How do practitioners draft a contract of employment that is both comprehensive and comprehensible? One that covers necessary complexities but is clear? Save time and money by following the tried and tested guidance and clauses in Drafting Employment Contracts. This invaluable book offers practical and thorough coverage both as a tool to draft employment contracts and also as a guide for creating policy and executing it. Fully updated, this new third edition includes new precedents on checks on job applicants, a new policy on whistle blowing and also covers: * major changes on sickness and absence * changes to the law and case law on maternity, paternity and shared maternity leave * new flexible working rights * changes to drafting of email internet abuse and social networking policies * new case law includes: status of worker; whether refusing time off to attend religious festivals constitutes indirect religious discrimination; travel abroad and employer's duty of care and guidance.

It has never been more important for law firms to plan for the future. A highly competitive market, an aging profession, the changing ambitions of younger generations, many of whom place greater importance on work-life balance than reaching top leadership levels, and a long-held reluctance to discuss retirement and succession, all combine to create what some are calling a succession crisis. It is time to face the issue head-on and start putting systems in place to ensure the long-term success and health of lawyers and their firms: succession planning is the answer to this. A successful succession encompasses two core elements: transitioning firm management to a new generation, and transferring client relationships. This title provides guidance not only on how these two transitions can be achieved effectively, from the perspectives of both individual partners and the firm, but also on the plethora of issues involved in preparing for the departure of retiring partners and transitioning in new leadership, including compensation, the role of diversity and inclusion and financial considerations. It also considers situations where more specific and specialised plans may be required, such as managing the succession of a rainmaker or a founding partner. A strong and effective succession plan ensures that clients are retained over the long-term, retiring partners leave optimistic and satisfied, future leaders are in place and prepared for their roles, and the firm continues to grow and flourish. The shift to a more remote work environment has also made the institutionalising of processes such as succession planning even more important. By providing a thorough understanding of its many elements, this title explains how effective succession planning can be implemented and ensure smooth leadership and client transitions, securing and enhancing the current and future success of partners and their firms.

Advocacy skills, which are learnt in the moot court, as a precursor to the effective communication of persuasive legal argument, are essential for those seeking a career in law. The skills associated with successful mooting, cover the entire range of the domains of human activity: intellectual, physical and emotional. This informative book examines the theories relevant to the development of skills necessary for effective participation in competition moots. By consideration of underlying theories, Mark Thomas and Lucy Cradduck develop unique models of the skills of the cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains and effective team dynamics, emphasising the importance of written submissions. The authors use this analysis to develop a unique integrated model that informs the process of coaching moot teams according to reliable principles. The Art of Mooting distils the theories and principles that support successful moot performances, grounding these in practical examples of how a mooter's skills may be developed and improved. It is an essential guide for moot coaches, law and advocacy students and academics seeking to improve their skills, and new and existing practitioners.

"Legislative Learning" breaks new theoretical and descriptive ground in examining the political perceptions, policy principles and power plays of the influential 104th Republican freshmen in the U.S. House. This even-handed book builds on the work of leading congressional scholars, and provides a detailed evaluation of coalition politics, freshmen style. Barnett shows how political environments can produce legislators who place a premium on their policy-making goals through a nuanced exploration of factors undergirding member perceptions, policy ambitions, class cohesion, and legislative learning.

Select Legal Topics is a compendium of legal journal articles covering a wide spectrum of topics in the fields of criminal law, evidence, civil procedure, family law, labor and employment law, civil rights, tort law, and federal procedure. For example, the reprinted criminal law articles include analyses of suppression motions and the requirement that the criminal defendant be afforded a speedy trial. The section on evidence includes articles that analyze polygraph and DNA evidence. The civil procedures articles consider the requirement of filing a notice of claim when a municipality is the subject of a lawsuit, and developments in trial by jury. Articles covering family law consider artificial insemination and paternity, as well as child abuse and child negligence. The labor and employment articles include analyses of discrimination in the workplace and trial by jury. The civil rights articles mainly consider the Civil Rights Statute 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. The articles focusing on tort law include analyses of loss of consortium, the intentional infliction of mental distress, and baseball liability. Finally, the federal procedure articles consider eminent domain, pretrial orders, the finality requirement in federal appeals, and an analysis of rules 15 and 16 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This book will serve to inform laymen, students, lawyers, law professors, and perhaps, the judiciary, of ideas and developments in these fields of law.

