A profile of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s former general counsel, John McGoldrick, makes two points that deserve comment. They are in Corp. Bd. Mbr., Vol. 12, 2nd Quarter 2009 at 44. “Great general counsel come in a variety of flavors. Some are expert at helping their companies influence and adapt to the…
An article in Corp. Bd. Mbr., Vol. 12, 2nd Quarter 2009 at 38, suggests that Boards of Directors should assess the legal talent of the general counsel and replace that top lawyer if that is necessary. A partner at a large law firm, quoted in the article, recommends that board…
Law Department Management Blog is pleased to welcome a new guest author. Robert M. Unterberger, a litigator for more than 20 years, has more recently been CEO, Head of Legal Solutions and Consultant to U.S., U.K., Canadian and Indian-based start-up, boutique and large LPOs. An adjunct law professor, Bob has…
Data recently appeared about corporate counsel in a large, longitudinal study by a team at the American Bar Foundation (ABF). The study, cited in Researching the Law, Vol. 20, Spring 2009 at 1, started with surveys in 2002of a representative sample of over 4,000 lawyers. Five years later, over 70…
Survey data collected by Optia Partners, summarized in Asian Legal Bus., Vol. 7, May 2009, gives compensation data from nearly 500 English-speaking lawyers (bengoshi) employed in corporate legal functions in Japan. The brief article does not explain whether the amounts reported are salary only or also include bonuses. The seven…
Not that much hiring is going on, but for the straggling few departments that have an opportunity to add someone, consider this recommendation about interviews: “It’s more important to choose the right assessors than to focus on the assessment technique.” The Harv. Bus. Rev., Vol. 86, May 2009 at 81…
For eleven years, Booz & Company has analyzed data about CEO succession at major companies. For the world’s 2,500 largest public companies, they researched whether there was a “succession event” in 2008 and if so all kinds of information about the former CEO and the next CEO. A similar analysis…
Marschall Smith, the General Counsel of 3M, described at the SuperConference one of his department’s significant investments in leadership development. He explained that every six months 15-20 of his 165 lawyers spend one week off campus at a program called the Leadership Development Council. The aim is to “turn them…
Sylvia Bateman, an Associate General Counsel at Exelon, took a few minutes at the SuperConference to describe some of the professional development opportunities her legal department makes available. Batemen said, “We provide training if lawyers want to sit on a not-for-profit board.” Exelon’s legal department also hosts a chapter of…
At a panel during the Ninth Annual SuperConference, a lawyer from Exelon told the audience how that large law department makes sure managers each use a similar approach and grading style. The twenty managers of lawyers, those who evaluate lawyers who report to them, meet together to assure “ratings reliability.”…