THE JSL MONTHLY
JURISolutions' news and updates for the month of April
A WORD FROM OUR CEO
Last month, myself and a few other JURISolutions team members were fortunate to attend WBENC’s annual Summit and Salute. This is one of my favorite events each year because it not only celebrates successful women-owned businesses but it also pays tribute to corporations with world class supplier diversity programs. Thanks to these companies, their supplier diversity programs and the professionals who run them, the playing field for women- and minority-owned businesses is being leveled across all industries, including law. I’m thrilled to say that a number of our clients were among those being celebrated at the Summit and Salute this year.
We thank you for your business and for giving us the opportunity to compete and provide innovative and cost-effective legal solutions. You have our commitment to pay it forward through our own Diversity Vendor Program and our Diversity and Inclusion initiatives both internally and for our clients (http://www.jurisolutions.com/diversity/).
OFFICE UPDATES
Meet Our Team
Each month, we will feature one of our fantastic JURISolutions team members so that you can get to know us a little better! This month, we would like to introduce you to Rachel (Homa) O'Hara, VP of Client Relations with JURISolutions.
Q. How long have you been with JURISolutions and what are your primary responsibilities?
A. This coming June, I will have been with JSL for 6 years. I’ve worn many different hats during my time here, but currently I spend most of my time on business development. In my role, I have the pleasure of managing relationships with current clients and serving as a consultant to new and prospective clients interested in exploring new ways of tackling their legal needs and doing more for less. I also represent the company at conferences across the country, manage our inside sales operations, oversee our marketing efforts, and collaborate with the Attorney Development Team to provide clients with access to top legal talent.
Q. What is one of the biggest “pain points” that your corporate clients have shared with you this year?
A. As we’ve seen for the past several years, a continuing pain point with our corporate clients seems to be the contracts management function. While some companies rely on their law department to handle their contracts, others have moved to a more decentralized model and have given individual business units ownership of their own contracts. Regardless of the structure, there always seem to be the same issues—bottlenecks in the contracts workflow, a backlog of less critical contracts, the need to standardize terms and conditions or update data privacy language across a high volume of contracts, etc. When my clients are dealing with these types of concerns, I work with them to design a custom solution that meets their specific needs—sometimes that might be to provide them with a dedicated secondment attorney for a few months, while other times it might be to establish a bench of pre-vetted, go-to project attorneys that are available as their contracts work ebbs and flows. In my experience, JSL’s model of providing high-quality legal talent within a flexible, cost-effective framework increases clients’ internal efficiencies while reducing overall spend—which, most times, is just what the doctor ordered!
Q. Having represented JSL at many diversity-related events, such as the WBENC 2016 Summit & Salute last month, can you share any insights about corporate commitment to supplier diversity that might be relevant to the legal industry?
A. To put it bluntly, there was a time in the not so distant past when corporate legal departments didn't really pay much mind to supplier diversity. That makes sense though because the purpose of a law department is to manage risk and handle day-to-day legal matters, so historically, as long as the work was getting done and the company was protected, little consideration was given to diversity—and cost was often overlooked as well. Additionally, supplier diversity tends to be driven by corporate procurement and sourcing teams, and traditionally, “Legal” has operated outside of procurement and sourcing initiatives. That being said, I am thrilled to report that the landscape is changing. In-house lawyers are becoming increasingly involved with their corporate Diversity & Inclusion programs, are joining organizations such as the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF) whose mission is to promote diversity in the legal industry, and are starting to partner with their internal procurement groups to explore ways of increasing the use of minority and women owned legal services and legal support firms. While diversity initiatives are important no matter what the industry, this recent shift in perspective is especially exciting within the very traditional legal industry, which is still struggling to close the diversity gap.
WBENC 2016 Summit & Salute
Marketing Meets Technology Workshop
In this "Marketing Meets Technology" workshop, Sommer discussed how to quickly gauge the effectiveness of your online presence, and how it compares to those of your competitors. The digital marketing landscape changes so quickly that it's hard to know exactly what to focus on and whether you're doing the right things. Brittany took diligent notes that will hopefully help to further JSL's digital reach in the near future.
Are you be interested in participating in webinars and/or receiving other content from JSL? Voice your opinion by filling out the form below!
Health and Wellness Corner
World Health Day: Beat Diabetes
Each year, World Health Day focuses on a different health-related topic and this year's theme is all about fighting diabetes around the world. Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar. Hyperglycaemia, or raised blood sugar, is a common effect of uncontrolled diabetes and, over time, leads to serious damage to many of the body's systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels.
In 2014, 9% of adults 18 years and older had diabetes. In 2012 diabetes was the direct cause of 1.5 million deaths. More than 80% of diabetes deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
Make sure you know all that you can about diabetes, what it is, how you can prevent it or how you can manage your symptoms by using these resources:
Testicular Cancer Awareness Month
The incidence rate of testicular cancer has been increasing in the United States and many other countries for several decades. The increase is mostly in seminomas. Experts have not been able to find reasons for this increase. Lately, the rate of increase has slowed. Testicular cancer is still fairly rare, but it helps to know the facts and what you can do to catch this type of cancer early on so you can get the treatment that you need.
National Cancer Control Month
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About JURISolutions
Website: jurisolutions.com
Location: 1600 Market St, 38th floor Philadelphia, PA 19103
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Jurisolutions
Twitter: @JURISolutions