Much data is available about US patent cases and their costs (See my post of Oct. 2, 2008: costs of patent litigation, with 13 references.). Nothing has appeared on this blog, however, about costs north of the border. Now I can venture up there: “Canadian litigators estimate that it takes…
Some of the information you include in your Requests for Proposal should be comparative benchmarks. Especially if your legal department wants to find a firm that will handle the services you need on a fixed fee, you want to provide and set some performance measures. Sometimes, you can provide benchmarks…
In one post I suggested that legal departments, when they decide to send out an RFP, think like seniors who apply to college: three stretch firms that might be too costly for the work, three sure-fire firms that probably share the economics of the department, and three safeties that are…
Amidst all the hoopla about rating law firms online, along comes a respected organization that hopes to have online ratings of “neutrals” available in early 2010 (See my post of Nov. 5, 2009: collected assessments by law departments of their firms with 10 references.). The ABA J., Vol. 95, Dec.…
Clients rightfully want law firms to bill promptly. No surprise bills late in the year! No laggard invoices – management delayed is management denied. That granted, chief legal officers can consider two techniques: (1) insist that law firms submit all bills within 30 days of the end of a month…
Consulting to a large government agency, I have come to appreciate the Federal Government’s billing arrangement known as the “per diem.” For every major city, the Government sets an amount that it will reimburse each day for meals and incidentals. My life is immensely easier and less full of receipts…
Nick Cronin, an attorney who works in-house at a Wisconsin corporation, founded Law Bidding early this year. He wrote me and explained that “LawBidding.com lets businesses (and individuals) post legal issues and then allows attorneys who have registered with the site to search cases and place bids on the work.…
Last month, Susan Blount, the general counsel of Prudential Financial, wrote to the 60 law firms the insurance giant uses regularly. She informed them that in 2010 the company expects to pay for legal services at 2008 hourly rates. It wasn’t a request as much as a take it or…
Will Irving, general counsel at Telstra, says Telstra has put the Australian law firm Gilbert + Tobin on a fixed fee retainer arrangement after telling panel firms he wanted then to come up with something innovative. Gilbert+Tobin shares a “volume” risk if it takes on more work than it budgeted…
Geoff Kelly, Coca-Cola’s general counsel, describes one step taken by his legal department does, being a 2009 Employers of Choice winner cited in Diversity & the Bar, Vol. 11, Nov./Dec. 2009 at 12. Each year the department sends a questionnaire to its 32 US “partner” firms that asks them to…