Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/83718
Make More Money: Getting IT and Finance to Collaborate way possible. Communicate to your users that you want them working the most efficient way possible. Ask them for suggestions on what would make their jobs easier. Ask them to let you know what frustrates them the most about their jobs. When IT understands the importance of the efficient utilization of the firm's financial software and can support the finance department in getting the most from the software it already owns (as well as sharing any information on how to improve the current technology), everyone wins. It goes without saying that the most technologically advanced group in the firm is the IT department, and that means that the message has to come from IT. But don't stop there. These methodologies can be used all over the firm. We have to keep getting better. We have to strive to do more with less. owdfunding al Advisors ever been to www.kickstarter.com, the largest of the "rewards-based" crowdfunding sites, you can see that the community is very active. That is one of the reasons there have been no successful cases of fraud on this or other sites (like www.rockethub.com) in the five-plus years (and over $200 million in donations processed) they have been in business. Crowdfunding As It Applies to Legal Crowdfund investing will create thousands of new companies across the country. These companies will need legal services and most will be small businesses, so they will not have large legal budgets; they will need to rely on those up-to-speed with the industry. New technology companies in the legal space will have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create emerging services and software. Tasks that are conducted at law firms today will be carried out via more robust technology solutions, and they will be deployed as Software-as-a-Service, so law firms can deploy and manage it at a reasonable cost while providing a suite of services to the SMB market in ways that take less time and are more profitable. In addition, technologies are being built to enable users to see what parts of a social network are investing and to more easily search for deals and investment opportunities that are of interest. Law firms will need to advise their clients regarding what to look out for with social media and crowdfunding. Today, you cannot raise money in exchange for debt or equity securities until the SEC issues their final regulations, which are expected in the first quarter of 2013. The SEC will issue their preliminary rules on crowdfund investing in the early fall. You can learn more about these developments at cfira.org. When these regulations are promulgated, law firms should help their clients carefully follow the SEC regulations. Crowdfunding will provide new methods of obtaining valuable information for your cases and clients. It's time to re-embrace these re-emerging tools. ILTA White Paper 35