Law Department Management

Benchmark denominators that pertain to specific industries

Most industries have markers of success, such as movies released by studios, Nielsen ratings for broadcast companies, square feet of warehouses for distribution companies, or ton-miles for truckers. The benchmarks by which general counsel in those industries might compare themselves...

IT functions supporting law departments and law firms share some of the same annoyances

Two points struck me from findings in ILTA’s 2009 Technology Survey, at 42 of law firms: one about the shared challenges of providing technology to lawyers – inside or outside – and the other about overhead support for IT that...

Do law departments realize that many firms don’t routinely charge back common expenses?

Gale force winds blow the message that legal departments should tourniquet various expenses charged by profligate law firms. A recent breeze from the opposite quarter, however, tells us that many firms do not frequently or routinely charge to clients expenses...

Project management software aimed specifically at e-discovery

As more legal departments bring inside the software and expertise to handle e-discovery, general counsel and their IT colleagues may want to consider work-flow management software designed for that task. KM World, Feb. 2010 at 15, mentions three offerings: iFramework...

If you can segment work to be assigned to outside counsel, you are closer to alternative fee arrangements

One of the common steps to reduce the costs of outside counsel assumes that inside lawyers can segment matters into those that deserve high-priced talent, those that have more modest demands suitable for mid-tier firms, and those that bump along...

Possible ratios of inside to outside lawyers in the US, UK and France

In 2008, the UK had approximately 130,000 lawyers according to an article in Law Bus. Rev., Winter 2009 at 54. By some estimates, the same year the US had somewhat more than a million practicing lawyers. Other estimates suggest that...

Ten most intriguing posts (Nov. 2009) from Rees Morrison’s Law Department Management Blog

I picked these out of around 95 posts in November on my blog. Click on the link to read the full post. Seven variations on rate freezes from the traditional choice of one or two years (Nov. 17, 2009) Seven...

Not CYA, but speed sometimes justifies calling a big brand law firm

The knock on general counsel who reflexively call Prestige, Admired & Realcostly to gain cover if things go wrong goes might be called CYA Theory (See my post of Aug. 15, 2008: CYA and 6 references.). Some truth there probably...

The Legal IT Innovators Group, a UK-based organization that could interest some in-house counsel

Having just written about groups for in-house lawyers interested in operations, I ran across the UK-based Legal IT Innovators Group. Among its 40-50 members listed on the website are at least five companies. The site explains: “We meet for a...

You are invited – no cost – to take part in the largest benchmarking database ever assembled for legal departments!

General Counsel Metrics, my new company, invites general counsel around the globe to participate in what will be the most in-depth analysis ever done of fundamental law department benchmarks. Hundreds of companies around the world will submit their data online,...