Altman Weil published data in GC Mid-Atlantic, June 2008, at 30, that compares metrics from the firm’s 2003 benchmark survey and its 2007 survey. Mash together the survey’s metrics on lawyer staffing and inside law-department expenses per lawyer and we glean an insight not mentioned in the article. For all…
I wrote before on the convergence program of Linde Group (See my post of June 18, 2007.). More information about its circumstances appear in FocusEurope, Summer 2008, at 31. The article mentions that both Honeywell and Brady Corporation have chosen a single firm to handle all their legal work in…
When US companies prosecute patents in foreign countries, they typically have to retain specialized patent lawyers in those countries. The charges of those patent lawyers – called foreign associates – can be high, and apparently sometimes higher than what local companies are charged. As reported originally by IP Law &…
Personnel expenses, including salaries, bonuses and benefits, dominate the internal budgets of most law departments (See my posts of July 31, 2005 and Feb. 21, 2008: estimates of 75%.). Data on this common situation comes from Altman Weil, in GC Mid-Atlantic, June 2008, at 30, with metrics from the firm’s…
Altman Weil published data in GC Mid-Atlantic, June 2008, at 30, that compares metrics from the firm’s 2003 benchmark survey to its 2007 survey (See my post of July 20, 2008: demographics of the surveys and some observations on methodology.). One set of metrics covers inside law-department expenses per lawyer.…
Data published by Altman Weil in GC Mid-Atlantic, June 2008, at 30, compares metrics from the firm’s 2003 benchmark survey to metrics from their 2007 survey. The 2003 report includes data from 199 corporations “evenly distributed between companies with annual revenues of under $250 million to companies with over $5…
McDermott Will & Emery announced it has created a permanent class of staff associates: “lawyers who will be paid less, work less (though still be full-time) and be billed out at a lower rate than the firm’s other associates.” This innovative offering, described in GC Mid-Atlantic, June 2008 at 15,…
The organizers of Belgium-based InBev’s 2007 Legal Conference, the seven senior lawyers who manage the company’s 50-lawyer department, wanted to hold the conference in Argentina. As the general counsel of InBev, Sabine Chalmers, writes in Acc Docket, Vol. 25, Sept. 2007 at 16, “The only down side was that business…
The issue of Ethisphere, Qtr. 2, 2008 highlights the 93 companies that the Ethisphere Institute honors in 2008 as “the world’s most ethical companies.” Of them, 29 are not US companies (and for six of them I have done consulting projects) and 33 industries are represented What I wish we…
The Eversheds report, “Law firm of the 21st century” at 5, pronounces a commonplace as if it were a revelation. “The key challenge facing buyers of external legal services over the next ten years is controlling costs and achieving value for money.” (emphasis in original) Of the general counsel, legal…