A piece in the NYSBA J., Sept. 2010 at 22, by a Dean at Pace Law School considers how well law schools prepare students for the real world of practicing law. Under the topic “Market Pressure Exposes Problems,” she asserts that corporate clients exert some pressure on law schools. “They…
To err is human, to forgive the divine right of blog readers. When I realize I have been wrong on something, I should admit it and take the more correct view. All managers should strive for the same humility and flexibility. Just to set the record straight, here are some…
Robert Weber, the general counsel of IBM, assumed that position in 2006 when he left his partnership at Jones Day. He commented on the adjustments he had to make to succeed in-house and pointed out three in Legal Strat. Rev., Summer 2010 at 17. As a lawyer, you are only…
It seems inevitable that when a lawyer is promoted to be a direct report of the general counsel or to be the general counsel, disappointment – sometimes bitter discontent – plagues those who believed they had a shot at it but were passed over (See my post of April 16,…
One of the speakers at a panel at the InsideCounsel Superconference was the General Counsel of Johnson Controls. He said with evident pride that over the past 20 years seven people had left the law department and become the general counsel at a publicly traded company. He believes that departures…
One panelist at the InsideCounsel SuperConference was the General Counsel of Johnson Controls, Jerry Okarma. His 55-lawyer legal department has a standardized on-boarding process for lawyers around the world. Otherwise, he said, there would be lots of different understandings. There is a schedule set for what newcomers should do and…
With posts here and there about the odds of an internal promotion to the top legal spot compared to a recruitment of a new person to that position, let’s pause to state the shaky reasons why recruitment happens more than it should. More accurately, it happens more than academic researchers…
“One of the few things that management theorists agree on is that recruiting bosses from outside is something that you should avoid if you can.” This quote, from the Economist, Aug. 7, 2010 at 65, speaks to CEOs, but do general counsel escape its point? Unfortunately, we have no empirical…
Korn/Ferry compiles an annual Index of Global Executive Compensation. A chart in talent mgt., July 2010 at 50 shows form it “Global First-Year Executive Compensation” for the years 2005 through 2009. Four positions each start at an index score in 2005, those being the CEO, CFO, CIO (Chief Information Officer…
Being one who relishes confirmation of my own beliefs, I nodded when I read one of three recommendations to improve talent processes: “Start with the assumption of full transparency in all talent management processes.” From talent mgt., June 2010 at 14, the oblique recommendation buttressed my own opinion and set…