Integration of internal guidelines, external guidelines, matter management, retention letters, etc.

One would hope that the law department integrates its retention letters (See my post of Aug. 24, 2006 that compares these to outside counsel guidelines.), inside guidelines (See my post of Aug. 8, 2006.), and outside counsel guidelines (See my posts of Aug. Aug. 1, 2006 that wonders about their effectiveness; Aug. 9, 2006 about certification by firms; Jan. 10, 2006 with an example.). These three documents should hold hands tightly.

Law departments should also grip these documents with their budget policies (See my post of Oct. 20, 2005 on cascading departmental budgets to practice groups.), and its policies and documents that concern evaluation of inside counsel and outside counsel (See my post of May 19, 2006 on BP’s 30-factor evaluation form.).

A grandiose consilience, without doubt, but well managed law departments take care to assure that all the pieces fit together.