A quote in the IBA Daily News, Oct. 5, 2010 at 1, stunned me. Speaking on a panel at the International Bar Association Vancouver Conference, a partner from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett openly shared a set of beliefs that should have been long discredited. On the subject of invoicing, Todd…
Little uncertainty surrounds the typical costs of common forms of US patent and trademark services. For 18 US utility patent services, 9 trademark services, and 9 other kinds of IP services, a detailed report lays out the median charges by US law firms. Even more, the American Intellectual Property Law…
I heard a week or so ago of some dissatisfaction with the services offered by law firms that offer themselves as centers of excellence for discovery work. True, they have banks of computers; yes they know software packages; of course they rely on temps and contract attorneys; and sure there’s…
If a favored law firm possesses specialized depth of knowledge, a department might negotiate a retainer agreement. Under such an agreement, some or all the department’s lawyers can call the firm with questions in a defined area. For example, FCPA compliance, anti-trust, bankruptcy, or export/import complexities might do well for…
Examples have appeared in the past two years of specific legal departments and how they handled aspects of their RFP processes (See my post of May 5, 2008: NEC NA; June 10, 2008: Exelon’s multiple RFPs; June 10, 2008: RFP for single matters with Votartium Investments; Sept. 12, 2008: Pfizer’s…
As reported in Corp. Counsel, Oct. 2010 at 15, Wal-Mart has started to track its law firms “to make sure that the promotions and pay of flex-time lawyers are proportional to those who work full-time.” The retail giant also requires its firms to propose as candidates for the position of…
One of the most popular topics on this blog in the past two years has been competitive bid projects and the Requests for Proposal at their core. The format and content of the RFP have enjoyed ample attention (See my post of Aug. 13, 2008: ask questions about flex-time arrangements;…
I increasingly believe that a sounder approach than reduction of the numbers of firms used is to increase the number so that the firm retained better matches the matter’s risk and complexity (See my post of Oct. 19, 2009: dozen arguments against convergence; Sept. 9, 2010: Sony Ericsson’s GC doubts…
One of the panelists at the IBA annual conference this week stated that the accounting functions of some companies have problems with arrangements struck between the law department and law firms that vary from traditional hourly billing. The reason is that the companies, and their internal audit functions, are worried…
One of the panelists at the IBA annual conference this week showed the results of a survey of what law departments in Latin America want from their law firms. Norm Clarke, the speaker, showed that “unavailability of partners” was the key factor in client satisfaction. Partner inaccessibility may be a…