ACC energetically solicits sponsors and ACC Alliance partners, always with a hand deep in their till, and recognizes their contributions of talent and talents (as in the ancient currency weight) in various ways. All this is the daily trade of any association. I make no comment whatsoever whether any Alliance partner, including the three cited below, is indeed the best in their respective spheres.
What I quarrel with are ACC’s descriptions of its partners. For example, LexisNexis Examen is described as “the leading innovator of web-based outside counsel management solutions.” This appeared in Acc Docket, Vol. 24, Nov./Dec. 2007 at 65 (See my posts of July 14, 2006 on the cottage industry of matter management systems; and July 11, 2006 on e-billing solutions.).
Later (at 106), readers are told that WeComply, also an Alliance Partner, “is the leading provider of customizable, web-based compliance training” (See my post of July 15, 2006 on other providers of such training.). And Lex Mundi is “the world’s leading association of independent law firms” (at 104)(See my posts of May 30, 2005 and Dec. 19, 2005 about it and other associations of law firms).
It’s one thing to sell sponsorships and give vendors publicity; it’s crucially another thing to credit those sponsors with being the best in their respective industries. Law departments deserve to know more objectively about the relative qualities of those who wish to serve them.