Steadily, steadily e-billing software handles more and more bills from law firms (See my post of Jan. 4, 2005.). The largest firms, those in the AmLaw 200, are the most likely candidates to invoice electronically, and indeed the 116 that responded to a recent survey, published in Law Firm Inc.,…
Based on 165 responses to its survey this fall, Altman Weil, in partnership with Lexis Nexis Martindale-Hubble, found that personal references were the leading method by which Chief Legal Officers find a law firm to meet a need. If personal references don’t turn up a firm, “CLOs turn first to…
Based on 165 responses to Altman Weil’s recent survey, conducted in partnership with Lexis Nexis Martindale-Hubble, the two firms made much of the drop from previous years in the “fired or considering firing” percentage. At 30 percent, the figure dropped significantly from the approximately 50 percent figure of previous years.…
Some results of research undertaken for LexisNexis Martindale-Hubble during August 2006 appears in InsideCounsel, Oct. 2006 at 96. The research, which gathered responses by an undisclosed number of in-house counsel, shows how that group evaluated eight attributes of outside counsel. Since 90 percent of the respondents chose “Lawyer responsiveness” while…
During May 2006, 162 readers of InsideCounsel responded to a survey by a law firm, Butler Rubin Saltarelli & Boyd. One question asked why alternative fee arrangements do not occur more frequently, with the results provided in InsideCounsel, Oct. 2006 at 53. Two reasons were most commonly selected: “outside counsel…
In the Fin. Times, June 28, 2006 at 5, the chairman of Marks and Spencer, Paul Myners, ruminates on the role, selection, and rationale for investment banks. His thoughts parallel much of the prevailing wisdom about law firms. Translate one of his tips: “Choose the people not the bank” echoes…
A group of esteemed in-house counsel met for the Third General Counsel Roundtable, sponsored by the Economist Conferences on Nov. 30-31, 2005. Among the many interesting comments in the proceedings, two isolated remarks chimed for me. The Chief Legal Officer of Bayer, George J. Lykos, warned that “companies should be…
During a conference held January 23, 2003 in Paris, the European General Counsel of DANA Corp., Michel Cloes, described that company’s strategy to balance cost control with the need for clients to obtain timely external legal advice. According to Connections, Vol. 3, Summer 2003 at 8, managers at DANA “have…
After being spun off in 2005 from Bayer Chemicals Corp., LANXESS had a legal department of seven attorneys. Not having enough capability in intellectual property the new department obtained from the US law firm Pepper Hamilton several seconded staff. The secondments included “IP attorneys, an IP paralegal and patent agent…
What if law firms create for each invoice a coversheet, one with little bubbles filled in that give a summary, much as tests or SATS that are scored electronically from answer sheets? All of the factual information about an invoice could be electronically coded and read by an OCR device;…