Every year firms close for a variety of reasons, including sale or merger, but what happens if you haven't prepared to exit the market? The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has stressed the need for firms to have an exit strategy in place to prepare for this eventuality, meet regulatory requirements and good practice standards, and avoid potential fines. The Exit Strategies Toolkit contains a mixture of commentary, procedural checklists, such as a notification checklist, draft policies and precedents, including sample letters to PI insurers and the SRA, to help you to prepare for this eventuality.

Increasing international cooperation in tackling the worldwide problem of child abuse and neglect has helped to raise the profile of this important issue. Scholarly literature on the problem is growing, yet there is still a pressing need for a legal comparative commentary on the issue of child abuse claims in tort. Addressing this omission, this valuable work investigates how the factual circumstances as laid out in the landmark English cases of X v. Bedfordshire County Council and Barrett v. Enfield London Borough Council have been dealt with by the European Court of Human Rights and in a number of key jurisdictions including the US, Canada, Australia, South Africa, France, Germany and Italy. Examining the substantive tort law in these jurisdictions, the book highlights differences in procedure and compares alternative, non-judicial sources of compensation for claimants. It also offers suggestions for reform, providing a work that will greatly benefit all those working within this specific area of law or having an interest in the subject.

"For those lawyers who fall into that group of wanting to better understand AI, there may be no better starting point than Robots in Law" -Robert Ambrogi, Above The Law Although 2016 was the breakthrough year for artificial intelligence (AI) in legal services in terms of market awareness and significant take-up, legal AI represents evolution rather than revolution. Since the first `robot lawyers' started receiving mainstream press coverage, many law firms, other legal service providers, and law colleges are being asked what they are doing about AI. Robots in Law: How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming Legal Services is designed to provide a starting point in the form of an independent primer for anyone looking to get up to speed on AI in legal services. The book is organized into four distinct sections: Part I: Legal AI - Beyond the hype Part II: Putting AI to work Part III: AI giving back - Return on investment Part IV: Looking ahead The first three present an in-depth overview, and analysis, of the current legal AI landscape; the final section includes contributions from AI experts with connections to the legal space, on the prospects for legal AI in the short-term future. "AI is here now. And going to work in law firms. In the second half of 2016, hardly a week went by without some firm, academic or start-up announcing an innovation. Anyone inclined to dismiss this entirely as hype should read Robots in Law. In 150-odd pages we get a clear round-up of what is happening plus (perhaps more interestingly) some predictions from the best human brains in the business about what it all means." - Michael Cross, editor, The Law Society Gazette Along with the emergence of New Law and the burgeoning lawtech start-up economy, AI is part of a new dynamic in legal technology and it is here to stay. The question now is whether AI will find its place as a facilitator of legal services delivery, or whether it will initiate a shift in the value chain that will transform the legal business model. "This book, is recommended for all those wanting to catch up with AI, or those needing to catch up (whether they want to or not). That is pretty much all of us." - Laurence Eastham, Editor of Computers & Law, The Society for Computers and Law Magazine

On 6 April 2014 long-awaited reforms, came into force, unifying and radically reforming the law governing enforcement agents, and creating a new statutory procedure of commercial rent arrears recovery. In the second edition of this popular book, highly respected practitioners in property law and enforcement set out the most up-to-date and comprehensive review of the new law. Coverage includes: the new standards and certification for enforcement agents a complete review of the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 the abolition of distress for rent the introduction of Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (CRAR) the criminalisation of squatting. The authors combine their authoritative review and analysis of the law with insights into the practical impact of the rules and regulations, uniquely illustrated by numerous examples and practice points. The book also includes extracts from the relevant law and regulations, and so gathers in one convenient volume all the relevant law and guidance on enforcement and debt recovery for property lawyers, enforcement agents, commercial landlords, surveyors and insolvency practitioners.

