It will not do to try to make cookie cutters out of inside-house counsel work (See my post of Jan. 25, 2007 on “commodity legal work.”). Legal tasks and problems do not fall into such neat and repetitious patterns and lawyers rebel. Rather, instead of trying to force commonly-done work…
Over a decade ago I worked for Merck’s law department as an employee and I took full advantage of the headquarters’ wonderful health center. Since then, other law departments I have consulted to have had available for their attorneys workout centers onsite. So, when I read about the law department…
According to Tim Allen, the CEO of Business Integrity, several law firms have used that company’s software, DealBuilder, to create applications for law departments. Clifford Chance was engaged by Cisco to work on the automation of Cisco’s global sales contracts, by UBS to work on the automation of its banking…
In early 1999 a report went to the Board of County Commissioners for Hernando County, Florida. The 20-page study followed up on an audit of the County’s Legal Services Department. Along with a recommendation for Legal Request Forms (See my post of March 26, 2007.), another recommendation urged the small…
InsideCounsel, March 2007 at 58, reports that “almost 40 percent of law departments added attorneys in 2006.” The quote presumably refers to net additions, not replacements. The data comes from 614 in-house respondents. Roughly speaking, large US companies have about five lawyers for every billion dollars of revenue. Stated differently,…
A letter to the editor in Business Law Today, Vol. 16, March/April 2007 at 9, went further into paralegal certification than this blog has previously (See my post of March 23, 2006 for the National Association of Legal Assistants’ program that leads to becoming a Certified Legal Assistant.). The letter…
In the minority of law departments, lawyers track their time and charge it back to clients. A controversial practice it surely is, so let’s look at why you might and why you might not (See my post of Jan. 13, 2006 for a first cut at pros and cons, including…
Timothy Mahoney, executive director of Esquire Group, has a strong interest in deflating the Indian outsourcing bubble because his firm – part of Special Counsel – provides temporary litigation support staff from domestic US locations. Nonetheless, his article in Met. Corp. Counsel, March 2007 at 62, presents nine arguments contrary…
Let’s apply in more detail a concept that has been touched on (See my post of Dec. 17, 2006 on false positives.). A false positive happens when a client comes to a lawyer when in fact there is not a material legal issue; or one occurs when a lawyer identifies…
Every in-house lawyer faces a column of legal work. At the lowest layer is the hum-drum incessant flow of ordinary legal services and advice (See my post of March 18, 2007 on commodity legal work being crucial to the business.). Commodity legal work is the stuff of process (See my…