Is there a defensible way to calculate savings from a competitive bid process? The answer is definitely “yes” if the bids are for fixed fees (See my post of Aug. 5, 2007 for my recommended methodology.). If, however, the law firms submit proposed budgets, but with no commitment to adhere…
Hundreds of posts on this blawg have to do with ways a law department can spend money, but the opportunities remaining appear to be endless. The latest expense that has come to my attention is a shadow jury. In Of Counsel, Nov. 2007 at 8, you learn that “A shadow…
Microsoft, with its huge law department and massive patent activity (See my posts of Aug. 3, 2005; and May 13, 2007 on its drive toward 3,000 patents a year.), has the scale to both justify unusual initiatives and the resources to pull off the initiative. A tidbit regarding this energy…
Within every industry, total legal spending as a percentage of revenue drops as companies grow larger (See my post of May 4, 2005.). As compared to smaller companies, larger companies enjoy economies of scale and scope (See my post of Nov. 9, 2006 on data from European law departments.). Efficiency…
Only rarely do companies track the legal costs – both either internal and external – that they accumulate in furtherance of a business initiative. For example, the roll out of a new product has intellectual property hurdles, marketing materials review, logistics contracts, perhaps employment agreements, and all manner of other…
General counsel who reduce what the spend on external law firms should get credit for those reductions whether the savings are cash savings or reductions in reserves. Or so thinks this non-accountant. Law departments that face significant litigation set up reserves. If spending on law firms is applied against those…
It is common for large companies to require employees who want to buy a good or service to submit a purchase order (PO) for prior approval. Sometimes, the finance department – usually the force behind the PO process – tries to rope the law department into compliance with the regimen,…
An article in Bus. Law Today, Vol. 17, Nov./Dec. 2007 at 61, differentiates offshoring to India from offshoring to Israel. The author, Ken Wollins of Green Point Legal Services, points out some disadvantages of Indian providers: promising what law departments want to hear because of cultural tendencies to avoid confrontation,…
What cost advantage do inside lawyers have because they do not have to buy insurance for their legal work? Data from the website of the Attorneys’ Liability Assurance Society (ALAS) provides 2007 per attorney premium rates for malpractice coverage. Rates vary by coverage limits and retention levels but let’s choose…
Bruce Macmillan, in-house counsel at Dell EMEA, is cited in a report on hourly billing, by Commerce & Industry (C&I) and BDO Stoy Hayward. At Dell, “procurement function processes have affected legal purchasing for years.” The point for this blog is that “Procurement team involvement is now mandatory on higher…