It ill becomes this blawgster to bang on about consultants to law departments. Better to mute my own horn. But a panel of consultants tackled the question on every general counsel’s lips: “If consultants add any value, how?”
Bear with me on a some modest suggestions, with contrived examples. A consultant can guide a law department to see its own patch of turf in comparison to the wider field. You may think only of the title “general counsel,” but others bestow the title “chief legal officer.” A consultant has been through it before and can guide your process. Few law departments have conducted a large-scale competitive bid. As a liaison with IT, consultants can translate and mediate for the techies and the lawyers. Extra hands and minds represents another value of consultants; if you want to data mine your e-billing trove, bring in some dedicated consultants who can do the job quickly and right. One more comes to mind, the consultant’s role as bad cop with vendors. Run tough demos and tear apart the contract!