Unbundled legal services, meaning law departments hiring lawyers to represent them on a very limited basis

A practice that is expressly authorized by most states’ ethics rules, and often referred to as unbundled legal services, means representing a client on a limited basis. According to For the Defense, April 2011 at 41, such circumscribed legal roles include to defend a deposition, appear at a hearing or mediation, or draft a pleading. The model rules of practice permit unbundling “as long as (1) the limitation is reasonable under the circumstances, and (2) the client gives informed consent to the limited representation.” Law department lawyers could and do unbundle many legal services.

All you readers may know about this definition of unbundling, but I did not and it struck me as another way for law departments to cherry-pick the services they want at the price they are willing to pay. The fly in the ointment is that to unbundle takes thought, time, and management – all in short supply inside.