You have put a number of firms through the wringer and picked one. The winner exults, the other firms gnash their teeth. The only fair step is to tell the disappointed firms why you did not pick them and give them enough detail so that they feel they learned something…
Some law departments put out for bids from law firms more than one cluster of work in the same offering. The general counsel decides that if the department is going to soldier through a competitive bid process, it might as well include several pools of projected legal services, even if…
An earlier post lays out nine reasons why a general counsel might undertake a competitive bid process to select a law firm (See my post of Oct. 10, 2008: nine justifications to compete work.). Opposing those advantages, a like number of disadvantages of competitions deserve notice. Here are the arguments…
So much do the drums beat in favor of competing work among law firms, general counsel might not pause to consider fully the many reasons for such an effort. Here are nine justifications, listed roughly in the order that I think general counsel invoke them. (1) Cost savings owing to…
Preparing for my upcoming webinar on September 30th about RFPs to law firms, I pulled together four recommendations that I have not written about. 1. Anticipate questions. Once your Request for Proposal (RFP) is in good shape, have two lawyers who were not involved in the type of matters covered…
Many general counsel are invited to speak at retreats of their primary firms. Here are some topics that will bring value to the partners and derivative value to the law department. 1. Myths likely held by the law firm about the law department 2. How frequently and by what means…
An RFP sent to ten or more law firms generates lengthy and detailed responses. If firms can reply as they see fit, your evaluation team will have a hard time picking out of the mass the comparable answers. Better, much better, to tell firms precisely how you want them to…
How long does an RFP process take? Here are some guidelines, but the bottom line is that three months should accomplish it. That means that this process doesn’t fit if you need to select a firm to represent you in a major lawsuit just filed against you. There are ways…
A profile of Anne Chwat, the general counsel for Burger King Holdings, in Corp. Counsel, Vol. 15, Sept. 2008 at 71, mentions she hosted a summit in 2008 for her company’s primary external law firms. The summit’s purpose was “to explore ways in which we could work together to keep…
General counsel, of the species homo lex riskus aversus, instinctively want to clothe their request for proposal in the chain mail of a non-disclosure agreement (See my post of May 3, 2007: NDA’s and confidentiality commitments.). “Upon penalty of legal annihilation, you must preserve the confidentiality of this document, selection…