Who gets the work?
April 13, 2007 | Filed Under Law Firm Trends, Managing
The Connecticut Law Tribune provides an interesting glimpse into the world of how GCs select law firms.
A good summary of the process:
Farming out legal work, a survey of 41 companies based in New England and subsequent interviews with their general counsel revealed, is a delicate balance of personal and professional relationships, budget management and hunting for first-class legal expertise. Though legal work often flows to the largest law firms, the survey found there’s room for solo practitioners to carve a niche, even with some big-name businesses.
I have had some very good results with solos who have big-firm experience and a focused area of expertise. It can really be the best of both worlds for a GC, and a good counterpoint to the large firms that are part of the outside counsel roster.
A concise summary of the process comes from Clayton Holdings GC Steven Cohen:
“You get a lot more out of developing relationships rather than parsing out work or creating competition for work, and pitting one firm against another,” Cohen said. “We build up a few very good relationships with firms interested in supporting our growth. We want the firm to get familiar with our business and grow with us. We want the firm to be excited to take our [telephone] calls.”
Any firm that’s not excited to take a client’s telephone calls may find an eerie quiet developing over time.
Law Firm Listens to Associates
April 1, 2007 | Filed Under Law Firm Trends, Managing
According to legalweek.com, the UK Freshfields law firm walks the talk and actually asks “how high?” when the associates say “jump!”
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer was so keen to show it cared about what its associates had to say at an away-day last week that it replaced the firm’s reception carpet within hours of complaints about its colour.
More than 200 associates met with the City giant’s management to discuss issues affecting associates, such as remuneration, appraisals and career development last Friday (23 March).
Following a number of complaints about the carpet, which some described as “80s chic”, Freshfields’ management called in workmen to replace it on the same day, with a “more muted” style.
(ed note: unlike in prior years, this is not an April Fool’s Day joke. Reality beats fiction every time. And the Wired GC is all about “70s chic”, such as this little shag number known as “Flamingo Road”).
Your Pad or Mine?
March 26, 2007 | Filed Under The Client Speaks, Law Firm Trends, Managing
Are the legal bills you get in the mail today what you are expecting?
According to UK’s The Lawyer, some GCs are growing increasingly concerned over law firm bills, and the size and contents thereof.
In a recent study by that publication, 69% of in-house counsel surveyed had some concerns about the padding of bills; the number rises to 73% when GCs alone are asked.
While there was no definition of “padding,” some participants said it may not be fraud, but more like a failure to scrutinize bills before sending them and what constitutes “good time” from other charges.
Here are some of the responses:
– “I’ve been billed for a conversation between colleagues. And I’m not paying for a junior to learn the ropes.”
– “There’s a lot of time on bills that gives general counsel the impression of padding because too much junior training and learning time is billed and not written off.”
– “Because of the pressure on partners to market, as well as to be legal advisers, they don’t often monitor the bills closely enough, so junior staff might be going off on wild goose chases that the client will be billed for.”
So while there is much talk of rising rates and starting salaries, the clients speak.
It will be interesting to see who is listening.
GE Brings Good Firms to Life
March 23, 2007 | Filed Under Legal Resources, Managing
Corporate Counsel details the latest eco-magination from GE on how it selects the roster of outside counsel it will use in its worldwide operations.
Under the so-called “Gen Two” regime, GE has backed away from such decision tools that it has used in Gen One (lilke a 20 page RFP and online auctions) to a shorter online RFP (saves paper!). This resulted in the herd of “preferred provider firms” being thinned from 140 to 108.
Other attributes of the new deal:
In addition to the changing lineup, GE also restructured the actual terms of the working arrangements. Under Gen Two, the firms must now propose alternative fee arrangements for every matter and offer a binding core team of attorneys to work on GE cases. The two-year contracts of Gen One were stretched to four years, and firms must renegotiate discounted rates halfway through the agreement.
Interestingly, one way the reductions apparently started was in the short-list of firms to get a Gen Two RFP. Those firms “that in-house lawyers gave the lowest ratings” to apparently didn’t get a password to the RFP site.
So the first lesson for law firms: don’t just be nice to the GC or managing counsel. That new staff attorney may have a long memory.
Dishing on Corporate Culture
January 29, 2007 | Filed Under Managing, Compliance
Lynn D. Lieber writes in the Corporate Counselor with some great ideas on how to advance compliance with a culture-based approach.
A few main points:
• Make ethics a priority;
• Set a good example of ethical conduct;
• Keep commitments;
• Provide information about culture and compliance;
• Consider ethics in decision-making; and
• Talk about ethics in the workplace.
One reality that a corporate counsel faces is playing with the hand that is dealt in the sense of the people in the company. One of the best long-term strategies for a strong ethical culture is hiring good people.
You can’t look over everyone’s shoulder all the time.
Ah, if creating the proper culture were only this easy:
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