Tag: Menafn

More than 80% of small and medium law firms reported financial performance at or better than expectations.  But the post-COVID boom is receding, and the ‘great resignation’ has led to renewed pressure.  Ambitious firms are turning to legal tech to help them thrive. 

LONDON, UK, 16th May, 2022 – Today, LexisNexis Legal & Professional released the 10^th Anniversary edition of the Bellwether, titled “Transformation troubles”.  Building on a decade of sharing insights on the independent legal market, this report suggests that the post-lockdown boom has continued into 2022.   91% of the market voiced confidence in the future of their firm and 33% noted they had outperformed revenue expectations – maintaining the highs of 2021.

Having endured several tough years, firms are starting to feel the benefits of the tough decisions they made to survive.  However, external pressures continue to challenge profitability. A staggering 81% of respondents, with knowledge of their PII, reported that their costs had increased at renewal.

Whilst there remains a clear desire to grow organically, the number of firms actively open to a merger or acquisition has climbed almost 10% since 2021.  This may be because we are seeing signs that the post-pandemic growth boom is plateauing.  51% of respondents stated they were growing, a notable slip from the 66% in 2021 and 57% in 2019.

Just as growth projections return to the pre-pandemic ‘normal’, the traditional problems for the sector have also returned.  The ‘great resignation’ has left its mark on the sector. Around 50% of contributors commented that recruiting and retaining good lawyers is now one of their top 3 challenges, with sizeable unease that they would be able to compete effectively for talent.  This is clearly causing pain, as winning new business is seen as an equally big challenge.

To combat these threats, ambitious firms are investing in cloud-based tech to drive greater efficiencies and win more business. 36% had already increased their investment in technology and 24% were planning to do so.  When asked which tech tools are currently in place, perhaps unsurprisingly, teleconferencing software such as Microsoft Teams had the highest adoption rate at 79%. This was followed by legal research tools, such as LexisNexis, at 69%.

Whilst some firms have welcomed technology with open arms, 47% say they have no plans to invest in any technology at all.  74% say they still use Google for free research and guidance – even though 63% of the survey acknowledged this was riskier and slower than using legal tech.

The divide in the industry continues when looking at business generation activities and ways of working.  Only 46% are investing in their marketing spend and 55% are developing a social media strategy.  Almost 50% are insisting their teams come into the office 5 days a week.

Rakhee Patel, Senior Marketing Manager and the report’s author, commented “It is wonderful to see that the industry has found its feet again after such a challenging period.  But with continued challenges with recruitment and business generation, firms must be open to embracing new technologies so that they can survive, grow and thrive.”

Read the report here: https://www.lexisnexis.co.uk/research-and-reports/bellwether-2022.html

Rakhee Patel is available for comment.

About LexisNexis Legal & Professional

LexisNexis Legal & Professional^® is a leading global provider of legal, regulatory and business information and analytics that helps customers increase productivity, improve decision-making and outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis^® and Nexis^® services. LexisNexis Legal & Professional, which serves customers in more than 150 countries with 10,500 employees worldwide, is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.

• MICHELIN Guide inspectors will discover and celebrate Toronto’s restaurants
• Toronto becomes the first MICHELIN Guide destination in Canada

TORONTO, May 10, 2022 — Michelin and Destination Toronto today revealed an expansion of The MICHELIN Guide, with the announcement of the MICHELIN Guide Toronto, making it the first Canadian destination for the selection.

A new chapter begins in Toronto, which features global eats and charming cafes as well as high-end dining experiences. It’s a city where top chefs want to establish a presence and where emerging chefs nurture their culinary talent – both drawing on locally produced ingredients unique to Ontario.

The inaugural edition of the MICHELIN Guide Toronto will be announced in fall 2022, with a selection of restaurants receiving honors. Inspectors award MICHELIN Stars – One, Two or Three – to unparalleled cuisine. They also bestow Bib Gourmand ratings on restaurants that offer great quality food at good prices, and they award the MICHELIN Green Star to restaurants involved in sustainable gastronomy.

“For the first time in its history, the MICHELIN Guide lands in Canada, and our inspectors are excited to experience the impressive culinary landscape of Toronto,” said Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the MICHELIN Guides. “This first selection for Canada’s largest city, and our first in the country, will represent the local flavors, international inspiration, and distinct creativity that makes Toronto’s dining scene world-class.”

