Most law-department administrators report to the general counsel

Law department administrators are responsible for operations of the department and a new survey offers many insights into that responsibility (See my post of Feb.13, 2008 administrators with 21 references.).

This post kicks off a series about the First Law Department Operations Survey, published by InsideCounsel and Blickstein Group in cooperation with Huron Consulting Group and David Cambria, Director of Operations, Law Department, Aon Corporation. The survey obtained responses from 50 administrators, although it uses the term “law department operations.” I commend the survey as it addresses a hole in the legal-department metrics market not served by Jon Bellis at Hildebrandt or Dan DiLucchio at Altman Weil.

Three out of four survey respondents report directly to the general counsel. This reporting structure is analogous to the reporting lines of general counsel: in the US somewhat more than three quarters of them report to the CEO (See my post of April 12, 2006: reporting of GCs to CEO.). Given the importance of the role, it is meet and right so to do.