In-House Counsel

Rees Morrison?s Morsels #76 ? additions to earlier posts

By Rees Morrison

A key driver of client service. ?A recent study found that perceptions of the importance of one?s job and its place in the organization?s endeavours had a bigger impact on loyalty and customer service than all other employee factors combined,? Edward Russell-Walling, 50 Management ideas you really need to know (Quercus 2007) at 74 (See my posts of Jan. 10, 2008: employee engagement.). How many general counsel regularly pump up for their staff the importance of what they do for the company?

Losses sustained when a desired lawyer leaves. Turnover, unwanted departures of productive lawyers, incurs costs in recruiting, hiring, and training replacements. These costs, according to MIT Sloan Mgt. Rev., Vol. 49, Summer 2008 at 29, ?have been estimated to be 100% to 150% of the salary of a high-performing employee with unique skills? (See my posts of May 25, 2008: relocation costs and 7 references cited; May 14, 2005: estimates by me of over $100,000; and June 15, 2005 regarding the costs of turnover.).

Numbers of secondees expected from panel law firms. Corp. Counsel, June 2008, writes that British ?banks have increasingly begun insisting on set numbers of secondees as part of outside law firm panel agreements, with HSBC Holdings plc, for example, estimating that it took on around 50 lawyers for free from its panel firms last year.? For free? And 50 of them?? (See my posts of July 17, 2008: secondees and 12 references cited; and Jan. 23, 2008.).

Full post as published by Law Department Management on July 27, 2008 (boomark / email).