Here are the latest embedded metaposts (See my post of March 19, 2009: Part XXVII.), each of which shows the number of references cited within them.
Collaboration and teamwork (See my post of April 5, 2009: teamwork and collaboration internally with 16 references.).
Forty-sixty ratio of legal spend (See my post of March 29, 2009: 40/60 ratio of inside-to-outside spend with 18 references.).
The general counsel of HSBC Japan features in a profile in Asian-Counsel, e-edition March 2009 at 38. Michael Hancock, while practicing at Lovells and before joining HSBC, took a six-month secondment with Standard Chartered Bank. A few years later he took a second secondment, at Nishow Iwai (now Sojitz). Lengthy secondments in two major law departments gave Hancock a wealth of experience.
HSBC’s “legal department strap line” (British for slogan or catch phrase) is “Facilitating Business, Managing Legal Risk.” I endorse its clarity, brevity, and order.
Hancock makes a third point that all general counsel learn who parachute into the position: “In large organizations, having a personal network or contracts through which to secure access to the right people and information when needed is crucial. I basically had to build this network from scratch.” Hancock dealt with one of the challenges that confronts every general counsel who has not been promoted from within.
Goldman Sachs GC receives $38.3 million buy out from unprofitable fund. The Wall St. J, March 28-29, 2009 at B3, reports that Goldman Sachs paid one of its co-general counsel, Gregory Palm, $38.3 million to buy him out of employee funds that had been invested in loss-making private equity and hedge funds. Counterbalancing that payment, the article notes, the firm didn’t pay any top executives a bonus.
Internal counsel as bad cops and outside counsel as worse cops. An article in The Bus. Lawyer, Vol, 64, Feb. 2009 at 312, suggests that sometimes inside counsel have to play the “bad cop” role so that executives can enjoy the “good cop” role. Following that, the author extends this reasoning: “Playing the bad cop should be easier for outside counsel, and may be one reason for the continuing use of outside counsel to handle contentious issues.” Hadn’t thought of that.
Rapid growth in the number of in-house counsel 1961-1991. The Bus. Lawyer, Vol, 64, Feb. 2009 at 315, n. 215 cites Mary C. Daly, The Cultural, Ethical, and Legal Challenges in Lawyering for a Global Corporation: The Role of General Counsel (46 Emory L.J. 1057, 1059 (1997)). It summarizes the Daly article as “reporting that between 1961 and 1982 the number of in-house lawyers quadrupled, and that from 1980 to 1991 the number rose 33 percent” (See my post of March 9, 2009: a clue about the number of lawyers practicing in-house.).
My shingle went up as a solo consultant to general counsel one year ago today, a deeply satisfying year. This blog, too, has benefited because I feel free to write about any topic and in whatever form I believe. I have also been able to do much more with the accumulating intellectual capital of this blog and my website, which I see more and more as a complement to the blog (See my post of Feb. 20, 2009: fourth anniversary of this blog and the innovations of the past year.).
Anyway, unlike some bloggers who wear their hearts on their sleeves, I keep my personal life separate from my blogeur life. Today is an exception, so I invite all my readers to help me blow out the candle on my cake.
Nice folks shouldn’t be expected to finish last. “People tend to see warmth and competence as inversely related.” As explained in the Harv. Bus. Rev., Vol. 86, Feb. 2009 at 24, being nice doesn’t mean being incompetent. Nor, of course, is being mean a sign of effectiveness. Unfortunately, both inferences correlate too often with gender (See my post of Nov. 10, 2007: gender differences with 10 references.).
Obstacle to professional networks if IT blocks access. At a client recently, where I had access to the Internet through the corporate network, I was unable to log on to Twitter. A message chided me that “This site is blocked under the category of ‘Social Networking’’”. If many companies clamp down on access to professional networks from work, the value they might provide to in-house lawyers will decline significantly (See my post of Sept. 22, 2008: professional networks such as Legal OnRamp, with 7 references.).
Law firm discounts don’t make a difference on longevity of client relationships? Here is another odd statement from the Redwood Analytics’ research, by Bo Yancey, Director of Professional Services at Redwood Analytics, on March 9, 2009, about RFPs. “[D]iscounting, or lack thereof, was not a factor in the longevity of client relationships.” Surprised? So am I, especially now. A law firm today that refuses a request for discounts throws a seven.
