A study conducted this year by Commerce & Industry (C&I) and BDO Stoy Hayward obtained survey results from 171 UK member law departments. In the words of the report, “Many in-house counsel say the bills they receive from law firms bear little relation to the value of the services provided.”…
Client-service teams at law firms benefit the law departments of those clients (See my post of Sept. 17, 2006 with two examples.) and departments should encourage their key law firms to set them up (See my post of July 19, 2007 on the rate-setting role of practice groups.). Law firms…
A survey this year by Commerce & Industry (C&I) and BDO Stoy Hayward obtained survey results from 171 UK member law departments, 43 percent of which had annual revenues of £1 billion or more. For the entire group, hourly billing accounted for two-thirds of their total annual legal spend on…
A major bank’s law department deliberately refuses to complete surveys that ask for it to list the law firms it uses most. Law firms who represent the bank lobby to be listed, but the department has decided as a matter of policy not to oblige. Perhaps its policy rests on…
At one large bank, all attorneys may approve the invoices that are their responsibility regardless of the amount of the invoice. Other law departments grant authority in step with the level of its lawyers (See my post of Sept. 17, 2005 #3 where over $100,000 requires AGC signoff; Aug. 24,…
Most law firms and law departments want an arbitration clause to govern should there be a dispute between them. The advantages are well-known. Both sides, generally speaking, want the dispute kept quiet. Law firms generally like arbitration clauses because they think that arbitrators, who are lawyers, will be more sensitive…
Good arguments stand behind the point that bonuses to law firms ought to correspond to the likeliness of the outcome and the value to the client of that outcome (See my posts of Aug. 4, 2007 on a litigation bonus; and Oct. 15, 2007 on suggestions.). To try to bring…
Several years ago, Sam Zell, the billionaire investor, created a captive law firm, Rosenberg & Liebentritt, to serve the legal needs of his affiliate companies, and exclusively their needs. According to InsideCounsel, July 2007 at 70, “the firm wasn’t allowed to do any work for anyone or any entity outside…
To choose a law firm through a competitive bidding process sounds admirable, but if a multi-defendant lawsuit presents the opportunity and if codefendants are at the same time selecting their counsel, a law department may not have the luxury of a competitive-bid process. Some of the law firms that might…
Those who manage outside counsel often dislike success-based billing arrangements because they foresee that they will have to make a difficult decision at the end of the matter: what value do I put on the performance of the firm in relation to the outcome (See my post of Oct. 29,…