Today's law firm is an entity in flux. Economic and technological disruption - along with a range of other factors - have contributed to this change, meaning that firms are not what they used to be. It is therefore a necessity that the way they are managed also needs to change. This means, among many things, the need to corporatize the running of the firm; a move away from the focus on the billable hour towards more intangible activities such as business development and marketing and - perhaps the most important factor - the development of a new kind of leader within the legal landscape. The new kind of leader now demanded by a transformed legal profession is not readily forthcoming, however. Legal culture stresses individualism and independence, which is reinforced by firm governance, practice management, and performance management systems that are ill-suited to foster supportive and collaborative leadership practices; lawyers are trained and conditioned to be combative, autonomous, and didactic. To position oneself as a contender in a fast-moving and competitive market, the legal leader of the future must push back against these trends by acting strategically, engaging in people management, investing in their employees, and creating a working environment that places emphasis on communication, teamwork, and growth and development. Legal leadership: a handbook for future success combines the latest and most relevant intelligence from those on the frontline of law firm leadership and management, to serve as the catalyst for change and the foundation on which a strong leadership practice can be built. Drawing on their expertise and experience, our authors - ranging from behavioral psychologists to senior management figures and pofessional coaches -present a wide range of competencies and strategies to cultivate as part of a leader's personal and professional development. Whether you are already a member of your firm's senior management, or in a junior position with big aspirations, Legal leadership: a handbook for future success provides the essential tools to equip you to become a leader of the future.

Contemporary legal reasoning has more in common with fictional discourse than we tend to realize. Through an examination of the U.S. Supreme Court's written output during a recent landmark term, this book exposes many of the parallels between these two special kinds of language use. Focusing on linguistic and rhetorical patterns in the dozens of reasoned opinions issued by the Court between October 2014 and June 2015, the book takes nonlawyer readers on a lively tour of contemporary American legal reasoning and acquaints legal readers with some surprising features of their own thinking and writing habits. It analyzes cases addressing a huge variety of issues, ranging from the rights of drivers stopped by the police to the decision-making processes of the Environmental Protection Agency-as well as the term's best-known case, which recognized a constitutional right to marriage for same-sex as well as different-sex couples. Fiction and the Languages of Law reframes a number of long-running legal debates, identifies other related paradoxes within legal discourse, and traces them all to common sources: judges' and lawyers' habit of alternating unselfconsciously between two different attitudes toward the language they use, and a set of professional biases that tends to prevent scrutiny of that habit.

Many law firms today are far too focused on increasing market share; they should be paying attention to what makes them a more profitable business. Market share doesn't matter much if you're not profitable, and firms cannot simply grow their way to prosperity by undercutting the competition. Instead, firms must focus on value creation and increasing clients' willingness to pay for their services. The question should be: "What can your firm do better, or more efficiently, and more profitably than anyone else?" The Mechanics of Law Firm Profitability: People, Process, and Technology examines why a focus on profitability and metrics is reshaping law firm operations and matter management; how to define the bottom line and to distinguish between "good" revenue and "bad"; and how to change the dialogue from "hours and revenue" to "revenue and profit", while changing the mindset from increasing market share to simply running a profitable business. The Mechanics of Law Firm Profitability covers topics including: + The "every dollar is a good dollar" fallacy: The difference between good and bad revenue + Increasing profitability by improving client intake + Using KM to increase firm profitability + Pricing, profitability, and compensation + Measuring different practice groups, differently + Four challenges in managing law firm profitability + Strategy and culture driving effective use of people, process, and technology + Profitability and the Concept of `Managing on the Edge' - Why It Is Important to Regional Law Firms And brings together the sought-after advice of a wide variety of experts including: + Toby Brown, chief practice management officer, Perkins Coie + Mike Roster, co-chair ACC Value Challenge and former managing partner of Morrison and Foerster's LA office + Jack Bostelman, president KM/JD Consulting LLC + Chris Boyd, senior director of professional services, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati + Jim Hassett, founder of LegalBizDev + Wendy Wen Yun Chang, partner, Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP + Keith Maziarek senior director of client value, Perkins Coie + James G. Perkins, chief operating officer and chief compliance officer, Procopio + Mark Voigtmann, partner; Steve Petrie, chief strategy officer; Vanessa Savoie, senior strategic analyst & pricing analyst; and Tom Snavely, manager legal process improvement & project management, Faegre Baker Daniels The Mechanics of Law Firm Profitability: People, Process, and Technology provides practical and proven tips for all law firm leader on adjusting current processes and identifying opportunities for future profitability within their firms.

