The proper ratio is 1.34 current (incumbent) firms to 1 new hopeful. Seriously, no research or survey data has come to my attention that answers the question. To say, “It depends,” is glaringly obvious and obviously useless. Even to list some of the considerations adds nothing to what experienced in-house…
Many law firms who compete against incumbent firms for work presume that the fix is in (But see my post of Feb. 15, 2006 on two European firms that changed panel firms.). Those in the saddle will likely keep riding, while newcomers eat dust (See my post of May 19,…
Well, not completely. Tax may have a loophole. Otherwise, it is an accepted practice ideal for the law department to vet all law firms and retain them on matters. A looser leash finds the law department hiring a firm but letting that firm’s lawyers and the internal clients deal with…
It’s one thing to impose on law firms all kinds of requirements that aim to make them better integrated with the law department and more cost-effective (See my post of June 13, 2006 on designation of core staff; Aug. 22, 2006 on requiring project managers; June 15, 2006 about the…
I’m out on a limb on this, but the view is important. InsideCounsel July 2006 at 52 discusses the results of 407 law department lawyers who indicated whether their department “fired or planned to fire” one of their law firms in 2006. In bold print, the magazine proclaimed: 34 percent!…
You are driving through the rear-view mirror when your law department manages outside counsel principally though review of their bills. Steering is chronically late, and musty, dusty invoices further fog the mirror (See my post of Oct. 31, 2005 on real-time bill information through JennerNet; and May 19, 2006 on…
Years ago, GE’s law department pulled the rods out on the “Manhattan project.” The project exploded the company’s use of costly Wall Street law firms, and the evocative phrase has come to stand for the notion of equivalent capability, for less, in regional or smaller law firms. Big city, big…
The notion is often bandied about that law departments should collect from their outside counsel in electronic format the documents counsel produce. Then the law department can use those documents on its own or distribute them to other firms and thereby keep costs down. Often espoused; rarely implemented – but…
What would be the result if a law firm asked its lawyers to charge their time not at a single hourly rate (say, $400 per hour) but at three levels. At the lowest level, where the service was simple or inefficient or travel, perhaps the rate would be 20 percent…
The American Lawyer, Aug. 2006 at 115, released the results of a massive poll of mid-level associates at major US law firms. For 66 percent of the associates there is an official billable hour requirement. Now, human nature being what it is and ambitious associates being what they are, won’t…