As the term is typically used by members of a law department, can we define “primary law firm” (or variations such as “preferred counsel,” “key law firm”, “go-to firm,” “major law firm” and the like)? What makes a firm primary is typically the absolute amount paid to it during a…
For a general counsel, discounts from standard billing rates enjoy some evident advantages over other methods of managing external costs A discount is easy to describe to fellow executives. “We knocked 10 percent off the firm’s rates” needs no further discussion. It is easy to calculate the presumed savings. “Ten…
Among the cost-cutting ideas accumulated in the ACC Docket, Vol. 27, March 2009 at 47, here is a hard-nosed suggestion by someone: “When you’re calling your law firm with questions, make it clear that if the lawyer on the phone cannot answer the questions that you are posing and if…
“When a new firm without local offices wants to do work for me, and I believe that there is a good fit, I ask that they internalize all costs and attorney time associated with travel as a condition of being retained. In other words, I get their agreement to treat…
Among the 75 cost-cutting ideas in the ACC Docket, Vol. 27, March 2009 at 42, is a method instituted by one contributor to the collection. “We have recently implemented additional billing guidelines. We continue to require monthly billing, but outside counsel must also obtain authorization to exceed $4,000 in a…
Ron Pol dislikes competitive bids. A diatribe against them in the ACC Docket, Vol. 27, March 2009 at 22, piles on 15 practices he claims take place and undermine the process’ benefits. One point reported “relatively often,” is that the losing firm never had a chance, because a favored firm…
Sheri Qualters of the National Law Journal, Feb. 25, 2009, summarizes an Altman Weil report, “What’s the Real Cost of Responding to RFPs?” That study pegs the outlay by law firms on RFPs at $35,000 to $65,000 per RFP, “or between 100 to 200 partner hours” (See my post of…
“Post-tender debriefings,” in the New Zealand phrasing of Ron Pol from in the ACC Docket, Vol. 27, March 2009 at 22, make sense, but he feels that firms that took part in the competitive bidding process will likely be loath to suggest improvements if they detected a flawed process. Pol…
General counsel should focus on concentration of their external spend rather than on the number of firms paid (See my post of March 24, 2005: concentrate spending instead of converging law firms.). For example, a concentration target might be 75 percent of all spend to go to 10 percent of…
On March 8, 2009, the Augusta Chronicle reported on fees paid a law firm for its work on bond issuances. The named firm earned $400,000 for its work on a $160 million water and sewer bond in 2004; $126,000 for a $19.6 million airport bond in 2005; $44,000 for a…