The huge US law firm, Holland & Knight, has a general counsel, Wall St. J., Aug. 30, 2006 at B2, as do many other major firms. Those GC partners serve as the legal advisor to the firm. With the growth of law firms, we will see more inside outside general…
In a rational-actor model, corporate lawyers hire the law firm most suited to handle a matter according to an objective determination of various firms’ skills and costs (See my post of Aug. 22, 2006 that reviles “beauty contest” as a description.). This Dr. Spockian, information-processing model departs in many ways…
A recent article in InsideCounsel, Sept. 2006 at 46, refers to a survey by that magazine and one notable finding: “Law firm lawyers said getting them involved early on matters is the single most important thing legal departments can do to improve their relationships with firms.” My cynical spin on…
Your key law firms will serve you better if they periodically gather all the lawyers and support staff in the firm that work on your business and encourage the group to share industry knowledge and client insights. An example of such a team, described in InsideCounsel, Sept. 2006 at 46,…
In May 2006, 162 readers of InsideCounsel completed a survey which found that more than 8 out of 10 believed alternative fee arrangements are a tool to control litigation costs (See my post of Sept.17, 2006 for more on this survey by Butler Rubin.). The published comment after that datum,…
During May 2006, 162 readers of InsideCounsel completed a survey sponsored by a law firm, Butler Rubin. Asked “Do you believe alternative fee arrangements are a legitimate tool to control litigation costs?” about 84 percent of them agreed. Yet to another question, “Have you ever used alternative fee arrangements?” 40…
Fixed-fee deals are bespoke. Even so, to the extent any fixed-fee arrangement with a law firm is typical, it often includes in the set payment the firm’s out-of-pocket disbursements. It is also standard for those arrangements, however, to exclude very large disbursements such as for expert witnesses and sophisticated software.…
A fixed-fee arrangement with a law firm (See my post of April 5, 2006 with definitions of fixed and flat fees.) should reduce bill review precipitously. Nevertheless, the law department should continue to receive bills as it normally does and it should periodically check some of them (See my post…
Law departments that invite competitive bids should strive for transparency. All the law firms invited to propose should be given an equal opportunity to learn as much information as possible. To that end, the department should tell the firms the names of the firms it has invited to compete. A…
Law departments often ask their firms to submit budgets on matters. Less often they negotiate fixed fees with their firms. Both methods of cost-control rest on four common elements, which both inside and outside lawyers need to handle skillfully. They need to: 1. Think through, state and critique the plausibility…