ACC Value Index - A Few Good Firms

February 9, 2010 | Filed Under Legal Ratings, Value

The ACC announced last week that law firms would be given some access to performance feedback being gathered as part of the “index phase” of the Value Challenge initiative. The press release is here; Corporate Counsel has more today here.

Part of the CC article gives equal time to a former ACC national chairman, who:

… said law firms have expressed concern because the survey’s evaluators are anonymous, and outside counsel couldn’t see what they said.

In reality, certain firms saw Code Red last year when they first heard about the Value Index. These firms (not all large law firms, of course) appear to view shared client feedback as something to be challenged, as opposed to an evolving part of the puzzle that their clients are solving to better manage legal spending.

So, as mentioned earlier by ACC, law firms can see part of their feedback gathered by the Value Index.

Can you handle it? What are you going to do about it?

Good News for Law Firms?

February 2, 2010 | Filed Under In-House Trends, Cost Control

Upon first glance, this headline from a story in the Phoenix Business Journal would appear to give managing partners some reason for cheer:

A return to the Continental Bank strategy of the 1980’s?

Probably not. After a closer look, you see that what law departments are doing is to cut costs. To be fair, the author quotes a survey from last year that showed budget strategies included:

.. a reduction of noncore spending in areas such as travel, meetings and training. Legal staff compensation also has been impacted by salary freezes or minimal increases.

While those strategies included headcount reductions over the last 18 months, most companies are still focusing on finding cost cuts outside, especially with their external law firms. Richard Susskind noted last week that London-based companies are looking for substantial savings:

…many general counsel say that they are under pressure from their boards to cut legal budgets severely from between 20 to 40 per cent. Naturally, they are turning to their law firms to ask them to rethink their hourly rates and charging models.

It’s clear to anyone who has managed the budget of a law department that 20%+ percent cuts don’t come just from cutting back on travel and training. And beyond a certain point, cutting internal headcount garners only short-term savings, allowing some work to migrate back outside, and impacting risk control and compliance efforts.

So is there good news for law firms?

Yes, in the sense that most GCs are probably more open to new ways of doing things, at lower unit costs. This includes approaches from firms other than their current incumbents.

No, in the sense that “same wine, different bottle” probably won’t get past round one and onto the short list.

US News Joins Law Firm Rank-O-Rama

January 29, 2010 | Filed Under Legal Ratings

US News & World Report gave an update yesterday about its plans to rate law firms in the United States. It is partnering with Best Lawyers to rank 5,000+ law firms in 125 legal practice areas across national, state, and metropolitan groups.

They claim over 50,000 references have been gathered from a large swath of the industry:

Lawyers, clients, marketing officers, recruiting officers, associates, and summer associates are being surveyed. In firms without marketing or recruiting officers, lawyers will be asked to provide the information asked of marketing and recruiting officers. The overall national rankings, including the highest ranking firms by practice area nationwide and the highest ranking firms in each state, will appear in U.S. News’s October edition.

Two thoughts:

1. I know US News heard a lot from deans about their law school rankings. I wonder how managing partners will react to this new legal yardstick?

2. With yet another ranking thrown into the mix, does it make it any easier for clients to find the right lawyer at a good firm for a fair price in a timely manner?

The Apple iPad: Six Lessons for Lawyers

January 28, 2010 | Filed Under Law 2.0, Technology, New Services

Apple announced yesterday its new tablet Internet device, the iPad, creating a new category between a laptop and a smartphone.

Since I haven’t touched it, and it won’t be on sale for 60 days, here are a few early lessons for lawyers from 30,000 feet:

1. Fast is the new currency. From those who have used the iPad, its first and most enduring impression is quickly it works for the user. Once people see this, they will never want to go back to old and slow.

====>Lawyers will need speed as alternative billing gains traction.

2. You must control your strategic strengths. Apple designs (and wraps tightly into IP) everything that makes products different and better for the user. They may let others manufacture, but only a few trusted vendors to ensure quality (and competition).

====>Outsourcing and convergence are tactics, not strategies.

3. Focus on a few key things and hit them hard. As Apple’s COO Tim Cook said last year “We believe in the simple, not the complex. We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products we make, and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution.”

====>Does “full service firm” sound distinctive or average?

4. You must present well. Steve Jobs and crew were in great form (full event here; you can get the essence by watching the first 10 mintues and then skipping ahead to the 1:29:00 mark, where there’s about 5 minutes left). One can only imagine how many hours of prep went into 90 minutes of presenting.

====>We are practicing law in a multimedia age.

5. Price matters. Mr. Jobs summed up the iPad: the “Most advanced technology, in a magical and revolutionary device, at an unbelievable price.” He isn’t just driving value from the features, his index also has cost at its core (and an iPad base price of $499).

====>Do you charge less than an iPad?

6. Liberal Arts was worth it. What caught my eye at the end of the presentation was the second-to-last-slide (below), accompanied by these words: “We’ve always tried to be at the intersection of technology and liberal arts. To be able to get the best of both, to make extremely advanced products from a technology point of view, but also have them be intuitive, easy to use, fun to use… It’s the combination of these two things…that let us make great products like the iPad.”

====>Lawyers might just be due for a Renaissance.

The Apple Tablet and the Law

January 27, 2010 | Filed Under Content, Law 2.0, Technology

Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs will likely announce a new device in about an hour, something between a MacBook and an iPhone.

What is less clear, but probably more interesting, is what comes with this new tech tool. The press invite was suitably cryptic, with the graphic below and the phrase, “Come see our latest creation…” If iTunes and the App Store was what made the iPod and iPhone unique, what new media platform will accompany the iPad or iSlate (or whatever it’s called…)? You know Apple will deliver a great piece of technology.

If there’s something new on the content creation side, something that makes text, audio and video easier to make, modify and market, it could be worth a second look for lawyers.

But not for just for getting noticed by clients; it might be something very timely for the brave new alternative billing world. More tomorrow…