The Beat Down is back, bringing you your wrap-up of Lawline CLE news! In this week's episode: Law Firm Layoffs, Lawline's Live at LegalTech, and an Exclusive CLE promo with attorney and Assistant General Council of the New York Times, George Freeman.

Despite an economic environment that has crippled many small businesses, there is still opportunity to be found. The Wall Street Journal cited Lawline.com today for its ability to take advantage of a suffering real estate market.

Lawline.com has seen its workforce grow beyond the capacity of its current Downtown Manhattan office, and it has used an aggressive but patient approach in order to take full advantage of lower rent prices.

The following is an excerpt from the Wall Street Journal in regards to Lawline.com’s ability to capitalize on the down market:

“Take David Schnurman, president of Lawline.com CLE Inc., an online provider of continuing legal education, who needed more space for his growing work force.

When hunting for a new location last year, he put out queries on an entrepreneurs' mailing list—which netted a number of leads—and saw more than 50 spaces with six different brokers. Working with different agents was crucial, he says, because some had listings that the others didn't.

‘"It seems to be that there are more deals in the market than ever,"’ Mr. Schnurman says. ‘"For any company that's growing, this is a time to be a bit more aggressive.’"

Click here to read the rest of the article from the Wall Street Journal...

In this editition of the Friday Five, Legal Beat Host Meredith Ganzman and Executive Produce Jeff Reekers count down the Top 5 Legal Mistakes in Divorce Cases.

In her recent FT.com column, Memory doesn’t matter when you have the net, Lucy Kellaway humorously recounts recent memory lapses and multi-tasking failures.  She considers several solutions, one of which is to make lists.

When preparing for a significant negotiation, we suggest you make three lists regarding your information needs. 

First, list the information you want to get before you meet with your counterpart.  Second, list the information you want to get during your negotiation.  Finally, list the information you want to initially share and withhold.

Making lists will help you strategically and comprehensively think through the information gathering process.  It will also help you avoid forgetting something important in the heat of the battle or when juggling several tasks.
 

Marty Latz is the founder of Latz Negotiation Institute, a national negotiation training and consulting company, and ExpertNegotiator, a Web-based software company that helps managers and negotiators more effectively negotiate and implement best practices based on the experts' proven research.  He is also the author of Gain the Edge! Negotiating to Get What You Want (St. Martin’s Press 2004). He can be reached at 480-951-3222 or Latz@ExpertNegotiator.com.

 

The Legal Beat's Meredith Ganzman heads to New York's LegalTech to Interview LegalRelay CEO John Gilman. LegalRelay made a splash at the event with the launching of its legal version of Amazon.com Reviews.

There are many times when lawyers who deal with estate planning and taxes will need to use an appraiser for different types of personal property.  Lee Drexler, president of Esquire Appraisals, Inc. of New York City and Westchester, is an experienced appraiser of fine arts, furniture and jewelry and has seen many unique pieces throughout her career.  We spoke with Lee recently and asked if she could share with us some of the more interesting things that she has seen over the years.

One such story that she shares in the video below is of a woman who wanted her to appraise her engagement ring.  It appears the woman had take the ring in to be reset earlier and had never been fully satisfied with the look and feel of the ring afterwards.  Well, as you might suspect, it didn’t take Ms. Drexler long to discover that in fact the ring she was given back was fake.  Both the diamond and the gold that it was set in were no longer real.  An awful fact to find out so many years later, but as Lee says, she is brought in to reveal an ugly truth a lot of times.

Lee Drexler recently filmed a presentation with James Cohen on the legal aspects of appraisals for CLE credit on Lawline.com.  The program covers the issue from both sides, the attorney and the appraiser. Lee has also written a book called Fabulous Finds, where she shares stories like this about finding valuable pieces that nobody even knew existed.

To contact Lee Drexler, call 212-889-2580.  Please enjoy the short video below, and look for the CLE lecture soon.

Taxation Tuesday Times Two- Richard Roth and An Unfortunate Game of Pin The Tale on The Donkey

It's February 2 2010, and this is Taxation Tuesday. I'm Meredith Ganzman with hopefully your least taxing news of the week. Attorney and CLE Faculty Member Richard Roth discussed what CPA's should anticipate and prepare in 2010. In a time of financial crisis and potential economic recovery, will CPA's be stuck in an unfortunate game of Pin The Tale on The Donkey? Go to Lawline.com soon to view Richard's full course.

Taxation Tuesday Times Two- Part 2: Richard Roth and Staying F.I.T. for CPAs

Attorney and CLE Faculty Member Richard Roth discusses how attorneys should stay F.I.T. 2010, and no, that doesn't just mean going to the gym. Go to Lawline.com soon to view Richard's full course.

It's 19 degrees outside, but here in the studio, the Beat Down steams on, bringing your the HOTTEST Lawline CLE news. In this week's episode: California Deadline, The Golden Ticket, and a Lawline Exclusive CLE promo with Rocco C. Cipparone.

I'm taking a guess that, in many cases, the Louisiana attorney has a high chance of also being a Saints fan, or at least caught up in the Saints Super Bowl frenzy.

Word on the virtual street (Twitter) is that the Louisiana State Bar Association will be holding a CLE seminar next Friday, February 5 regarding the "Who Dat?" trademark controversy.

If you aren't familiar, the issue is over vendors selling t-shirts with the phrase "Who dat?" - a long time phrase used in New Orleans from the chant "Who dat gonna beat dem Saints?" The NFL views the sale of these shirts on an infringement of a trademarked phrase that it owns.

If the rumors on the Louisiana State Bar Association CLE are true, then I'm the first to commend them on putting together such a timely and relevant program on short notice.

Check back with The Legal Beat and we'll keep you up to date on the status of the program.

Lawline's Friday 5 brings you the countdown of the world's strangest laws. Bigfoot, Blowfish and Napoleon... oh my! You just have to see it to believe it.

In light of Toyota’s unprecedented decision to recall and stop selling eight car models, this New York Times excerpt caught my attention:  “In its drive to become No. 1 in worldwide sales, Toyota may have left its reputation vulnerable.”  The Tokyo Shimbun went so far as to say, “[t]he discrediting of Toyota could even destroy the world’s trust in Japanese manufacturing, which relies on its reputation for high quality.”  Time will tell what the full consequences will be.

In negotiating and in life, trust is hard to build, easy to destroy and difficult to restore.  Toyota’s plight is a useful reminder that we should always value and protect our reputation.

Marty Latz is the founder of Latz Negotiation Institute, a national negotiation training and consulting company, and ExpertNegotiator, a Web-based software company that helps managers and negotiators more effectively negotiate and implement best practices based on the experts' proven research.  He is also the author of Gain the Edge! Negotiating to Get What You Want (St. Martin’s Press 2004). He can be reached at 480-951-3222 or Latz@ExpertNegotiator.com.
 

Lawline.com is proud to announce The Golden Ticket. The NYCLA Insitue and Lawline.com now offer unlimited online and live CLE programing for just $499. Register now at Lawline.com/goldenticket!