The larger the company the more it sustains specialized groups whose work fringes on that of lawyers. Those groups whose work is larded with law – the likes of human resources, risk management, environmental safety, leasing and real estate acquisition – understand well most of the practical law that applies…
According to an October 2005 item by the Lawyer Group, the telecommunication giant “halved its total legal spend since 2000 from almost $400m (£224.1m) to just under $200m; it has also halved the amount it spends on external counsel to $110m (£61.6m). It also cut its in-house legal department from…
An intriguing idea: insist that your outside litigation counsel provide a project manager for any case likely to have expenditures above a very substantial amount (See my post of Nov. 15, 2005 on the definition of major litigation; and June 27, 2006 on how BellSouth handles them.). This is what…
A number of law departments have negotiated favorable terms with vendors. Examples include photocopy services, court reporters, travel agents, messengers, hotel chains, and similar services (See my posts of July and Aug. 2006 on various cottage industries; and of April 2, 2005 on unbundling ancillary services from law firms.). It…
For law departments, everyone sees and forecasts technology as sunshine. Technology increases productivity (See my post of May 17, 2006 on technology.), reduces drudgery (See my post of Nov. 18, 2005 about mind mapping software.), improves quality (See my post of Jan. 16, 2006 about McDonalds and document assembly.), and…
When the budgetary ground shakes, and we look at the intensity of cost-cutting measures, we can draw on the Richter scale. A tremor leads to cuts in library subscriptions, discretionary travel, CLE, and consulting services. Somewhat more intensity means cancellation of the all-department conference, restrictions on temporary staff, and a…
“At Sears, in conjunction with our Procurement function, we had developed an effective temporary help model for project-based legal work. This model enabled us to evaluate the need for internal time/headcount, outside counsel use, and temporary assistance, adding a third leg to the legal support stool. The result was cost…
Some law departments, those with tens of thousands of dollars spent on a disbursement, negotiate national contracts with vendors. The contracts lock in better rates, stronger performance guarantees, more committed resources, and other benefits. Some of those departments, having worked hard for their national deals, insist that their law firms…
I am persuaded that law departments that chargeback to operating units the outside fees incurred on their behalf thereby improve client accountability (See my post of Oct. 30, 2005 with its dissenting view; and April 17, 2006 for comments on accounting granularity.). Clients feel the pain; they have a reason…
After once-over lightlies about the swarm of vendors other than law firms who supply goods and services to law departments as part of a multi-billion dollar ecosystem – a classic cottage industry, it seems it will help readers if I collect information on those niche markets (See my posts of…