In order to present a full and independent selection in the fall, Michelin inspectors already have begun visiting restaurants in Toronto. They will continue during the next few months. Michelin inspectors are meticulous in maintaining their anonymity. They make dining reservations anonymously and pay for all their meals to ensure they are treated the same as any other customer.

“This is an exciting moment for our city as Toronto will become the first MICHELIN Guide destination in Canada,” said Mayor John Tory. “This further bolsters our reputation as a world destination for food and cuisine. Our diverse city, along with the many renowned chefs who call Toronto home, have helped us get to this point and to be able to showcase all of the wonderful restaurants. A big thank you to everyone who has made this possible: MICHELIN, Destination Toronto, Destination Ontario and Destination Canada. While we await the guide, I encourage Toronto residents to continue supporting and celebrating the revival of Toronto restaurants by dining in locally to sample the diverse culinary offerings our restaurants have to offer.”

“Toronto’s culinary scene is as diverse as the city itself, and the MICHELIN Guide Toronto is the perfect way to celebrate our culinary community,” said Scott Beck, President & CEO of Destination Toronto. “It will be a powerful way to share our culinary capabilities with new audiences from around the world. We’re so proud to partner with Michelin and our destination partners Destination Ontario and Destination Canada, to bring the MICHELIN Guide to Canada for the first time.”

The MICHELIN Guide is constantly observing the evolution of culinary destinations around the world, and the discovery process began in Toronto four years ago. Michelin works with Destination Marketing Organizations, or tourism boards, to promote the travel industry in the respective locations; however, the MICHELIN Guide selections process remains completely independent. While selections remain fully independently determined by Michelin inspectors, Michelin is working with Destination Toronto on marketing and promotion activities only.

The upcoming MICHELIN Guide Toronto selection will follow Michelin’s historical methodology, based on five universal criteria, to ensure each destination’s selection equity: 1) quality products; 2) the mastery of flavors; 3) the mastery of cooking techniques; 4) the personality of the chef in the cuisine; 5) consistency between each visit (each restaurant is inspected several times a year).

The new restaurant selections will join Michelin’s selection of extraordinary hotels in Toronto, curated by Tablet Hotels, the hotel experts at the MICHELIN Guide.

Michelin in Canada
Michelin opened its first North American tire production facilities in Canada in 1971 in Bridgewater and Pictou County, Nova Scotia. It’s now a major contributor to the Canadian economy in the field of sustainable mobility, with activities in the tire sector but also around and beyond tires. The company currently employs around 4,000 people in Canada.

About Michelin North America, Inc.
Michelin, the leading mobility company, is working with tires, around tires and beyond tires to enable Motion for Life. Dedicated to enhancing its clients’ mobility and sustainability, Michelin designs and distributes the most suitable tires, services and solutions for its customers’ needs. Michelin provides digital services, maps and guides to help enrich trips and travels and make them unique experiences. Bringing its expertise to new markets, the company is investing in high-technology materials, 3D printing and hydrogen, to serve a wide a variety of industries—from aerospace to biotech. Headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, Michelin North America has approximately 22,500 employees and operates 34 production facilities in the United States and Canada. (michelinman.com)

About Destination Toronto
Toronto’s visitor economy is a vital economic engine for the city, generating more than $10 billion in economic activity and supporting 70,000 jobs in 2019. Destination Toronto’s mandate is to reflect the breadth and diversity of Toronto’s people, places and culture to inspire residents and visitors to meet, visit and explore our city. Operating in partnership with the City of Toronto, the Greater Toronto Hotel Association and the Ontario Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, Destination Toronto markets and promotes the city to locals and visitors, attracts and supports major meetings and events, and supports local businesses to maximize the opportunities of visitor spending. For more information, please visit DestinationToronto.com.

For more information, contact:
Andrew Festa
Michelin North America – External Communications
andrew.festa@michelin.com  

Kathy Motton
Destination Toronto – Senior Communications Manager
kmotton@destinationtoronto.com

Miraculous Brain Injury Survivor, KCPD Officer Moss, champions the race as the 2022 Honoree to support the Brain Injury Association of Greater Kansas City and Kansas

Kansas City’s connection to the Memorial Day Race, Going the Distance for Brain Injury, is personal. Friends of Kansas Citian Amy Thompson launched the race 35 years ago in her honor as she fought to survive a debilitating brain injury. They hoped to gain awareness and support for individuals and their family members affected by brain injury.

