Hiring external facilitators for important meetings

I have worked with a law department that has an unofficial facilitator consultant. This woman has worked with the law department in various circumstances over the past several years and is quite adept at developing agendas for meetings. More important, she can run the meetings in a neutral way, and with expert touch for group dynamics.

Having worked with the department from time to time over the years, she has some feel for its personalities and interactions. Finding and nurturing such a facilitator on retention would be a useful step for most law departments.