BusinessWeek, April 23, 2007 at 60, draws on data from Cornell Law School and the Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal to depict what happens – and the cost – to a typical set of 10,000 US employment suits. Of that group, 7,000 (70%) settle for an average cumulative defense…
The choice of the carcinogenic term “metastasize” by Mark LeHocky, general counsel of Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, perfectly sums up his view about the disease of litigation run amok. He always tries to use ADR methods to forestall the waste of full-scale litigation. “More often than not, disputes go on…
USI Consulting Group’s Legal & Compliance department monitors legislative and regulatory changes that affect employee benefit programs. The Group’s professionals analyze the potential impact of these changes and provide recommendations, all guidance that could help law departments respond to new developments (See my post of Sept. 5, 2005 on Countrywide…
As reported in the InsideCounsel, Sept. 2006 and 68, in 2005 Patrick Oot, formerly an antitrust lawyer, created an e-discovery practice group consisting of himself, an IT expert, another attorney and a support staff (See my posts of Oct. 1, 2005 about Pfizer and Marathon’s counterpart groups; Aug. 26, 2006…
James Fallows, writing in the Atlantic, April 2007 at 132-133, explains that a new method of computer training has dramatically increased the quality of translations, even of very difficult languages such as Chinese, Japanese and Arabic. The software uses brute-force statistical analysis. Its designers search constantly for documents already translated…
The Wall St. J., Vol. 249, March 19, 2007 at A1, sensationalizes the elite expert witnesses and their munificent earnings. Styled as “An Economist’s Courtroom Bonanza,” the article provides some astonishing background on the enormous costs, and sometimes contributions, of notable experts. For example, the article cites Dan Cooperman, general…
For the record, the Client Advisory, March 2007 of Hildebrandt and Citigroup Private Bank at 11, notes: “In recent years, the numbers of contract lawyers employed by large firms has increased dramatically, with some firms using literally hundreds of such’ temporary’ lawyers every year.” Meanwhile, following my blast against contract…
Ron Pol raises an interesting point in in-box of the ACC Docket at 14. He draws on J.H. Hope and J.R.T. Fraser, Beyond Budgeting: How Managers Can Break Free from the Annual Performance Trap (Harvard Bus. School Press 2003). Those authors cite studies www.bbrt.org indicating that up to 90 percent…
By contributing author Brad Blickstein, Blickstein Group, on legal service providers: Every year I read with interest the In-house Tech Survey in Corporate Counsel, Mar. 2007 at 73. This year’s story is titled “Playing Their Tune” and covers the quickly-increasing sophistication levels of in-house counsel vis-à-vis technology. The most surprising…
Viacom’s law department, which has more than 100 attorneys, got approval from a state regulatory body to give CLE credits to its lawyers who attend its programs. According to Mark Morril, deputy general counsel at Viacom in InsideCounsel, Feb. 2007 at 62, the accreditation process is time consuming. His department…