Page 62 - MASTER COPY LEADERS BOOK 9editedJKK (24)_Neat
P. 62
Leaders in Legal Business
hiring outside firms to handle litigation or specialized work, for instance, internally provide most of the work
required by the client in-house via the hundreds of lawyers they keep on staff.
Even though the ACC (Association of Corporate Counsel), the ABA (the American Bar Association, the
IBA (International Bar Association), and national bars conduct regular census surveys of their members, there is
no definitive understanding of the actual number of in-house counsel or law departments practicing in any
particular jurisdiction or globally. Many law departments literally operate below radar; they are not visible outside
the company and little is known about their structure. Even less is known about aggregates of how law departments
are run in terms of shared common practices; unlike the business models of law firms, which are usually not
terribly different from firm to firm within segments of the profession (solo practices, mid-tier firms, boutiques,
BigLaw, global firms, etc.), the business models of law departments can be as diverse as the companies they serve.
Since they are not in the business of practicing law to make money, their drive is to deliver the services that their
particular client needs in real time … and so they are often a reflection of the management style or the industry in
which their management teams work.
This means that while most departments outsource more work than they insource (regardless of their
department size), they may choose to outsource different kinds or work, or select different kinds of providers or
products in a manner that defies easy categorization. Low-tech companies may have the most tech-savvy
departments, and there are lots of finance-, information-, and technology-based companies whose legal teams are
relative tech Luddites. Some departments are in relentless pursuit of lower costs, and others may choose to hire
the most expensive providers in the marketplace without much regard to the financial health of their parent
companies.
It’s Not What Vendors Want to Sell, but What Clients Want to Buy …
Here are some categories of products and services that are most common in legal departments (in no
particular order):
1. Outsourcing legal work to law firms:
Law firms are retained either to be an extension of the in-house department that doesn’t have enough
hands to get work done, or they are retained to provide services or expertise that the law department doesn’t have
and doesn’t wish to hire folks to provide internally on an ongoing basis.
Because there is a ton of attention to historical over-charging and over-spending with top-line law firms,
a trending in-house practice is to increase the scrutiny on and improve the management of law firms. This can
range from convergence projects that concentrate more work with fewer firms that are more tightly regulated and
partnered to align with the legal department, to collecting data and developing strategies to concentrate attention
on cost control, better work processes, and project management. Because so much work and therefore so much of
the department’s expenses are concentrated on law firms, many departments are increasing their use of
technologies that allow them to better communicate and coordinate with their firms, from matter management and
e-billing systems, to knowledge management and collaboration platforms that allow firms and clients to work
more seamlessly as a team. While it’s clear that not as many departments use these kinds of technologies as well
or as fully as they should, and that even more don’t use them at all, they are the focus of most department
technology conversations (rather than technologies that are limited in use to the in-house team), and they drive
whatever data the in-house team regularly collects.
2. Partnering legal work with law firms:
Both firm and department leaders will tell you that there should be a great partnership between a firm and
its corporate legal clients, but it’s only been in recent years that the talk has been forced into practical application.
There’s a rise in the number of departments bringing law firm lawyers onto their staffs — for the duration of a
large project, for instance, or as a tour or rotation that is part of the firm lawyers’ advancement on the client
55
hiring outside firms to handle litigation or specialized work, for instance, internally provide most of the work
required by the client in-house via the hundreds of lawyers they keep on staff.
Even though the ACC (Association of Corporate Counsel), the ABA (the American Bar Association, the
IBA (International Bar Association), and national bars conduct regular census surveys of their members, there is
no definitive understanding of the actual number of in-house counsel or law departments practicing in any
particular jurisdiction or globally. Many law departments literally operate below radar; they are not visible outside
the company and little is known about their structure. Even less is known about aggregates of how law departments
are run in terms of shared common practices; unlike the business models of law firms, which are usually not
terribly different from firm to firm within segments of the profession (solo practices, mid-tier firms, boutiques,
BigLaw, global firms, etc.), the business models of law departments can be as diverse as the companies they serve.
Since they are not in the business of practicing law to make money, their drive is to deliver the services that their
particular client needs in real time … and so they are often a reflection of the management style or the industry in
which their management teams work.
This means that while most departments outsource more work than they insource (regardless of their
department size), they may choose to outsource different kinds or work, or select different kinds of providers or
products in a manner that defies easy categorization. Low-tech companies may have the most tech-savvy
departments, and there are lots of finance-, information-, and technology-based companies whose legal teams are
relative tech Luddites. Some departments are in relentless pursuit of lower costs, and others may choose to hire
the most expensive providers in the marketplace without much regard to the financial health of their parent
companies.
It’s Not What Vendors Want to Sell, but What Clients Want to Buy …
Here are some categories of products and services that are most common in legal departments (in no
particular order):
1. Outsourcing legal work to law firms:
Law firms are retained either to be an extension of the in-house department that doesn’t have enough
hands to get work done, or they are retained to provide services or expertise that the law department doesn’t have
and doesn’t wish to hire folks to provide internally on an ongoing basis.
Because there is a ton of attention to historical over-charging and over-spending with top-line law firms,
a trending in-house practice is to increase the scrutiny on and improve the management of law firms. This can
range from convergence projects that concentrate more work with fewer firms that are more tightly regulated and
partnered to align with the legal department, to collecting data and developing strategies to concentrate attention
on cost control, better work processes, and project management. Because so much work and therefore so much of
the department’s expenses are concentrated on law firms, many departments are increasing their use of
technologies that allow them to better communicate and coordinate with their firms, from matter management and
e-billing systems, to knowledge management and collaboration platforms that allow firms and clients to work
more seamlessly as a team. While it’s clear that not as many departments use these kinds of technologies as well
or as fully as they should, and that even more don’t use them at all, they are the focus of most department
technology conversations (rather than technologies that are limited in use to the in-house team), and they drive
whatever data the in-house team regularly collects.
2. Partnering legal work with law firms:
Both firm and department leaders will tell you that there should be a great partnership between a firm and
its corporate legal clients, but it’s only been in recent years that the talk has been forced into practical application.
There’s a rise in the number of departments bringing law firm lawyers onto their staffs — for the duration of a
large project, for instance, or as a tour or rotation that is part of the firm lawyers’ advancement on the client
55
