A presentation by a lawyer from TD Bank Financial Group makes the point that secondments should be two way – from the law firm to the law department as well as the other way around (See my posts of Sept. 21, 2005 about hiring secondees and Oct. 26, 2005 about…
Meyers-Briggs assessments show that younger generations are becoming increasingly extroverted, a person who is energized when with other people and who does not like to be alone. As related by USA Today, June 7, 2006 at 2B, people born before 1964 are split 50/50 between introversion – they become drained…
My post of Aug. 21, 2005 tried but did not come to terms with the difference between “paralegal” and “legal assistant.” Then I read in GC Mid-Atlantic, May 2006 at 6 that the law department of William Bertrand, the general counsel of MedImmune, consists of 11 staff lawyers, as well…
Sara Armstrong, the general counsel of Graham Packaging, is the subject of an admiring profile in GC Mid-Atlantic, May 2006 at 30. No wonder, since among other qualities, she values and promotes work-life balance, which is “especially important for women professionals.” She also praises, and embodies, commitment. “When her second…
Law.com In-House Counsel, May 26, 2006 (Daniel Panitz of Major, Lindsey & Africa), discusses succession planning for the general counsel position. The piece claims that an official backup general counsel is common, but I have never heard of one. “It is customary for an organization’s board to coordinate with the…
“Human brains have evolved a particularly strong capacity to detect what neuroscientists call ‘errors’: perceived differences between expectation and actuality.” David Rock and Jeffrey Schwartz, “The Neuroscience of Leadership,” Strategy + Business, Summer 2006 at 73-4 (See my post of Jan. 3, 2006 on our inborn sensitivity to fairness.). When…
Do any readers know of in-house counsel who teach at either a business or law school? If you teach, you learn, so to carry one’s practice to academia should be something that some corporate lawyers relish. But I have not heard about any instances of corporate lawyers who moonlight in…
Secretary: old-fashioned, steno-paddish, coffee-bringer, Remington-Rand (See my post of April 30, 2006 on my clepsydra award.). Not at all the racy image of the EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT, or the ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT, let alone the EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT! Title inflation has blown up tradition (See my post of April 23, 2006 about…
This question struck me as I read a piece in the American Scholar, Vol. 75, Spring 2006 at 125 (Nan Stone). Stone gave no advice, but it is worthwhile to fall back on native intelligence for some answers, since many general counsel wrestle with this situation. Ask intelligent questions. Ask…
The Fundamental Attribution Error misleads when you blame an individual for something that went wrong, when in fact things happening around the person were much more important causes of the snafu. If an indemnity agreement as signed hugely favors the other side, you can come down on the lawyer responsible,…