For years people have told me that general counsel strongly value predictability of legal fees, even if that means higher fees. I have doubted that statement. I doubt it because the total amount spent during a year on outside firms is the measure, not whether the law department hit its…
An article in Fortune, May 11, 2009 at 20, adds some details to what I wrote about previously on funding of litigation by third parties (See my post of April 11, 2009: litigation financing; Jan. 6, 2009: law suit financing offshore; March 20, 2009: a firm in hedge-fund financed litigation;…
The cost-per-hour gap between internal and external lawyers normally bandied about appears large, at 40-50 percent, but the comparison tends to be partner-heavy on the outside and less-veteran on the inside. About half the bill of most law firms for most matters consists of partner fees. After all, the law…
Legal Project Management ran a poll, which garnered 36 responses since April 27, 2009. The online survey asked, “Which cost cutting method do you feel provides the most effective outcome?” a) Renegotiating fees (33%): This sounds to me like rate discounts. b) Use of new technology (27%): I suppose e-billing…
A recent paper estimates the total cost of patent litigation to alleged infringers. Paraphrased from the abstract, the researchers analyzed stock market event studies around the date of patent lawsuit filings for US public firms from 1984-99 (See my post of May 4, 2007: event studies with patent lawsuits.). They…
Marschall Smith, the General Counsel of 3M, explained his company’s policy about plaintiff’s contingency fees. Speaking at the SuperConference, Smith said, “We don’t favor contingency arrangements if we are the plaintiff because 3M has the cash to pay the firm. It lets the company reap the full reward of the…
At the Ninth Annual SuperConference www.insidecounsel.com/superconference, David Grumbine, Senior Counsel, Dispute Resolution Group, of Whirlpool Corporation spoke about best practices for working with outside counsel. He stated: “Work expands the longer a case is open and the more money it costs.” A trivial point, if Grumbine was merely saying that…
Some of my thoughts on offshoring legal services are assembled in a recent article, published in Legal Strat. Rev., Spring 2009, at 19. Click here for a PDF . I discuss the three most important reasons why offshoring legal services can be a boon for legal departments, then three leading…
Janine Dascenzo, an Associate General Counsel at GE who is deeply involved in operations, mentions in a profile that “we have been able to cut travel considerably by using our new video conferencing system, called TelePresence, from Cisco Systems.” That’s all it says in Law Tech. News, April 2009 at…
Highlighting a point made in a General Counsel Roundtable report, I commend their view that general counsel have several advantages over law firms when their departments choose suppliers and negotiate contracts directly with them. Law departments enjoy stronger market power because they can aggregate volume, whereas law firms typically send…