Connecting the dotted lines: lawyers who report to someone on a secondary basis

Previously I collected my posts on direct reports, decentralized reporting, and reporting lines other than decentralized (See my post of May 29, 2009: direct reports to the general counsel with 12 references; Aug. 5, 2008: decentralized reporting with 7 references; and Jan. 12, 2009: reporting other than decentralized by lawyers, with 13 references.). The topic of reporting is not exhausted.

Two other reporting topics remain to be aggregated: dotted line reporting and matrix reporting. As to dotted line, a few posts refer to two specific departments (See my post of May 7, 2006: GE; and Sept. 19, 2009: Bombardier.). Other posts delve more broadly (See my post of March 1, 2006: functional and dotted line reporting; Sept. 10, 2005: paralegals; Nov. 19, 2007: global legal departments; and March 5, 2008: org charts can show dotted lines.).

A related term for multiple reporting lines, which are sometimes expressed as dotted line and solid line reporting, is matrix reporting (See my post of Aug. 27, 2005: “double solid line matrix”; Feb. 15, 2006: the bane of combining reports; June 24, 2007: Cadbury Schweppes; and May 21, 2006: business lawyers and legal specialists; and May 2, 2008: Siemens’ reporting lines.).