Sophie Ross of FTI wrote recently that “many analysts estimate that the cost of legal review comprises about 70 to 80 percent of total e-discovery costs.” This is from Met. Corp. Counsel, Dec. 2011 at 15. sophie.ross@fticonsulting.com Earlier, she states that Fulbright & Jaworski found recently that “on average a…
Good advice, in my view, about use of e-mail comes from the NY Times, Dec. 25, 2011 at BU 8. In a column that interviews CEOs, the most recent one explained a rule about disagreements by e-mail. Basically, after the second e-mail of disagreement (I write: “The moon is solid.”…
The most recent Annual Litigation Trends Survey Report of Fulbright & Jaworski presents data on levels of satisfaction the responding companies feel about how well outside counsel meet their litigation needs. Displayed at page 16, the two points that struck me were the critical overall views and the gulf between…
An obvious but nonsensical, answer would be “all matters.” That cannot be the solution since it begs the question “What makes something a matter?” (See my post of March 26, 2008: definition of the term “matter”.). Many law departments deem a set of legal activities a matter for purposes of…
In litigation, loser pays in Germany and Australia: This blog has noted that the UK and Germany have loser-pays rules for litigants. According to the Economist, Dec. 10, 2011, that is the norm also in Canada (See my post of July 1, 2009: loser-pays jurisdictions with 6 references; June 2,…
Total shareholder return (TSR) is a widely used measure of company market performance. Over a period of time, it suggests how analysts and investors value the achievements of a company. Perhaps total legal spending in relation to a rolling three-year TSR makes sense as a benchmark metric (See my post…
This blog has referred to hotlines a moderate number of times (See my post of Sept. 21, 2011: hotlines with 6 references.). Those anonymous reporting tools would seem to account for many of the disclosures of potential wrongs. Nevertheless, an article in Met. Corp. Counsel, Dec. 2011 at 38, draws…
My columns for InsideCounsel, Morrison on Metrics, let me dive into small topics, at least to the depth of 500 words. For my latest plunge, I wrote about two chart choices available in Excel. One lets you show trends better when you turn one axis upside down, the other lets…
This opening sentence from a column in the NY Times, Dec. 24, 2011 at B1, irritated me: “Count the T-Mobile lawyers who negotiated a multibillion dollar breakup fee – [two Wachtell, Lipton lawyers] – and got AT&T to agree to it as among those who will actually deserve their year-end…
State percentages as natural frequencies rather than percentages or decimals (May 5, 2011) Five sources within your company of people who can help you with statistical analyses (June 16, 2011) Seasonality of invoices from law firms (July 8, 2011) The pros and (more) cons of a law department that relies…