David Jacobson's External Insights

Australian Blogging Conference: Business and corporate blogging

The Australian Blogging Conference  had 2 excellent business-related sessions.

In the session on Business and Corporate Blogging, over 2 hours we considered issues such as

* Can businesses afford not to blog?
* How do you measure Return on Investment?
* Should the CEO blog?
* Should PR and/or Legal vet all blogs?
* How do you find enough to write about?
* How do you handle negative comments?
* Blogging Codes of Conduct

We were lead by Des Walsh,  Nick Hodge (Microsoft) and Joanne Jacobs.

Even if your company isn't blogging, what are your employees doing? Do you understand the difference between a bloggers' policy, a blogging policy and an acceptable use policy?

See some sample blogging policies here.

Yes, there is a return on your investment. And as a bonus a blog is a great knowledge management tool and disseminator of information within organisations and externally to stakeholders.

In the session on promoting your blog and building traffic, we shared tools we are using with feedback from Yaro Starak.

Lots of good ideas: try submitting your post to Carnival of Australia.

PS See here for my thoughts on other sessions including the legal issues session.

UPDATE 1 October: Des Walsh wraps up the conference here with links to other reports.

UPDATE 3 October: notes by Michael Rees

UPDATE 5 October: 1 week later and the value of the conference is sinking in. Des Walsh links to more reports from all the other sessions I missed. A great Australian link resource!

Blawg Review #126: business and the law

Blawg Review #126 features some great posts for both businesses and their lawyers under the folowing headings:

• Business opportunities and the legal implications – explore the legal pitfalls and benefits of growing your business
• Lawyers and the clients who hire them – insights into better relationships between lawyers and business people, including their fee arrangements
• Employers and employment legal issues – all too often the relations between employers-employees have legal implications
• Technology and management practices — for lawyers and businesspeople who want to manage their law firms and businesses better
• Marketing — for lawyers and with lessons for businesspeople too.

Developing law practice management systems

It's ironic: my consulting practice involves me advising clients on compliance and risk management frameworks and now I have to assess my own!

As an incorporated legal practice I must demonstrate to the Legal Services Commissioner that I have an appropriate management system which must include, as a minimum standard, policies, procedures and practices which are designed to ensure:

• competent work  practices to avoid negligence;
• effective, timely and courteous communication;
• the timely delivery, review and follow up of legal services to avoid delay;
• acceptable processes for liens and file transfers;
• a shared understanding and appropriate documentation from commencement through to termination of retainer covering costs disclosure, billing practices and termination of retainer;
• timely identification and resolution of conflicts of interest;
• safe and secure records management;
• timely compliance with undertakings, orders and rulings;
• the effective supervision of the practice and its staff; and
• avoidance of any failure to account for trust monies.

These ten requirements have become known as the ’10 commandments’.

When I left my former practice 3 years ago and set up a consulting company, legal practice rules did not permit Queensland solicitors to incorporate; they either practised individually or in partnership. So my consulting work was done through a company and my legal advice was done personally. But from 1 July 2007 the laws changed and my consulting company is now an incorporated legal practice.

The rules for incorporated legal practices require them to have "appropriate management systems" but partnerships do not have that requirement (yet).

In the 90's, in my previous firm (then 9 partners, 140 staff) I saw the need for quality practice management and through QIL we were certified under their program and I was active in spreading the word about the benefits of practice management for lawyers.

And I'd like to think that I've incorporated similar good practice management in my solo practice.

The QIL Code has now been replaced by LAW 9000 – Legal Best Practice as a standard which uses the internationally recognised ISO 9001 as its foundation.

The 10 commandments requirement is not a quality certification system. It does not appear to me to cover everything that a legal best practice system would cover.

But it is now argued that the quality management systems were weak on risk management.

I remember that my previous quality certification program was document intensive.

So I've decided to use this blog to chart my progress over the next 3 months as I map my current procedures against the 10 commandments and document any opportunities for improvement that I find as I go along.

I know there will be at least one issue I won't have to deal with: last time my criminal law partner did not like my suggestion that a client's blood sample should not be stored in an office fridge!

The Chaser: irresponsible or just irreverent?

Australians love a good laugh, especially if it is at someone else's expense or it takes the "mickey" out of someone (Americans call it a "public gotcha").

So when APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum) came to Sydney last week and ran up a AU$180 million security bill for 21 country leaders (including Presidents Bush, Putin and Hu) and resulted in central Sydney being walled off to public access, The Chaser team had to see how good the security was.

The problem is that they surprised everyone, including themselves, by getting past 2 checkpoints into a restricted zone.

Their version is that they gave themselves up in embarrassment at their fake motorcade having gotten so far...particularly when their passes were marked "Joke", their motorbikes had "Mufti" nameplates and their passenger was dressed up as Osama Bin Laden.

Was it bad taste? Stupid? Or incredibly funny?

Their video has scored top ratings around the world.

And they're due to appear in court in October charged with entering a restricted area without justification.