Thanks to Ron Friedman for this pointer: the American Lawyer (July 2005) reports that the General Counsel of FMC, Jeffrey Carr, plans to create a Web site to rate law firms. I think that’s a great idea. We would not want it to become like voting for baseball All-Stars, a…
About 18 months ago, BTI Consulting Group surveyed more than 180 Fortune 1000 corporate counsel. One question on this topic gave respondents 11 choices. The number one response, with 23% selecting it, was “share information electronically.” I presume this means that in-house counsel gain productivity and skill – perform better…
Bruce McEwan’s thoughtful blawg, Adam Smith, Esq. describes Allen & Overy’s disclosure of its GAAP-compliant, full description of its financials – including partner compensation. If such financial transparency gains a following, clients may appreciate it. Clients will have reliable data on which to assess some aspects of law firm performance.…
Kevin Silverang is the EVP and Chief Legal Counsel of O’Neill Properties Group, which handles environmental cleanups, as well as the senior partner of a four lawyer firm that handles O’Neill’s legal work. He is a corporate executive and a law firm partner. Silverang’s firm can serve select other clients;…
A thoughtful book on the consulting industry, Business Consulting, by Gilbert Toppin and Fiona Czerniawaska, introduces this buzzword to describe the situation where “some clienta are encouraging consortia of [consulting] firms to work together on a more equitable basis, with their own staff taking on the central coordination role.” (pg.…
The 16th annual CLT survey gushes, “peace at last.” If this be peace between firms and departments, I would hate to see war. Aside from two inconclusive questions on alternative billing , four others aim directly at cost control efforts by law firms. For each the 295 law department respondents…
According to a recent study we completed, three actions these days are most favored for controlling law firm costs. Three most common cost-control measures: • Preferred counsel lists, requiring special permission for a corporate lawyer to deviate from it • Discounts from standard billing rates, whether based on volume, from…
The home page of @Court, provider of a “nationwide, Legal XML-compliant electronic filing service,” presents figures about a technique for litigation cost reduction. Every year, @Court states, more than 370 million documents are filed in state and federal courts, yet only a tiny fraction are filed electronically. Further, “of the…
Legalaffairs (May/June 2005 at pgs 10-12) discusses sending legal work to Indian firms. The editor who wrote the piece, Daniel Brook, notes that “third-party outsourcers … remain popular mostly with corporate legal departments, which use outsourcing to keep costs down.” (He mentions GE and Microsoft.) He then cites a law…
Like many disjunctives, the excluded middle comes closer to the truth. A general counsel leans toward a name brand law firm for matters that put the general counsel at serious risk. No top lawyer furthers his career by pinching dimes but pouring outside counsel fees down the hole of a…