An in-house lawyer based in England told me that many law firms their negotiate caps on their firm’s liabilities. In return for granting discounts or other economic concessions, firms may ask law departments to limit their liabilities in malpractice actions. I had not heard of US-based law firms that seek…
I love actual data about law departments, hardly a surprise to steady readers, so I appreciate when data appears on what law firms charge per hour or per type of service (See my post of June 2, 2010: CT TyMetrix Real Rate Report; Oct. 14, 2010: AIPLA data; and Oct.…
Not likely, would be my answer. If the methodology resembles what the magazine controversially publishes about law school rankings, general counsel won’t learn much that they don’t already know. The name brand firms will strut through the top 25, the factors that go into the rankings will be criticized (size,…
Law departments seem reluctant to insist that their law firms deliver all work product electronically. The requirement may be a common request in outside counsel guidelines but there is little enthusiasm for enforcement. Maybe the ugly truth is that in-house lawyers don’t make use of the output from law firms.…
LexisNexis CounselLink, an e-billing and matter management provider, found that approximately 16 percent of “law firm fees billed to clients in the first six months of 2010 were invoiced according to rules of AFAs” (alternative fee arrangements). The article that states this, Met. Corp. Counsel, Oct. 2010 at 42, adds…
You have retained a law firm to investigate possible wrong-doing in your company. The firm does its work, submits its report and, not surprisingly, recommends that you retain them further to take care of some of the (costly) recommendations. For example, you had a potential FCPA violation and one of…
If your law department has a juicy lawsuit to be filed against a deep pocket, give some thought to a method a judge used to choose the lead counsel in a 2000 price-fixing class action. As described in Fortune, Nov. 1, 2010 at 92, “an inventive federal judge set up…
An adulatory profile of David Boies mentions that his firm “imitates investment banks by charging flat fees.” That puts them at the cutting edge of law firms since Boies Schiller takes on some major cases. It was the next line that floored me, from Fortune, Nov. 1, 2010 at 92.…
The press release by Thomson’s Hildebrandt BakerRobbins, regarding the first benchmark survey by the merged consulting groups, makes much of the year-over-year decline in median total legal spending. The consulting firm touted management prowess on the part of law departments as the cause of the drop from 2008 to 2009.…
A piece in the Economist, Oct. 9, 2010 at 24, links lack of productivity growth in European countries partly to their restrictions on professional services. It notes that “many European countries are rife with anti-competitive rules. Architects and lawyers’ fees in Italy and Germany are subject to price floors and…