Law departments and the use of wiki software. The law department of Lucent Technologies set up a wiki that went live in December 2005, according to InsideCounsel, Sept. 2006 at 66 (See my posts of Dec. 9, 2005 about Cornell’s legal wiki; Feb. 12, 2006 that predicts wikis between law departments; March 17, 2006 with references to several software providers; and May 17, 2006 on wiki-law.org.).
Hone your understanding or your business. Another idea for rapidly gaining an understanding of the nuances of one’s company and its industry is to read the reports of stock analysts. Those reports are detailed and very analytical as the people following an industry become expert in its profit drivers (See my post of March 13, 2007 on listening to quarterly earnings calls with analysts.).
Cottage industry: executive search firms that assist law departments. Further to previous comments on head hunters (See my post of July 5, 2006 on three large search firms) I should add a slew more. For example, the most recent issue of InsideCounsel, March 2006 includes advertisements from four search firms (Robert Half Legal, Special Counsel, Aaron Consulting, and Major, Lindsey & Africa. The three large firms previously noted (Korn/Ferry, Heidrick & Struggles and Spencer Stuart) did not advertise.