An exercise for the mind is to catalogue beliefs held by lawyers legal departments that are myths, that serve some felt need but are inaccurate, that exhibit prejudice or wishful thinking not borne out by facts. For example, the easy and ample availability of comparably-skilled lawyers (See post of Aug. 24, 2006: talent is spread around everywhere; and Nov. 17, 2008: neither side sees the other as fungible.).
Several mythical misimpressions lurk on this blog in a variety of posts (See my post of May 4, 2005: quality of life in-house; May 15, 2005: changing behavior; Sept. 10, 2005: software systems; Oct. 4, 2005: of law firms about legal departments; April 23, 2006: employment law suits; Oct. 30, 2006: more myths cherished by law firms about departments; March 23, 2007: records management; March 23, 2007: two more myths of records management; and March 27, 2009: by in-house lawyers regarding outside counsel.).