Sponsored by the Brain Injury Association of Kansas and Greater Kansas City, Going the Distance for Brain Injury race is the successor of that original race organized by Amy’s friends. The 2022 event is Monday, May 30, at 8 am on Memorial Day in Loose Park, just south of the Plaza. This Kansas City racing tradition includes 5K and 10K runs and a 1.5-mile walk, a virtual race, and children’s event.

At age 24, Amy Thompson’s life changed after an attempted robbery that left her with a brain injury. Her friends and family offered Amy encouragement and support. Several years after her injury Amy passed away but her legacy is still associated with today’s race.

“Thompson’s story and her friends’ efforts made a lasting impact. People often still refer to the race as the Amy Thompson Run and feel close to the cause that impacts someone in the U.S. every eighteen seconds,” said Robin Abramowitz, Executive Director of the Brain Injury Association of Greater Kansas City and Kansas. “Since then, many advances to help those with brain injuries have been made. One such example is in our 2022 race honoree, Kansas City Police Department Officer Tyler Moss.”

Officer Moss was given a one percent chance of living after being shot in the head by a gunman on July 2, 2020.  Police on the scene rushed Moss to what is now University Health (formerly Truman Medical Center). His recovery was miraculous and reflected Moss’s tenacity to relearn everything from eating to talking to walking. Moss currently is working at the KCPD Police Academy, retraining and mentoring other officers.

Abramowitz added, “Tyler’s journey offers hope and sparks the conversation about brain injuries. The BIAKS-GKC connects people to resources to improve outcomes for individuals living with brain injuries. The race is one of our largest fundraisers, so we encourage everyone to register, participate in the run or walk, and have fun for this good cause.”

Kansas City Chiefs cheerleaders will be at the race, and former wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs, Marc Boerigter will serve as Honorary Walk for Thought Chair. He is a record-holder for the longest touchdown reception in Chiefs and NFL history. Marc is an active member of the KC Chiefs Ambassadors and has hosted the Chiefs pregame show for the last 11 years on a local sports radio station.

Participants in the race will receive a commemorative 2022 race shirt designed by former race honoree James McGinnis, who received a traumatic brain injury (TBI) during a football game his senior year at Olathe East High School. He was given a seven percent chance to live yet beat the odds and is now an artist spreading his message of love.

Race details and registration are available at www.biaksrun.org

About The Brain Injury Association of Kansas and Greater Kansas City (BIAKS-GKC)

The Brain Injury Association of Kansas and Greater Kansas City (BIAKS-GKC) is the only nonprofit in Kansas and the Greater Kansas City metro solely devoted to serving individuals living with brain injuries, their family members, and the professionals who treat them. BIAKS-GKC’s mission is to provide ongoing brain injury advocacy, education, and resources. The association is largely funded through donations, grants, and special events, including the beloved Memorial Day run, Going the Distance for Brain Injury. Founded in 1982, BIAKS-GKC is a chartered affiliate of the Brain Injury Association of America, a network of brain injury associations across the United States. www.biaks.org

Message testing research has long been an ignored part of market research, with little methodological or technological innovation over the years. Even the most basic needs that market researchers have in message testing have still not been met:

• Still can’t test a lot of messages in one study
• Still can’t get good separation in scores between good/better/best messages
• Still have to ask respondents to explain likes/dislikes
• Still have no way of improving messages as they are tested

Current message testing solutions do not help marketing teams with campaign readiness and there exists an unaddressed gap between what marketing needs vs. what is handed over by market research. For example, while market research delivers top messages, what marketing really needs to execute a campaign is optimal message bundles and story flows for every channel and segment. Consequently, a significant amount of judgment is applied by marketing teams to get to translate market research results into omni-channel, personalized campaigns.

A pioneer in the use of decision heuristics science and AI to improve messaging, Newristics recognized that behavioral science and machine learning algorithms had the potential to transform message testing research. The idea led to the birth of CMO (Choose Message Optimizer), a message testing algorithm that is designed to deliver better campaign readiness out of market research. Built with 3 years of pure R&D, CMO significantly improves campaign readiness by providing the optimal message map for each channel and customer segment, ready for execution.

