Merge email address

Most law firm mergers focus too much on operations and too little on client benefits, according to a new report by a consulting firm.The report by Gulland Padfield says most law firms merge for defensive rather than strategic reasons, the Am Law Daily (sub. req.) reports. The focus then turns to operations such as billing and technology, rather than how to benefit from the combined client relationships, the report says.The London-based Gulland Padfield based its report on interviews with management team members at 20 global and U.K. law firms that have merged in the last 18 months. The Am Law Daily spoke with Gulland partner James Edsberg, a report co-author.“Making sure that everyone has the same email address isn’t what will determine whether a merger is successful,” Edsberg said. “The litmus test of any merger should be whether the combined firm can bring value to clients in a way that the old firms couldn’t on their own.”The law firms interviewed … [Read more...] about Merged law firms focus on operations at the expense of client development, report says

Zillow and Trulia, the two largest sites in the home listings game, are merging. These sites enable buyers to navigate an online map to find a home’s value, look at available listings, and connect with local real estate agents. And while the companies, nearly a decade old, have somewhat helped to streamline the home buying and selling process, real estate deals remain a transaction that largely require professional assistance – from agents, to bankers, to attorneys. Even with online assistance from sites like Zillow and Trulia, most homebuyers prefer one-on-one guidance and advice from a trusted professional.The merger, which will result in the two companies becoming by far the biggest online portal in the industry, has caused concern throughout the residential brokerage business. Some are worried that the merger will result in the company having too much power over listings, possibly raising associated fees. There has even been talk that the company might now break into … [Read more...] about Lexington-Bluegrass Association of Realtors (LBAR) Launches App, Just As Industry Giants Merge & New Concerns Arise

More than 300 pages of documents detail trail of LightSquared requests for meetings with White House officials, some citing friendshipsHedge fund owner Philip Falcone, the majority owner of LightSquared Kevin Wolf/APWireless firm LightSquared pressed its case for government approval of a new national broadband network in numerous contacts with presidential aides, at times citing its fundraising for Democratic causes and President Obama, White House emails show.On the day that LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja made a $30,400 contribution to the Democratic Party, two of his deputies appealed to the White House for meetings with top technology advisers to Obama, according to emails obtained by iWatch News .“Hi Aneesh!” LightSquared representative Dave Kumar wrote to Aneesh Chopra , the president’s chief technology adviser on Sept. 23, 2010. “I touched base with my client Sanjiv Ahuja and he expressed an interest in meeting with you…He is going to be in DC next … [Read more...] about Emails Show Wireless Firm’s Communications with White House as Campaign Donations Were Made

In a blog post published on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website, Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, recently stated that:“we regard data as ‘personally identifiable,’ and thus warranting privacy protections, when it can be reasonably linked to a particular person, computer, or device. In many cases, persistent identifiers such as device identifiers, MAC addresses, static IP addresses, or cookies meet this test.”The post (which reiterates Ms. Rich’s remarks at the Network Advertising Initiative’s April meeting) suggests a shift in the FTC’s treatment of IP addresses and other numbers that identify a browser or device.   The FTC previously has taken the position that browser and device identifiers are deserving of privacy protections, but the FTC generally has avoided classifying these identifiers as equivalent to … [Read more...] about FTC’s Jessica Rich Argues IP Addresses and Other Persistent Identifiers Are “Personally Identifiable”

What’s Your Law Firm’s Domain Name?  YourName.com Back in the mid-90s, we were just starting to develop the first law firm websites. As Marketing Partner of Ungaretti & Harris in the mid-1990s, I remember the early meetings in 1995 when we were trying to figure out what domain to use for our first website.  We felt that “Ungaretti” was too hard to remember and spell, so we considered using the firm’s initials, i.e.: uh.com.Of course, we were concerned that “uh” sounded more like stammering than a law firm, so we decided to go with uhlaw.com, which is what they were still using until getting acquired recently by Nixon Peabody.  (It never occurred to us that years later simple two-letter domains like uh.com could become worth $1 million.) Back then domain names cost $35-$50/year, so we didn’t just go around buying up all the permutations.The point is, websites were a … [Read more...] about Top 10 Domain Name Mistakes (Part I)