In The Financial Times (May 19, 2005) Patti Waldmeir speculated about whether corporate directors need independent counsel – not from the law department – only from time to time or whether in our Sarbanes-Oxley world as “some legal experts believe permanent independent counsel will become a fixture.” (See also my…
“General counsel are no longer measured by their legal prowess,” blares Corporate Legal Times in its July 2005 survey of law department – law firm sentiment, “but by their business acumen.” How silly! If you thought that “business acumen” means how skillfully they apply the law to the business environment…
Consider this quote: “Numerous studies, however, have shown that being a superstar performer versus a poor performer is situational. More specifically, people generally perform as superstars when their work engages their best talent, skill, capability, and passion.” The Professional Services Firm Bible, John Baschab and John Piot, Eds. at pg…
The authors of Deep Smarts: How to Cultivate and Transfer Enduring Business Wisdom, Dorothy Leonard and Walter Swap define the role of knowledge coaches. Law departments should develop and reward knowledge coaches and colleagues who can shape their learning. Mentoring, by the way, implies more personal counseling and socialization, whereas…
USA Today (June 21, 2005 at 1B) described the Gallup Organization’s so-called Q12 questionnaire that measures employee engagement. Engagement has to do with understanding, liking, and committing to one’s job. Since 2002, 332 companies have paid Gallup to administer the Q12 instrument, gaining responses from among others 17,406 VP and…
In my post of May 14, 2005 I exceedingly roughly estimated the loss when a lawyer leaves a law department – a hair over $100,000. I based the SWAG on ABA data about law firm turnover costs. Now, new data suggests the law firm costs are twice as high, so…
“Stress-related illness is now the leading cause of long-term absence from work among non-manual workers,” according to the Financial Times (April 19, 2005 at pg. 12). The article cited a study by the UK’s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Stress stalks the corridors and cubicles of law departments. Piles…
A study of a city Law Department (Austin, Texas) wrote that “[r]ecommended best practice advisories suggest a ratio of one management attorney for every eight to ten attorneys.” The report cites its own analysis and an article by Altman Weil. [http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/auditor at pg. 34] By that measure, an 18-to- 22…
A lawyer who reports to a business unit executive faces a presumption AGAINST being able to assert the privilege. This according to the May/June 2005 issue of Business Law Today (pg. 23), quoting from a 1998 case:”[t]here is a presumption that a lawyer in the legal department or working for…
In the 2005 European Law Department Survey (with Laurence Simons), to date 17 departments have participated in both. For the absolute numbers of lawyers reporting to the general counsel in Europe, the median change was zero: four departments had the same number of lawyers both years. Five departments had one…