A Stamford, CT-based company, WhitServe LLC, is aggressively targeting firms it believes have infringed its patents relating to the delivery of professional services over the Internet, including methods for online patent and trademark renewals. One of the targets is a prominent service provider to the legal community. Computer Packages, Inc.…
A piece in the redoubtable Economist, June 26, 2010 at 69, concludes that cost-saving efforts in the West and systemic improvements in the East continue to favor the Indian legal process outsourcing industry (LPO). They cite a study by ValueNotes that “estimated that India’s LPO revenues will grow from $146…
Up-to-date detail on two third-party funders of litigation comes from ALM’s Litigation 2010, Spring 2010 at 23. The article traces the background, start-up, and current operations of two of the best-known funders: Burford Capital Limited and Juridica. Juridica has raised a total of $180 million dollars on London’s Alternative Investment…
The report just issued by Eversheds, “Law firm of the 21st century: The clients’ revolution,” is based on questions asked of 130 general counsel. One finding regarding the post-recession world suggests a vigorous uptake of outsourcing. “Just over a third (38%) of General Counsel were actively implementing or considering outsourcing…
A consultant in France, Hélène Trink,recently teamed with a legal search firm (Equiteam) to publish a survey of French legal departments. The survey asked questions about budgets and management of outside counsel counsel. It obtained responses from 81 general counsel (Directeurs juridiques) in the fall of 2009. From a list…
When Merck bought Schering-Plough in late 2009, Schering-Plough’s general counsel, Thomas Sabatino, lost his job but gained a healthy dose of termination benefits. As summarized by Corp. Counsel, June 2010 at 35, “he would be eligible for just over $12 million in severance payments, pension and medical benefits, and stock…
Four times I have assembled posts on this blog about offshore providers and Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO). They cite 78 posts (See my post of Nov. 14, 2005: offshoring with 4 references; Dec. 16, 2007: offshoring with 18 references; June 25, 2008: offshore with 27 references; and Sept. 1, 2009:…
Four times I have assembled posts on this blog about offshore providers and Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO). They cite 78 posts (See my post of Nov. 14, 2005: offshoring with 4 references; Dec. 16, 2007: offshoring with 18 references; June 25, 2008: offshore with 27 references; and Sept. 1, 2009:…
Data collected by the General Counsel Roundtable reveals where its members cut costs in 2009. The top six reductions, based on responses from 124 departments, were law firm expenditures (70%), travel (59%), vendors and consultants (21%), IT spend (14%), law department staff (8%), and employee compliance training (6%). “Travel” probably…
An article in Law Practice, May/June 2010 at 18, describes six ways a legal department might squeeze some savings out of its support services. As examples of support services, think of legal research, subscription management, trademark renewals, bulk photocopying, shredding, and travel expenses as targets of these techniques. The second…