In-House Counsel

Exelon has an internal 1,750 billable-hour requirement. Corp. Counsel, June 2009 at 72, mentions this, which bolsters my point that the 1,850 hour ?standard? is too high. To put the difference in context, consider a five-lawyer department where inside spend is $400,000 per lawyer. At 1,850 chargeable hours they cost $212 an hour; at 1,750 chargeable hours, the internal rate rises $16 an hour, to $228 (See my post of May 21, 2009: suggested revision to the old standby estimate.).

Transaction costs of tax compliance. ?By one estimate, what companies spend in complying with the [corporate income] tax equals almost 13 percent of the tax bill they owe,? from The Atlantic, Vol. 304, July/Aug. 2009 at 61. Tax lawyers in-house are part of that compliance cost (See my post of Feb. 16, 2006: complexity of the tax code.).

Online deluge of (unqualified) applicants. Using online job networks, ?one business advertised for a lawyer and received responses from 1,000 applicants ? half of whom did not even have law degrees.? This comes from the NY Times, July 19, 2008 at BU 9, and it speaks to the (a) desperate efforts of lawyers to find jobs, (2) the reach of online job boards, (3) the effort HR or the legal department has to wade through resumes, and (4) the value of a search firm to screen applicants (See my post of (See my post of Sept. 16, 2008: search firms with 12 references.). The best place online to look for jobs and post for jobs is Goinhouse.com www.goinhouse.com

67 competencies defined. ?A competency is a measurable characteristic of a person related to success at work. It can be a skill, an attribute, or an attitude. As people are complex, the characteristics that describe their behavior are many and varied. This resulted in a library of 67 competencies with different behavioral descriptions as well as development tips and remedies for each.? The quote comes from the website of Lominger(See my post of May 23, 2008: core competence with 12 references.). http://www.lawdepartmentmanagementblog.com/law_department_management/2008/05/core-competenci.html