Flint, Michigan's water crisis, the New Jersey "Bridgegate" scandal, Enron: all these incidents are examples of various forms of leadership failure. More specifically, each represents marked failures among leaders with legal training. When we look closer at one profession from which we often draw our political, business, and organizational leaders—the legal profession—we find a deep chasm between what law schools teach and what the world expects. Legal education ignores leadership, sending the next generation of legally-minded leaders into a dynamic world dangerously unprepared. Dangerous Leaders exposes the risks and results of leaving lawyers unprepared to lead. It provides law schools, law students, and the legal profession with the leadership tools and models to build a better foundation of leadership acumen. Anthony C. Thompson draws from his twenty years of experience in global executive education for Fortune 100 companies and his experience as a law professor to chart a path forward for better leadership instruction within the legal academy. Using vivid, real-life case studies, Thompson explores catastrophic political, business, and legal failures that have occurred precisely because of a lapse in leadership from those with legal training. He maintains that these practices are chronic leadership failures that could have been avoided. In examining these patterns of failures, it becomes apparent that legal education has fundamentally misread its task. Thompson proposes a fundamental rethinking of legal education, based upon intersectional leadership, to prepare lawyers to assume the types of roles that our increasingly fast-paced world requires. Intersectional leadership challenges lawyer leaders to see the world through a different lens and expects a form of inclusion and respect for other perspectives and experiences that will prove critical to maneuvering in a complex environment. Dangerous Leaders imparts invaluable tools and lessons to best equip current and future generations of legal leaders.

Great poker players are master tacticians. Not only do they calculate odds with lightning speed and astonishing precision, but they also cunningly anticipate and manipulate the actions of their adversaries. In short, they boast skills that every lawyer can envy. This highly entertaining work might best be summed up as "better lawyering through poker." Steven Lubet shows exactly how the tactics of the poker table can be adapted to litigation, negotiation, and virtually every aspect of law practice. In a series of engaging and informative lessons, Lubet describes concepts like "betting for value," "slow playing," and "reverse bluffing," and explains how they can be used by lawyers to win their cases. The best card players, like the best lawyers, have a knack for getting their adversaries to react exactly as they want, and that talent separates the winners from the losers. Lawyers' Poker is an irresistible guide to successful lawyering and an enjoyable read for anyone with an interest in law. No poker knowledge required.

The Pocket Lawyer series is designed for members of the public who want 'how to' guidance in situations that would normally require expert advice. Each title: written by experts in their field contains all the information you need in one book has an accessible and user-friendly layout and structure is supported by a companion website providing free updates and ready-to-use documents and letters.

The Fundamental Principles of Effective Trial Advocacy guides the trial lawyer in developing a winning theory and using it throughout every phase of the trial. The text focuses in depth on each phase of the trial from opening statement to examination-in-chief, cross-examination and final argument.

The book also examines the characteristics of effective trial lawyers, the rhetorical techniques that enhance the persuasive force of advocacy and the basic principles of formulating effective questions.

Practical and engaging examples distil the fundamental principles and strategies that lead to success in the courtroom.

Explaining in clear terms some of the main methodological approaches to legal research, the chapters in this edited collection are written by specialists in their fields, researching in a variety of jurisdictions. Covering a range of topics from Feminist Approaches to Law and Economics, each contributor addresses the topic of 'lay decision makers in the legal system' from their particular methodological perspective, explaining how they would approach the issue and discussing the suitability of their particular method. This focus on one main topic allows the reader to draw comparisons between methods with relative ease. The broad range of contributors makes Research Methods in Law well suited to an international audience, and it is ideal reading for PhD students in law, undergraduate dissertation students in law, LL.M Research students and early year researchers.

