Summarized in ACC Docket, Vol. 25, May 2007 at 12, the 2006 ACC/Serengeti Managing Outside Counsel Survey compiles data from hundreds of ACC law departments. This year’s data reinforces my earlier comments on the predecessor survey (See my posts of Nov. 8, 2005 about law departments hiring only experienced lawyers;…
The 2006 ACC/Serengeti Managing Outside Counsel Survey compiles data from hundreds of ACC member law departments. More information and survey results are available from Rob Thomas, the report’s author. As the latest report is summarized in ACC Docket, Vol. 25, May 2007 at 12, “about 25% of in-house counsel ……
Back in 2005, Pitney Bowes began to study its outside legal spending. As reported in the Wall St. J., May 2, 2007, at B2, with assistance from its strategic sourcing group the legal department analyzed its matter-management system data and decided to change the economic basis on which it paid…
What the US conglomerate Tyco did broadly with Eversheds – retain the UK firm to handle all the company’s legal work across Europe – Northrop Grumman has done more narrowly with Allen & Overy and all its employment, benefits and incentives work. According to Legal Week, March 8, 2007 at…
A short item by Ed Charlton, published in Law Practice, April 2007, argues that law departments that keep track of their outside-counsel invoices electronically can assure themselves that they pay each invoice only one time. That advantage makes sense, but Charlton makes too big a deal of it. “Storing the…
A study of French law departments, conducted by Juristes Associes in 2006, included almost 100 legal departments. Two-thirds of them departments acknowledged that they had changed law firms in the previous two years – which by the way means that one third stood pat for those two years. As the…
Those who invest in mutual funds are familiar with beta (the systematic return delivered by the market) and alpha (the extra return obtained because of a fund manager’s skill). The beta tide raises all boats, but some alpha captains still get into or out of the harbor faster than others.…
Survey results from BTI, published in Law Practice, April 2007, place “prestige” as the most important determinant of why law departments retain law firms. Preposterous, I say. It cannot be denied that if all factors were equal, the better known firm, with the better reputation in the market, would probably…
Despite many law departments’ efforts to slash the number of law firms they retain (See my post of April 22, 2007 on Tyco International and references cited.), powerful forces push the other way. For example, the more global the operations of a company, the more law firms are likely to…
I recently reviewed a draft request for proposal (RFP) from a law department. It sought proposals for an area of law. One of its questions was along the lines of “Please give the name of three law firms that you believe are leaders in this area of work other than…