A previous post exposed six myths which lawyers in law firms often nurture about law departments (See my posts of Oct. 4, 2005 with six myths and Nov. 8, 2005 about the existence of a “buyers market.”; see also the post of March 26, 2006 about BCG’s reasons to avoid going in-house.)
Promotional marketing matters – the myth here covers logos, colors on business cards, trinkets given out at bar events and conferences, doo-dads on web sites, promotional gimmickry and other marketing malarkey
GC makes decisions about whom to hire – no they don’t, except for tiny law departments or huge matters
Easier inside because only one client – wrong again, because with only one client the burden of keeping that client contented becomes heavier than when you can – theoretically – walk away. Deeper than that, a “client” probably consists of lots of individuals, each with needs and quirks.
No marketing needed to be done by inside lawyers – oh yeah? If you had only one client, wouldn’t you try hard to keep that client happy?