The role of the professional support lawyer (PSL) first emerged in the early- to mid-1990s amongst London's Magic Circle, and quickly became essential for mid-size and even smaller firms. However, this golden period for the PSL came to an abrupt end with the global financial crisis and the subsequent recession, which rocked the legal landscape; the greatest shockwaves were inevitably felt by legal support teams, as many firms sought to maintain profitability by shifting their focus to fee-earners and cutting what was quickly perceived as superfluous business functions. The slow but steady recovery of the economy and the consequent pick-up of client demand since then has meant that the importance of PSLs to law firm operations has once again been recognised. However, the legal profession is not the same as it was before the recession; this is reflected in not only the changes in what is expected from fee-earners, but also support staff such as PSLs. Traditionally seen as a backstage position that mainly involved administrative work and the drafting of precedents, the PSL role is rapidly transforming. A PSL cannot only contribute to a firm's competitive edge by providing the traditional technical expertise; it has now become essential to perform tasks ranging from involvement in business development to the provision of training, the capture and dissemination of knowledge, product selection, and project management. This kind of flexibility is a quality that has made the role of the PSL attractive to those seeking an alternative to legal practice; however, it brings its own challenges. With such a wide variety of responsibilities and functions, it can be difficult to find relevant information on what career development might look like, or the skills needed for the progression. Identifying current issues and future challenges, too, is rendered problematic by this versatility. The Evolving Role of the PSL aims to fill this information gap.

Some law students find jurisprudence daunting, impersonal, dry and seemingly detached from practical affairs. William Twining believes that many jurists have been fascinating people struggling with questions that are both historically significant and relevant to contemporary issues. This book brings together previously published essays that centre on three related themes: reading Juristic texts, the role of narrative in law, and relations between theory and practice. Building on a pragmatic view of jurisprudence, the author explores different ways of reading and using Juristic texts, to set them in context, to bring them to life and to engage with the reader's own concerns. He applies this approach to throw fresh light on four familiar figures - Holmes, Bentham, Hart and Llewellyn. Challenging limited agendas and parochial points of view, Twining outlines a programme for a broad approach to legal theory in the context of globalization. He satirizes some bad habits in jurisprudence and explores in depth how stories can be seductive vehicles for cheating in legal contexts, yet are essential for making sense of disputes about fact or law.

This book is a practical guide to practice and procedure in courts and tribunals. It is aimed at the recently qualified practitioner, pupil barristers, trainee solicitors, or lawyers unversed in advocacy and procedure.

It provides a guide to applications in most areas of the law, with brief discussions of the relevant law, rules of procedure and practical tips. The applications covered are those which practitioners are likely to encounter in their first years of practice. In addition, each chapter attempts to anticipate likely pitfalls, with suggested solutions. The court system and techniques of advocacy are also covered.

This is not a legal textbook, and provides no substitute for legal research. It is designed to be starting point for advocates faced with an unfamiliar task.

Lawyers use non-trial advocacy skills in court for pre- and post-trial submissions. They are easier to learn than trial advocacy skills, and are much more relevant to the work of most new lawyers. This book examines all key aspects of criminal and civil non-trial advocacy, including bail applications, pleas in mitigation and interim applications made during the course of civil actions. Readers will learn the strategies and techniques of non-trial advocacy through seven realistic case studies: the lawyers involved discuss their strategies and deliver their arguments; the judge makes a decision; and the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments are then analyzed. With this innovative, case study approach to teaching advocacy skills, Non-Trial Advocacy provides an insight into how lawyers think and how they translate their strategies into courtroom action. The book concludes with a discussion of ethical conflicts involved in the practice of advocacy and how these affect the quality of lawyers' work in this field.

This publication is directed at both the attorney and the statistician to ensure they will successfully apply statistics in the law. The attorney will learn how best to utilize statistics while gaining an enriched understanding of the law on audits, jury selection, discrimination, environmental hazards, evidence, and torts as it relates to statistical issues. Statisticians will learn that the law is what judges say it is and to frame their arguments accordingly. Applying Statistics in the Courtroom: A New Approach for Attorneys and Expert Witnesses will increase the effectiveness of both the attorney and the statistician in presenting and attacking statistical arguments in the courtroom.

