Ask your primary law firms to submit a periodic “value report”?

As described in the ACC Docket, Vol. 26, Nov. 2008 at 101, the core law firms of Pfizer – those that make up its P3 group – submit periodic “value reports.” In them firms “identify their respective contributions in the area of savings and benefit to the company.” That’s all it says in the article, so we must bate our breath.

Never one to bate, let me speculate. A law firm under pressure to state something about the savings they have allowed and the benefits they have generated would tilt toward the latter. Insights into tricky situations analyzed, clever solutions proposed, rapid responses turned around, transactions made possible, and risks avoided would appear aplenty. Other than discounts granted, showings of savings would be meager (See my post of Aug. 21, 2009: value compared to fees paid with 22 references.)? Then, what does Pfizer do with all these “value reports?