Economists often refer to changes that are cyclical, meaning that there is some regularity in the pattern of change and reversion, and changes that are structural. Structural changes are permanent, profound, often take effect gradually, and are sometimes hard to identify at the time. For example the demographic change of…
More than 20% of Canadian lawyers are in-house. CCCA Magazine, in its Fall 2011 issue at 7, has a piece by the Chair of the trade group, Geoffrey Creighton. He writes that “more and more legal practitioners in Canada are working as in-house counsel” and a sentence later that “Some…
A company that provides communications tools for major litigation. For the Defense, Aug. 2011 at 75, has an ad for TrialWorks. It promotes its case management software and promotes its connectivity services, including skype, iChat, video teleconferencing, instant message, text, email, webinar, fax, and phone. The site does not call…
Astonishing news, this. Bloomberg announced yesterday that five partners (partners!) from Willkie Farr & Gallagher will become part of the existing Bloomberg legal team, effective January 1, 2012. One of them, Dick DeScherer, will become Chief Legal Officer. I can’t fathom the economics and logic of this massive move. Here…
Spot awards not appropriate for lawyers? I heard the view that spot bonuses are not appropriate for lawyers. “It’s not a very professional way to deal with lawyers!” I don’t agree. Since promotions are rare and turnover low, general counsel need some treats in the bag to hand out (See…
This sentence from 2008 regarding Australia startled me. “Of the estimated 50,000 lawyers currently in practice throughout Australia, around a quarter are employed in-house.” One out of four? That seemingly high ratio comes from Benny Tabalujan, ed. Leadership and Management Challenges of In-House Legal Counsel (LexisNexis Australia 2008) at 3.…
For more consistency, have the administrator oversee evaluations of non-lawyers. When paralegals and support staff report to the administrator of a legal department, with input from the lawyer leading the team they support, the greatest benefit is consistency in performance objectives and measurement. The head of operations can calibrate across…
Neuroscience and creativity. “We now know that moments of insight come from a particular circuit in the back of the right hemisphere of the brain called the superior anterior temporal gyrus.” Rotman Mag., Fall 2011 at 76. Aha, I get it, I finally get it! (See my post of Jan.…
This blog has cited at least four German law departments, and refered elsewhere to Germany several times. A huge amount of managerial creativity and practicality in that economic powerhouse has gone uncovered, therefore, which I wish were not the case. Send me news about German law departments (See my post…
Cargill (See my post of Aug. 9, 2011: Cargill with 7 references.). Drivers of legal investment, company attributes, influences on law department size (See my post of Aug. 15, 2011: what defines companies better than industry with 11 references and 2 metas.). Intel (See my post of July 30, 2011:…