In my experience, the general counsel and members of the department almost always pretty well know the issues they face, albeit with different twists on causes, effects, and cures, but a) they can’t state them or discuss them openly for fear of reprisal or controversy, b) they can’t set priorities on the challenges they face, c) they can’t get beyond their personal role and defensiveness or fear about the issue, d) they don’t know a process for grappling with the problems, or e) they can’t imagine how circumstances might be otherwise (See my post earlier today on thinking out of the box.).
Law department managers retain consultants, therefore, to organize their own disjoint and jangled impressions of the department’s issues, tell them how and in what order to address them, and bring to bear lessons from other sources such as benchmarking, case studies, general management learnings, or best practices.