'The most gripping and satisfying thriller I've read in more than a decade' Sophie Hannah 'One of the best legal thrillers ... as elegant and gripping as Scott Turow's Presumed Innocent' Daily Mail 'Quite the tour de force! Twelve Angry Men meets Chinatown and creates something of its own' Sarah Pinborough 'This is a tense, emotionally charged, scary-good, stand-out read' Caroline Kepnes ********** MAJOR TV SERIES COMING SOON - FROM THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU NETFLIX'S UNBELIEVABLE... One juror changed the verdict. What if she was wrong? 'Ten years ago we made a decision together...' Fifteen-year-old Jessica Silver, heiress to a billion-dollar fortune, vanishes on her way home from school. Her teacher, Bobby Nock, is the prime suspect. It's an open and shut case for the prosecution, and a quick conviction seems all but guaranteed. Until Maya Seale, a young woman on the jury, persuades the rest of the jurors to vote not guilty: a controversial decision that will change all of their lives forever. Ten years later, one of the jurors is found dead, and Maya is the prime suspect. The real killer could be any of the other ten jurors. Is Maya being forced to pay the price for her decision all those years ago? ********** 'Plunge a syringe filled with adrenaline into the heart of Twelve Angry Men and you've got The Holdout: the first legal thriller in thirty years - ever since Presumed Innocent and A Time to Kill electrified readers the world over - to rank alongside those two modern classics.' AJ Finn 'A page-turning legal thriller with a twisty and absolutely riveting plot ... plus a strong and compelling female heroine. You won't be able to put this one down!' Lisa Scottoline 'Clever, well-written and twistier than a can of silly-string. You absolutely need to read The Holdout!' Emma Kavanagh 'Amazing thriller, deserves to be one of the biggest books of 2020' Michelle Davies 'Terrific, twisty and well-structured thriller' Adele Geras

Like so many other professions, law is becoming increasingly influenced by an overwhelming amount of disparate, fragmented and complex data that can both help and hinder business. Data comes from a wealth of different sources, both internal and external, constantly changing, never still. Keeping control of all that data is one challenge; leveraging it to the greater good much harder. Despite the huge amount of data in the average law firm, data-driven decision-making is relatively new and uncharted. With the hugely disruptive changes that have occurred in our ways of working over the last two years, the issue of data is now front and centre. This second edition of Building the Data-Driven Law Firm looks at how the use of data has become inextricably linked with the practice of law; how it can be utilized to the good, and the safeguards that must be put in place to mitigate the bad; how Big Data will revolutionize the way lawyers work, and the cases they will work on; and how new uses for data (including blockchain and the Internet of Things) will influence the law firm of the future. Bringing the book bang up to date, new content features how we can keep data secure in the changing world of work, how data can be used for business development and client satisfaction, the implications of data bias and data theft, and whether the way we use data is even useful anymore.

The past two decades have seen a rapidly growing involvement of psychologists and psychiatrists in legal proceedings for criminal cases, divorces, and traffic and industrial accidents. Mental health professionals are traditionally not trained to cope with the legal responsibilities that arise from their routine clinical work and are eager to learn the professional skills that are needed in forensic settings. There is presently no book which focuses entirely on the strategies and verbal tactics employed by attorneys who critically examine and challenge the testimony of mental health professionals. If psychologists and psychiatrists can familiarize themselves with the kind of questions and verbal exchanges that take place in the courtroom, they would be better prepared to provide their expertise in an effective manner. This book fills that need.
Designed as a practical handbook to assist practitioners from all mental health disciplines, it focuses on typical courtroom dialogue between attorneys and mental health professionals who testify regarding their psychotherapy clients and also those who are hired by attorneys specifically to provide expert opinions. The authors, who have extensive experience in the courtroom, offer well-thought-out, effective responses as contrasted with impulsive and weak answers to attorneys' queries. Actual cases are employed to illustrate typical challenges in various legal areas, including criminal law, child custody hearings, and personal injury cases. Certain forensic issues such as the scientific bases of expert opinions, the accuracy of psychological vs. medical tests, and malingering, are emphasized throughout the chapters.
The book is based on the belief that exposure to courtroom dialogue enhances the awareness of appropriate professional responses to an attorney's cross-examination and greatly alleviates fear toward a situation well-known to provoke intense levels of anxiety. Although it is written alluding to the forensic psychologist or psychiatrist, the strategies for the witness are readily applicable in most instances to all mental health professionals. Issues such as therapist bias, unconfirmed observations, and cultural and ethnic factors are clearly relevant to all who provide mental health services.