GE collects diversity statistics twice a year from the 50 law firms that do the most work for it. According to Cecelia Lofters, Lead Member of GE’s Legal Diversity Council, in an interview by Met. Corp. Counsel, March 2006 at 46, GE collects two sets of information. One set asks…
Inside lawyers want as much transparency about bonus distributions as possible. They want to know how decisions are made on the award of bonuses. They want to know that bonuses are awarded based on merit, not personal friendship or other non-objective criteria. When bonus allocations seem arbitrary or based on…
The executive search firm BCG summarizes the sunshine inside: “more interesting work, shorter hours, potentially lucrative stock options and the opportunity to be on the ‘business side’ in a corporate environment.” To these rays of light I would add that you can believe in what your client is doing more…
In 2002, Dickinson College (Carlisle, PA) and Gettysburg College (Gettysburg, PA) decided to share a general counsel and the two liberal arts schools, nearby and with similar legal issues, hired Dana Stevens Scaduto. According to GC Mid-Atlantic, March 2006 at 29, Scadutto endured the double duty, and nearly killed herself…
An interview in GC Mid-Atlantic, March 2006 at 22, of Sarah Lee’s general counsel, Roderick Palmore, gives background on his 2004 letter urging law departments to take action on law-firm diversity. As noted (See my post of March 17, 2006 on diversity efforts.), more than 100 companies have co-signed Palmore’s…
A previous post explained the generally-observed seniority of the title Associate over Assistant (See my post of Nov. 8, 2005.) Can we carry that analysis of titles down a level or two? Among Counsel, Attorney, and Legal Counsel, the higher rank typically is accorded to Counsel or Legal Counsel –…
The title “General Counsel” has a longer lineage than the modern “Chief Legal Officer.” It would be interesting to find the earliest internet reference to CLO. Where a company has groups of lawyers reporting to a business unit, such as Nokia and its eight legal departments each headed by a…
Are you sure your lawyers have the degrees and bar admissions they told you they have? InfoLink Screening Services, which has screened tens of thousands of job applicants, reports that 14 percent of the applicants lied about their education, according to the New York Times, March 12, 2006 at B2.…
According to the 2005 Hildebrandt International Law Department Survey, there are three categories of legal assistants (See my post of Aug. 21, 2005 on the differences, if any, between paralegal and legal assistant.): “Senior Legal Assistant,” “Certified Legal Assistant,” and “Legal Assistant.” Among the 130 reporting companies, 66 had certified…
Data from Abbott, Langer’s survey of 111 organizations, published December 2005, highlights the dollars paid corporate in-house lawyers compared to the cents paid government, non-profit, and university lawyers. The big bucks go to the likes of certain manufacturers and “providers of business services” (median total cash compensation in the $240,000s)…