Four kinds of questions on surveys that law departments are asked to complete

Many invitations to complete surveys appear in the e-mail boxes of general counsel. Probably scores of them every year for U.S. departments and they seek all kinds of information. It is an incessant badgering, but how else can interested parties learn about what is going on out there more precisely and reliably than from anecdotes, the press, and subjective impressions?

Since I am one of those people who surveys and since this blog battens on survey data about law department operations, I thought to summarize the styles of questions that present themselves to general counsel.

Some gather opinions: “Has ADR made a difference in how you resolve disputes?”

Some gather numbers: “Do you use a document management system?” (See my post of Oct. 25, 2006: Corpedia survey on the number of departments that do various risk management practices.).

Some gather characteristics: “Is your department’s organization (a) centralized, (b) decentralized, or (c) a hybrid mix?”

Some gather rankings: “What do you perceive as your greatest legal risk – please rank the following from 1 to 7?” (See my post of April 13, 2006: ranking of management priorities by UK general counsel.).