Data visualization software. Tableau Software’s offering looks impressive. Its software is“based on a proprietary technology called VizQL, a visualization query language that makes information from databases and spreadsheets almost instantly accessible in an easy-to-read form.” I spent some time on the website of Tableau Software and was intrigued at the possibilities for how it might run rings around Excel as a supplemental reporting tool for matter tracking systems (See my post of May 8, 2008: Excel to improve matter management system reports.).
The value of consulting the law department was known 103 years ago. “In conclusion, it may be remarked that just as in medicine it is cheaper and more effective to prevent than to cure diseases, so in the conduct of the affairs of a railroad company it is much better to consult the Law Department before taking a step than afterward.” The quote comes from an essay written more than a century ago, in Ernest Ritson Dewsnup, ed., Railway Organization and Work (Univ. of Chicago, 1906) at 8.
Hedge funds and litigation financing. After I wrote about entrepreneurial litigation financing (See my post of Jan. 6, 2009: law suit financing offshore.), I read in the Fin. Times, Oct. 17, 2008 by Rod Newing that the UK law firm behind one of the efforts is Addleshaw Goddard.
The 250+ metaposts that I have compiled and embedded on this blog group into several broader topics. Most prominently, four topics account for a largest number of total posts.
Software leads with 196 posts, which surprises me because I do not do much consulting regarding many of the genre of software. Nevertheless, it is an easy topic for vendors and managers of law departments to write or speak about so I have accumulated close to 200 posts in that broad topic.
Next, at 192 references, are a cluster of topics about outside counsel that do not pertain to billing terms (electronic billing systems, timekeepers, outside counsel guidelines, firing firms, secondments, budgets and evaluations).
Here are the latest embedded metaposts (See my post of March 8, 2009: Part XXVI.), each of which shows the number of references cited within them.
Bell curve (See my post of March 12, 2009: bell curves with 8 references.).
Cognitive traps (See my post of March 15, 2009: cognitive traps with 21 references.).
Ways to encourage ideas. Patrick Lamb left a very good comment to my post about ways to encourage discussion (See my post of Feb. 18, 2009: ten suggestions on how to hear from everyone in a group.). “One of the techniques that I have used frequently that works very well is to distribute recipe cards to everyone, have them write (in pen, in caps) their idea / recommendation / suggestion such that I can then pick them all up, shuffle them, redistribute one to each participant and have that participant read the card aloud to the group.” Good idea, Patrick.
Complications with national, state and local taxes on law firm invoices. I had occasion recently to review the engagement letter of a law firm based in India. One provision covered certain employment-related taxes that would be added to the firm’s bills. It made me realize once again that invoices from firms are not just for professional fees and cost disbursements (See my post of July 15, 2005: tax complications; April 22, 2007: e-billing program that handles taxes; and Dec. 1, 2006 #6: US state taxes on law firm services.).
ISDA documentation done offshore by Deutsche Bank legal. The Financial Times reported this In Oct. 17, 2008 in a piece by Michael Peel. That kind of work, where documents are quite standardized but it is important to prepare them correctly and administer them, is perfectly suited for offshore service providers (See my post of June 25, 2008: offshore legal services with 27 references.).
Tease me for hair-splitting or praise me for hair-raising perspicuity, I will still continue to write about differences between similar management concepts. Many posts on these pages express my effort to use management terms precisely and correctly, such as the nuances between “effective” and “blended” rates, “litigation” and “lawsuit,” “statistics” and “probability,” “pro bono” and “community service,” “uncertainty” and “risk,” “flow chart” and “process map,” “general compliance” and “regulatory compliance,” “customize” and “configure,” “offshore” and “outsource,” and “Associate GC” and “Assistant GC.”
Each of those distinctions in meanings, and many more I am sure, has been the subject of a post (See my post of June 13, 2006: blended vs. effective rates; Sept. 9, 2008: litigation vs. lawsuit; Nov. 16, 2008: statistics vs. probability; Dec. 16, 2008: pro bono vs. community service; Jan. 13, 2006 on uncertainty vs. risk; Feb. 16, 2008: flow chart vs. process map; Nov. 30, 2008: general compliance vs. regulatory compliance; May 8, 2008: customize vs. configure; June 25, 2008: outsource vs. offshore; and Nov. 8, 2005: Assistant vs. Associate.).
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