A technique developed in the 1990s by Professor Ben Shneiderman at the University of Maryland has come to be known as tree-mapping. As explained in the NY Times, April 3, 2011 at BU3, tree-mapping “uses interlocking rectangles to represent complicated data sets. The rectangles are sized and colored to convey…
Data visualization software for legal departments will someday go beyond the static presentation of data graphics. My earlier posts covered much of that basic level (See my post of May 7, 2008: methods to portray data with 9 references; 22 cited in one.). Even slightly more elaborate graphics unnerve many…
It is inexcusable for general counsel in this decade of cost scrutiny not to know and understand what their lawyers cost the company on an hourly basis, including but far from limited to their compensation. In-house legal talent comes at a cost that derives from pay and benefits, certainly and…
My benchmark survey, General Counsel Metrics’ second year, through yesterday had obtained 190 participants. It is well on its way to breach the 1,000 participant milestone. Interestingly, of the law departments in so far, just under half did not participate last year. If most of last year’s 805 participants re-enlist,…
An extreme value distribution is a curve that does for abnormal values what the normal, Gaussian bell curve does for run-of-the-mill values. A theory to predict extreme events first appeared in 1928, gained its first real traction 20 years later, and Extreme Value Theory (EVT) has recently become more and…
People who conduct surveys – I raise my hand high – should be wary when they throw stones at other surveys’ methodologies. Even at risk, I will continue to chide others on how they word questions and expect rocks through the windows of my own benchmark survey in turn. So,…
Looking at how some metrics varied from last year to this year, based on participants in both the 2010 and 2011 General Counsel Metrics global benchmark survey, I found it hard to reach momentous conclusions. On the whole, the year-over-year shifts were modest by industry yet that aggregation did conceal…
Previous posts on statistics have covered variance and standard of deviation (See my post of Feb. 18, 2011: variance; and Feb. 21, 2011: standard deviation.). Statistical analysts can take the calculations of dispersion one step farther. When they divide the standard deviation of a set of data by the average…
To appreciate industry-level benchmarks, compare a few metrics for the law departments of Google and Anheuser-Busch InBev that appear in Practical Law’s February and March 2011 issues (both at page 80). For Kent Walker of Google, more than 230 lawyers support $23.7 billion in revenue plus about 22,000 employees, from…
The latest issue of Of Counsel, March 2011 at 11, describes my innovative approach to law department benchmarks. (To take part, click on the icon upper right.) It also explains the three most important benchmarks, and how law firms can benefit from familiarity with corporate benchmarks. If you would like…