Having a big dog in the fight, as a compiler of law department benchmarks on staffing and spending, it’s gratifying to find others who struggle against the darkness that devalues management metrics. As more data about processes and outcomes in corporate law departments become available, it will become clear that…
The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) has made available a contract-drafting tool with four primary features. As described more fully by Robert Ambrogi in LTN Law Tech. News, June 2012 at 36, Contract Advisor has model contracts, with a group of ten to start from. It also has a clause…
On the last page of NJBiz’s special issue, General Counsel of the Year Awards (2012), Heartland Payment Systems placed an ad honoring Charles Kallenbach, its General Counsel. At the top, the full-page ad says “Congratulations to Charles Kallenbach for receiving the highest honor ever bestowed upon a human being by…
General Counsel Metrics will offer Industry Analyses starting after the second release of its global benchmark survey in July. Each of the 25 Industry Analyses available offers deeper insights than the no-cost, 60-page Standard Report. I strongly believe that general counsel should look only at benchmark metrics from companies in…
It is always easier to predict exciting revolutions, sturm und drang, a brave new world, such as in the relations between law departments and the law firms they retain. Seers get invited to conferences, enjoy their names in headlines, relish being quoted – and they might even, sometimes, be prescient.…
My law school alma mater, Columbia (JD ’78), took steps after the 2008 crash to help its graduates find jobs. According to the Col. Law School Mag., Spring 2012 at 2, the Dean of the Law School “reached out to more than 100 graduates who are general counsels or deputy…
An article that criticizes the rigidity and wastefulness of forced hourlong sit-down meetings appears in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, June 11, 2012 at 51. Almost by definition, one hour allows too much time for the issue at hand or it cuts off discussion and deliberation – it is rigid. Often, much of…
Inspired by an article in the Economist, June 9, 2012 at 83, on using McDonalds Big Macs to compare international productivity trends and improve on purchase power parity (PPP), I imagined a counterpart for legal services rendered to corporations. Ten general counsel in each of ten developed nations agree to…
The settlements that reach the press, those covered by 8K filings or news releases, may well account for the largest part of corporate settlements paid (See my post of April 15, 2007: confidentiality of settlement amounts.). I presume this to be true since a single blockbuster settlement easily overshadows lots…
A provider of SaaS-based IP management technology, First To File®, launched this month an IP Document Management Survey to gather information from corporations and IP law firms on this genre of software. One question listed eight reasons why a law department might invest in such a system. The survey asks…