invested and “firm-first.”

Aligning the ecosystem
If a law firm is an ecosystem, as described by Willie Pietersen in Reinventing Strategy, it can only function if its interdependent parts are aligned and work in unison. The supporting elements are measures and rewards, structure and process, culture and people. Alignment empowers people to initiate actions. In a productive climate, the staff feels the flexibility to innovate, a sense of responsibility, clarity of mission and values, and commitment to a common purpose. But alignment, according to Jay W. Lorsch and Thomas J. Tierney in their book Aligning the Stars, cannot exist without effective leadership.

Organizational structures provide stability and continuity and also define relationships between people. Regardless of the model, law firms require dual expertise: professional know-how, the ability to produce legal services; and managerial know-how, the production and distribution of those services. There is a challenge for the administrative manager, or other functioning department heads who are non-attorneys, to establish and assert their power with the attorneys in the firm.

As law firms grew in size, management became aligned with practice groups and committee structures. The managing partner typically appoints practice group chairs and the members of the operations committee. Administrative leadership, at the officer, director or manager level in law firms is accountable for managing the work of others, maintaining a staff, and providing leadership.

Measures and Rewards
As the adage goes, “What gets measured gets done. What gets rewarded gets done repeatedly.” Appropriate measures are both a gauge of progress and a signal that the firm places importance on a particular strategy. Pietersen says you must make “deliberate shifts in your measurement and reward system to reflect the crucial priorities of your new strategy.” The reward of promotion brings added responsibility for managing partners, who usually move into such roles after proving themselves at their client work.

The promotion process itself reflects competencies at both the operational and partnership level: management must recognize capabilities as well as attitudes and values. One emerging strategy is to adjust the compensation model to reward improvement in competency and attitude at both partnership and operational level.

People will only be motivated when their jobs provide opportunities for achievement, recognition, responsibility, growth and advancement. Administrative managers need to know their people well enough to assess what motivates them and to provide the opportunities to attain those motivators. Managing partners need to know the partners and practice area leaders, who need to know their teams well enough to provide similar opportunities for business development at the partner level, and matter responsibility at the associate level. The successful work environment meets these needs and simultaneously accomplishes the work in progress.
In diagnosing problems in the firm environment, both managing partner and executive director have to pay attention to the underlying factors that negatively impact motivation: Is the underlying factor a matter of perception, incentive, or expectation? Is the situation brought about by employee aptitude, the need for training or resources? Analysis requires that all managers are attuned to this level of inquiry before steps are taken to resolve problems in the environment.

Read the entire article at NJEsq online.

Law firms are cash operations. Like many of us in our personal lives, law firms exist month-to-month, or quarter-to-quarter. Live many of us, when times are tough, law firms rely on their credit lines to float the bills.

Just like many of us, law firms do not have a savings account for when times get tough.

For most firms, at the end of the fiscal or calendar year, the cash is added up, the bills are paid, the profits-per-point are assigned, and the profits per equity partner are split. If the numbers are up, capital improvements are considered. If the numbers are down a bit, the new computer system is put off for a year. If the numbers are way off, a new chair is elected. And if the numbers are really, really bad, the firm looks for a merger partner or votes to dissolve.

Today, another firm announced their intent to dissolve. According to their statement, Wolf Block voted to commence “unwinding the firm’s business:”

The decision to unwind was reached in view of a confluence of unfavorable factors: the economic recession, especially in the firm’s core real estate practice; the constriction of credit occasioned by the ongoing banking crisis; and the intended and anticipated departure of significant partners and practices.

I had a partner in my firm recently wonder why there were so many layoffs this month. It was an easy answer for me, as I had personal experience at a prior Big Law: Many law firms pay out their previous year’s compensation after the first quarter of the New Year.

In boom times, this is great. Firms live off credit for the first few months. Partners hold off on their new purchases until the Spring. Revenue comes in. Credit line is paid off. Business as usual.

But in a bust year …

Bruce MacEwen over at Adam Smith, Esq. wrote an interesting piece about how the imperative placed on profits is skewed in respect to the overall role of the equity partner. He defines three distinct roles for the equity partner:

  • Workers/producers, in which role their job is to actually bill hours and perform client work. In this role, their appropriate compensation is what the firm would have to pay a non-equity partner to perform the same work.
  • Managers/administrators, in which role they help run their practice groups or departments, manage staff, mentor associates, participate in firm committees, and so forth. In this role, their appropriate compensation is what the firm would have to pay nonlawyer executives to perform the same work.
  • And last and only last, equity partners, which is to say, owners with a residual claim on the profits of the enterprise after all other expenses and claims have been satisfied–including, if you want to be rigorous about it (and some of us do), paying the first two sums listed above out of operating income.

Yet too many equity partners place all their focus on the third bullet point.

Bruce continues:

But of course, in wonderland, partners view themselves as wearing one and only one hat, namely the last one. This means they view their compensation as coming entirely from their role as equity owners. And given the current realities of law firm organization, finance, and accounting, they are entirely right to see it that way, however economically irrational that might be in the abstract.

Why does this matter? Only because, as we’re about to see, “profits” in law firm land have a special meaning, and that’s why they’re imperative.

If equity partners across BigLaw had been raised from 3L status on to understand, internalize, comprehend, and expect that their compensation would consist of those three different components, the last of which is highly variable, profits would not be as imperative as they are. But that’s not the world we live in.

In today’s economy, if a law firm partnership is going to survive, than the PARTNERS need to look beyond PPEP as the only measurement of the value of their personal and professional relationships with the firms. They need to return to the holistic dynamic of a partnership. That is you SHARE in both the PROFITS and the LOSSES of the firm.

For a lot of firms, there will be bad times in the year or two ahead. That is not to say that these firms cannot survive. And it’s not to say that profits are not important … it’s just to say that INCREASED profits, year after year, cannot be the only thing holding the partnership together. It just means that law firms, just like the rest of us, need to be willing to absorb the economic hit the best that they can.