ACC Value Index - Still Going
January 11, 2010 | Filed Under Legal Ratings, Value
The Lawyer takes the pulse of where things stand in early 2010 with the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Value Index. Notably absent from this article are any law firms going on the record about concerns with the Value Index, or quotes from their consultants about same, as we saw last year.
A good summary of the initiative:
Lawyers use a five-point scale where one is poor and five is excellent to rate their outside counsel on the following criteria: understanding objectives/expectations; legal expertise; efficiency/process management; responsiveness/ communication; predictable cost/budgeting skills; and results delivered/execution.
Hardly sounds like something to be afraid of.
And a preview of what’s next from ACC president Fred Krebs:
“Some have expressed concern, mainly saying they don’t like the concept of being evaluated. But most want to see how they’re being evaluated and we’re in the process of providing that. We’ve already done it when we’ve been asked by a firm directly, but we’re looking to do that in an automated way. We hope this will go live later this month [January].”
This may help ACC get to a goal of 10,000 evaluations by its next annual meeting, in the Fall.
Some law firms could be re-thinking their opposition to the Value Index. Perhaps they realized that appearing hesitant about competition or transparency is not a positive signal to send in today’s legal marketplace.
Deflation and the Billable Hour - Wired GC TV
February 1, 2009 | Filed Under Value, Video - Wired GC TV, Law Firm Trends
Here is the February, 2009 edition of Wired GC TV.
Turn up your speakers, grab some popcorn, click on the arrow, and enjoy…
(Sorry for the abrupt ending; I shouldn’t edit during Super Bowl festivities…)
The Billable Hour on the Front Page
January 30, 2009 | Filed Under Value, Law Firm Trends
Today’s New York Times takes notice of lawyers on the clock.
Among an all-star cast of quotes (including Evan Chesler of Cravath and Scott Turow of Sonnenschein), we hear from Frederick Krebs, president of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), talking about the Heller meltdown:
That collapse highlights the risk to law firms experimenting with other payment arrangements: If lawyers set too low a price, they lose money. Many lawyers may not be good enough businessmen to pick the right price, said Mr. Krebs, of the Association of Corporate Counsel.
“The difficulty is, we don’t really know what it costs us to do something,” he said. But the biggest stumbling block to alternative fee structures may be the managing partners at law firms, who will have to overhaul compensation structures to reward partners and associates for something other than taking a long time to do something.
“…we don’t really know what it costs us to do something…”
Now there’s a point to ponder.
Another thing becomes a bit more clear, something any GC or client partner intuitively knows:
>> There is much to the “billable hour” than billing by the hour.
Instead of continuing on today, we will examine three parts of the puzzle next week, in multi-media fashion:
1. Monday: a short video on what the deflationary environment can mean for law firms.
2. Wednesday: another Off the Meter seminar, this one with Susan Hackett, GC of the ACC, about their Value Challenge (see my post immediately below to register).
3. Friday: a short podcast on why the billable hour will always be with us, but why it will likely matter less.
In my first post of 2009, I said that I would forego talking about the billable hour for a while in the new year. I lasted 17 days. About the same duration as a few of my other resolutions…
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