The labor theory of value maintains that work makes worth. The germ of this post comes from Jane Kamensky, The Exchange Artist (Penguin 2008) at 34. Karl Marx made this belief a pillar of his system but others have questioned (or rejected) the notion that the amount of time invested…
Richard Swenson, a medical doctor, popularized the concept of time margins in the mid-1990s. As described in Benny Tabalujan, ed. Leadership and Management Challenges of In-House Legal Counsel (LexisNexis Australia 2008) at 43, in-house lawyers would moderate some of the pressure on themselves, and be able to get some work…
A stark contrast appeared in a recent survey. Asked to rank five cost-reduction steps in order of importance, one quarter of a group of in-house respondents chose “Hiring freeze or reduction in legal department staff” while at the same time almost the same percentage chose “Hiring in-house counsel or temporary…
An article in Sloan Management Review, Fall 2011 at 66, explains the term “value in use.” The notion is a measure of “value in terms of how a given asset provides benefits to a specific owner under a specific use.” Assets themselves have no inherent value; they generate value only…
About a year ago I used the data from the 2010 General Counsel Metrics benchmark survey to calculate how 20 industries ranked against each other on four key metrics (See my post of Dec. 1, 2011: legal intensity; and Nov. 30, 2010: eight countries.). This year, at the 600 participant…
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…
The NY Times, Oct. 28, 2011 at B2, reports that in 2009 audit fees averaged $569,000 per billion dollars of revenue. For U.S. companies that year, what they spent on their law department and outside counsel averaged something like $5 million per billion of revenue – on the order of…
To proclaim changes in broad metrics, such as total legal spending from last year to this, a survey needs to have a fairly consistent core of respondents answering similar questions over the period of time. If there is churn – last year 100 took part but this year 50 of…
Each strata of a law department, from person to unit to the entire function, has its own regularities and concerns. A “lower level” won’t fully inform a “higher level.” Scientists have realized for years that an understanding of atomic interactions doesn’t encompass the larger sphere of molecules, nor does understanding…
Major, Lindsey & Africa surveyed inside counsel this spring and released the results in July. One question asked “What percentage of your legal department work is handled by outside counsel?” Almost six out of ten respondents selected “0% – 40%” while two-and-a-half out of ten chose “41% – 60%.” It…