The Philadelphia Lawyer

FALL 2015

New and events of the Philadelphia Bar Asso.

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positions and building new legal support staff teams. To keep operational costs low, more firms are offering alternative fee arrangements and utilizing cloud computing for some back- office functions. These changes allow firms to meet clients' budget constraints while delivering high-quality services. Corporate legal departments are also streamlining their practices to consolidate the network of firms they have on retainer. This change can mean hiring legal professionals on a contract or project basis for specialized or short-term projects or hiring full-time lawyers to move matters in-house. . As the complexities of electronic data and cloud computing continue to grow and concerns about data privacy, security and compliance matters escalate, alignment between legal and information technology (IT) professionals is essential. Eight out of 10 lawyers surveyed for the Future Law Office project said their collaboration with IT specialists has increased during the past two years. Managing eDiscovery requests, an area of overlapping responsibility for legal and IT, has become more complex with teams facing increased demands to collect relevant and responsive information. To reduce review time and to lower costs, legal teams are using predictive coding to sift through large data sets. They also are turning to data specialists and outside vendors to help boost relevancy and efficiency. W ithout the Great Recession, many American companies may have been content transporting their "made-in-the-U.S.A." goods within U.S. borders. But the prospect of new customers enticed businesses of all sizes to jump into the international marketplace – and Canada topped the location list, both then and now. Here are some interesting facts about Canada: • The U.S./Canadian border forms the world's longest land border • "Loonie" is the name of Canadian currency – a one-dollar coin • Canada is the number one destination of U.S. goods and services When many U.S. businesses struggled through the Great Recession, they looked for business opportunities beyond America. Selling U.S.-made products to the international market can mean language barriers and shipments traversing a massive body of water. Canada, however, does not present those impediments to trade. According to Bill Adams, senior international economist of The PNC Financial Services Group, Canada's most attractive characteristic is its resiliency. "The Canadian economy was probably the most resilient of any major economy through the global recession," Adams said. "Its ability to absorb the shock of the global recession is remarkable, and the opportunities across energy, manufacturing and services industries are some reasons why many American businesses are looking at doing business there." A few reasons why Canada is an easy pathway to foreign expansion for U.S.-based companies include: • Business practices similar to the U.S. • Easy transportation and access routes • Highly skilled labor pool • Stable political system • Low and stable inflation the philadelphia lawyer Fall 2015 7 U.S. Businesses Look North of the Border Michael O'Sullivan Floyd Jan. 9, 2015, age 75 Jon A. Baughman Jan. 12, 2015, age 72 Rosemary M. Flannery Jan. 23, 2015, age 93 Edward "Larry" Hannaway February 24, 2015, age 70 Howard R. Moore Jr. March 2, 2015, age 82 E. Brooks Keffer Jr. March 6, 2015, age 85 Charles J. Bogdanoff June 8, 2015, age 78 Christina M. Tarantelli June 24, 2015, age 61 John Butterworth July 8, 2015, age 87 Stanley W. Root Jr. July 8, 2015, age 92 K. Robert Conrad July 14, 2015, age 87 Mary Elizabeth Butler Age 60 ■ I N M E M O R I A M ■ Please send In Memoriam notices to tplmag@philabar.org. Have you considered a contribution to the Philadelphia Bar Foundation in memory of a de ceased colleague? For information, call Jessica Hilburn-Holmes, Executive Director, at 215-238-6347.

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