From a recent survey of 191 in-house legal managers based in the U.S., we learn that “nearly three-fourths (73.1 percent) supervise one or more foreign firms.” This factoid from Met. Corp. Counsel, Vol. 17, June 2009 at 11 (by Marcus Linden) rests on the definition of a “foreign law firm.”…
A fascinating chart about Fortune 250 law departments appears in a chapter of Laura Empson, ed., Managing The Modern Law Firm: New Challenges New Perspectives (Oxford Univ. Press 2007) at 92 (by Brian Uzzi, Ryon Lancaster and Shannon Dunlap). From 1992 to 1994, about 20 of the Fortune 250 had…
It is common to read that law firms have merged, opened an office, or started a specialty area because of “client demand.” For sure, some general counsel may have urged a partner to do something to match the changing needs of that client, and perhaps eventually the firm obliged. But…
I have suggested a de facto ladder of discounts for increasing volumes of fees (See my post of Aug. 8, 2006: tiered discounts from hourly rates.). A corollary of that technique would be for law departments to hold back increasing amounts as the volume of their invoices to a given…
This blog has covered the Call to Action of Rick Palmore (See my post of March 26, 2006: Palmore letter.). A chapter in Laura Empson, ed., Managing The Modern Law Firm: New Challenges New Perspectives (Oxford Univ. Press 2007) at 47 (by David Wilkins) cites two earlier efforts aimed at…
“According to the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s 2007 Report of the Economic Survey, the average billing rates for intellectual property attorneys at firms of greater than one hundred attorneys was more than 27% higher, on average, than at firms of less than twenty attorneys.” Vincent J. Allen, Dallas, Texas…
I foresee tighter controls on law firms billing for telephone calls. Let me sketch a future state. A law department might mandate that all calls to it go through a “routing number.” Anyone with access to that number will call it and enter the “matter code” and the number of…
A chapter in a recent book about law firm management discusses how firms develop new practices. In Laura Empson, ed., Managing The Modern Law Firm: New Challenges New Perspectives (Oxford Univ. Press 2007) at 77 (Heidi Gardner, Timothy Morris and Narasimhan Anand), the authors discuss building a practice after an…
My position has been that a general counsel has the right, even though the firm is working against a fee set in advance, to request records of timekeepers, hours, and rates (See my post of Sept. 13, 2006: still need to review bills.). Time recording goes on anyway in the…
Corp. Bd. Mbr., Vol. 12, 2nd Quarter 2009 at 38, announces the results when 240 general counsel ranked “the best national law firms” for corporate legal work. As I studied the list, it seems clear that size of firm correlates to renown of firm for corporate and board-level legal advice.…