To demonstrate the power of CMO innovation, a large-scale message testing study was conducted using in-market messaging from a large financial brand (Chase Bank). The study tested over 400 messages across several attributes, with over 1,000 respondents. The messages were tested with consumers in an online survey using the CMO algorithm.

In-market messages from Chase Bank were tested against 100s of alternate articulations that were created using decision heuristics. Winning message bundles were then identified from the survey data using machine learning algorithms. Improvement in messaging from Chase in-market controls vs. new optimized message bundles was measured using preference share analysis. Message bundles for different channels and customer segments were predicted by CMO algorithms.

The results from the study were sensational, with the CMO-optimized message bundles outperforming current in-market messaging across ALL types of campaigns, with increase in preference share ranging between 30% – 50%. The findings of this study are especially powerful because the improvement in messaging campaigns was achieved with ZERO assistance from the Chase marketing team and simply relied on the power of decision heuristics science and AI to optimize messaging.

Learn more about the CMO (Choose Message Optimizer) here.

About Newristics
Newristics is famous for helping brands optimize messaging using a combination of behavioral science and machine learning algorithms. In the past 10 years, Newristics has optimized messaging for 100s of world-leading brands generating $100s billion in revenue every year.

Newristics Contact:
Tyler Correll
VP, Client Development
Newristics
Mobile: 760.704.9424
Email: tcorrell@newristics.com
Calendar: https://calendly.com/tcorrell-bsi/30min
Website: www.newristics.com

British actress and dancer Stephanie Tripp will star in the trilogy written and directed by Bruno Pischiutta and produced by Daria Trifu.

In the calm and relaxed atmosphere of a small cocktail party, director Bruno Pischiutta told members of his entourage and a few close friends that he has decided to expand the story of the film “Spa” into a trilogy consisting of feature films that follow a sequential storyline.

“I want to tell,” said Pischiutta, “one of the best stories Hollywood has ever brought to the screen, an extremely popular story that will also be emblematic of contemporary human relationships and will be a turning point, a milestone, in defining the cultural conflict over free speech. To achieve this, I need nearly five hours of screen time, because the standard length of a single film would be significantly limiting.” Pischiutta has been writing the script for more than a year, and expects to complete it by the end of the summer.

British actress and dancer Stephanie Tripp will star in the three films. The cast consists of approximately 50 international English-speaking actors, most of whom are members of Global Film Studio’s talent agency, the Global Film Actors Agency.

In an earlier statement by Pischiutta on the topicality of the subject, the author said, “Love and sexual relationships are more complicated today than ever before. They are often interracial, and sometimes involve LGBT characters in a kaleidoscope of different nationalities, traditions, and ways. Love relationships are not caused and motivated by logic but by passion, and the power of passion gives them life and governs them in a constant fluctuating variation that is always interesting and often surprising.”

The film will be distributed worldwide by globalcinema.online, Global Film Studio’s paid streaming service for non-violent films. The streaming channel expects one to two million viewers to watch the film in its first weekend of release.

ABOUT

Bruno Pischiutta is one of the last great Italian filmmakers of his generation, and the only one who lives and works in America for forty years. During his film career, he created and developed numerous feature films in Europe, America, Africa and Asia, and won important awards in several countries. In China, he wrote and developed the feature film “The Sepia Portrait”, and in Ghana he completed the feature film “Punctured Hope” that the Hollywood Political Film Society submitted for nomination at the 2010 Academy Awards^®: brunopischiutta.com

Stephanie Tripp is a British actress and dancer. She studied at South West Academy of Dramatic Arts, and is currently based out of London. Her IMDB page credits the actress in over 20 films and TV series, and it shows that she is currently attached to six upcoming projects. Tripp will be the star in Bruno Pischiutta’s upcoming trilogy of sequential feature films: IMDB Profile

Global Film Studio Inc. is a privately held Canadian media company. Its operations focus on film production and distribution, talent management, film festival organization and publishing. Global Film Studio has six divisions including the Global Nonviolent Film Festival (founded in 2012), Global Film Actors Agency (founded in 2012) and Global Cinema Online (founded in April 2021): globalfilmstudio.com

Global Film Actors Agency is unique in the world. The agency applies the Hollywood studio system used in the 1950s to create stars such as Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe and many others: globalfilmactors.com