In-House Counsel

Some manifestations of a dysfunctional law department

By Rees Morrison

All law departments have warts. Some, to be sure, are more unsightly or even destructive than others. If management problems are bad enough, the department might become in some aspects dysfunctional. A few but by no means all of the management malfunctions I have witnessed and written about are noted below in alphabetical order.

Overboard competition among lawyers (See my post of Oct. 10, 2005.).

Harassment, discrimination or bullying (See my post of Jan. 19, 2008: bullying.).

Incompetents (See my post of Jan. 13, 2006: a troika of consequences.).

Jerks (See my post of Aug. 4, 2007: hire no jerks.).

Inept managers (See my posts of Oct. 12, 2006 and March 18, 2007 on general counsel who are bad managers; and Aug. 22, 2006 on the Peter Principal; Feb. 15, 2006 on the ten dumbest management mistakes of general counsel.).

Disengagement, low morale (See my post of June 28, 2005 about many disengaged general counsel.).

Passive-aggressiveness (See my post of Jan. 17, 2006.).

Virulent politics (See my post of June 5, 2007.).

Silos (See my post of Feb. 9, 2008.).

A sorry list, but probably one that reminds most readers of a dysfunction they bumped into somewhere in their in-house career.

Full post as published by Law Department Management on February 12, 2008 (boomark / email).