In August 2002, Michael Boutout, writing for the National Association of Insurance Litigation Management (NAILM) – is it actually pronounced “nail ‘em”?, cited a “recent poll conducted of more than 100 insurance defense firms.” These law firms “felt they were consistently getting the short end of the stick when they…
Many law departments have toyed with improvements to their billing processing that allow them to pay invoices quickly. In return for receiving payment within five days, or some other time shorter than the customary 30-45 days, law firms supposedly discount their fees by two, three or four percent. Other than…
A white paper by Allegient Systems dated Sept. 2001 (www.allegientsystems.com) states data for five years of its reviewing outside counsel bills. In the most recent year (2000), the firm reviewed 271,200 invoices totaling $648.3 million dollars (fees plus disbursements). The net savings the company claimed came to $70.4 million. With…
Corporate law departments that confront a conflicts situation with outside counsel should turn to Freivogel on Conflicts at www.freivogelonconflicts.com/new_page_36.htm. Each of the seven situations discussed by Freivogel sounds very plausible; here are five: (1) a boutique you retain insists on your waiving in advance any conflicts that might arise after…
The curmudgeon in me chafes at the over-use of “partnering.” Law firms and law departments cuddlying up and sharing goals and scratching each other’s synergistic backs causes tears to well up at conferences and in fawning articles – but I have doubts. So does an article in MIT Sloan Mgt.…
During a recent web conference hosted by Foley & Lardner, Litigation Counsel of Cummins, Miguel Rivera, shared his experiences with budgeting. Cummins has selected regional counsel, one counsel for each of 12 regions, and their relationship partners sit each quarter with Rivera and the Cummins lawyer responsible for the firm’s…
Recent research has found that “lawyer compensation and client billing practices are inextricably connected.” This quote from a brief summary of a paper presented by Huseyin Leblebici (Univ. of Illinois, Champaign Urbana) at a 2003 conference run by the Clifford Chance Centre for the Management of Professional Services Firms (Said…
Many British companies have selected “panels,” small groups of firms that handle a company’s legal work in certain areas, such as commercial, litigation, environmental, or human resources. For example, the British bank, Barclays, has 37 law firms on its UK-based panels. According to an article in the Financial Times (April…
Legal departments that follow the Pied Piper of convergence, that stop using many law firms and funnel more work to the remaining firms, inevitably find themselves attracted to larger law firms. Larger firms can handle a broader array of services and dig deep into the specialty depths of their lawyers.…
It’s just not caught on, the admirable notion of evaluating outside law firms. It seems very worthwhile, certainly to consultants, to formally assess the performance of law firms, but the law departments of our country have never acquired the taste. There are several reasons for the reluctance. Often, a particular…