are there any good outlines or articles on law practice management
including technology, associate training, contract lawyers?

Hello and thank you for your question.

The leading consultant-authorities on law firm management are
Hildebrandt and Altman, Weil. Since there practices are devoted to
this area, you may find everything you need at

Hildebrandt 
http://www.hildebrandt.com
and
Altman, Weil
http://www.altmanweil.com/about/articles/lfma.cfm

For the particular topics you've asked about, I suggest you read the
following:

TECHNOLOGY
Laying the Groundwork for Strategic Technology Deployment
http://www.altmanweil.com/about/articles/lfma/technology.cfm#
http://www.altmanweil.com/about/articles/article.cfm?APA_SSID=12&PAID=2&ArticleID=123&PracticeArea=Law%20Firm%20Management&APASub=Technology

Technology as a Strategic Weapon - The Corporate Lawyer's Desktop of
the future
http://www.altmanweil.com/about/articles/article.cfm?APA_SSID=12&PAID=2&ArticleID=125&PracticeArea=Law%20Firm%20Management&APASub=Technology

Technology Will Transform Transactional Law 
http://www.hildebrandt.com/Documents.aspx?Doc_ID=711

Corporate Focus - - Lawnet
http://www.hildebrandt.com/PublicDocs/Doc_ID_1235_792003913296.pdf

See also:
The Big Picture
http://practice.findlaw.com/feature-0603.html


ASSOCIATE TRAINING
Trends in Associate Retention
http://www.altmanweil.com/about/articles/lfma/hr_man.cfm#

Attracting—And Keeping—The Best & Brightest
http://www.hildebrandt.com/Documents.aspx?Doc_ID=827

Firms Need to Provide Career Development
http://www.hildebrandt.com/Documents.aspx?Doc_ID=628

Plugging the Brain Drain—Tips for Retaining Associate Talent
http://www.hildebrandt.com/Documents.aspx?Doc_ID=636

Uncertain Times—Law Firm Associates Need Mentors to Nurture Them
http://www.hildebrandt.com/Documents.aspx?Doc_ID=658

See also:
First Year Associate Training and Professional Development Program
http://www.shipman-goodwin.com/assoc_train.php

CONTRACT LAWYERS
This very much overlaps with the Associate training information given
above.  Contract lawyers essentially are Associates who rather than
being on an up-or-out partner track, have a contractully set tenure
and no partnership expectation.  In terms of the overall setup, a good
article to read is
Achieving the Benefits of Practice Management
http://www.hildebrandt.com/Documents.aspx?Doc_ID=547

Worthwhile material from sources other than Altman, Weil and
Hildebrandt:

At some firms, it's up-or-out, i.e., partner or nothing. But more and
more big firms have something in-between, which may be called "senior
attorney," "senior counsel," "special counsel" or someday, perhaps,
even a category of "Very Special Counsel."
Big Firm, 'Big' Words
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1039054434606

L's Guide to the Law Firm: A Primer
http://www.heymarci.com/l_articles/westlaw_guide.html

MANAGING WORK EXPECTATIONS: TOOLS, MODELS AND DIALOGUE 
http://www.pdcounsel.com/managing%20work%20expect.html

LawCommerce
http://www.lawcommerce.com/articles/index.asp

Search terms used:
law associate training
"law firm technology"
law associate up-or-out contract
"law firm management"


Thanks again for bringing us your question.  If you need more
material, please request clarification.  I would appreciate it if you
would hold off on rating my answer until I have a chance to reply.

Sincerely,
Google Answers Researcher
Richard-ga

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Clarification of Answer by richard-ga on 12 Oct 2003 15:10 PDT

"Since <their> practices ..."

Please excuse the typo.