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In-House Counsel

Law Department Management

Comments on every aspect of how best to manage a law department, including how to manage outside counsel. Topics of interest to general counsel and other in-house lawyers who manage legal functions.
By Rees Morrison

Post Frequency: 39.5/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 11:12:47

Metrics on programs that reward inventors with cash and other benefits

Posted on February 06, 2009
Some 221 companies responded to a survey by iPerformance Group concerning their inventor reward and recognition programs. A summary of the findings appear in IP Law & Bus., Jan. 2009 at 12. Most of the companies that recognize the efforts...

A compilation of suggestions for how to make better use of email

Posted on February 06, 2009
President Obama and I share an infatuation with our Blackberries. That means I send and receive many e-mails, although nowhere near as many as some in-house attorneys handle. The more adept and efficient we all are with email, the better....

Celebration of the first anniversary of embedded metaposts, all 240 of them!

Posted on February 06, 2009
On Feb. 3, 2008 I published this blog?s first ?embedded metapost? (See my post of Feb. 3, 2008: if more than 5 posts, and with URL; May 13, 2007: I ask if metaposts are useful to readers.). Since then I...

The recession?s downsides for law departments

Posted on February 05, 2009
Although the amounts paid to outside counsel by law departments may decline in line with a general drop-off in corporate activity, what remains of that spend may increase unjustifiably. In a cynical and untrusting frame of mind I conjured up...

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Cognitive quirks impair our ability to reach correct conclusions ? filters and interpretation

Posted on February 05, 2009
?Humans have biases that underlie how information is filtered, interpreted and often bolstered.? That summary, from an article in the MIT Sloan Mgt. Rev., Vol. 50, Winter 2009 at 43, provides a three-part framework for my posts about cognitive distortions...

The ergonomics of innovation, especially affordances, as applied to law departments

Posted on February 05, 2009
An invigorating article in the McKinsey Quarterly, 2008, No. 4, at 131, introduces a set of clever ideas that would help law departments implement new practices. The authors, both professors at Stanford University, draw many interesting lessons from a campaign...

Eight matter management systems that exhibited at LegalTech NY

Posted on February 05, 2009
The same companies that provide matter management software for law departments exhibited this year as last year, minus that year?s Brazilian newcomer (See my post of Feb. 6, 2008: Tedesco.). Bridgeway Software (eCounsel, Law Manager) had a booth, and announced...

Rees Morrison?s Morsels #91 ? additions to earlier posts

Posted on February 05, 2009
Other LPO-related blogs. I should add a couple more: LPO News by Anirudh Bhati, who is a professional working in the Legal Process Outsourcing Industry and Legal Process Outsourcing by Mark Ross (See my post of Jan. 18, 2009: 15...

PDF of my presentation at LegalTech NY on sites that tell you about your blog traffic

Posted on February 05, 2009
For about 15 intense, fast-paced minutes I regaled a group of 75+ bloggers and wanna-be bloggers on the various tools I use to find out more about who visits this blog. My PowerPoint slides may give readers some ideas for...

Eight blogs on how lawyers can write more clearly

Posted on February 05, 2009
In-house counsel should strive to be competent drafters, at the worst, and skilled prose stylists at the best (See my post of May 13, 2007: writing instructors; Sept. 21, 2005: writing coaches; May 19, 2006: comparative styles of firm lawyers...

The term ?early case assessment? has a specialized meaning for litigation support

Posted on February 04, 2009
As I wandered the long aisles of e-discovery vendors at LegalTech the past two days I realized from at least two of the vendors that they use the term ?early case assessment? with a definition different from how I have...

Seven dictation software companies at LegalTech NY 2009

Posted on February 04, 2009
A long-time fan of dictation and voice recognition, I couldn?t help but notice a slew of software exhibitors at LegalTech New York who have offerings in that area (See my post of Feb. 23, 2008: dictation with 5 references; April...

On YouTube, Rees Morrison holding forth on Law Department Management , the blawg!

Posted on February 02, 2009
Courtesy of Monica Bay of Legal Technology News, there is a short clip of me on the first day of Legal Tech. I thought it was such a kick to do this, and to market this blog to the masses....

Project teams in law departments ? Part II ? examples of teams

Posted on February 01, 2009
Legal departments have project teams for almost every conceivable task (See my post of Jan. 23, 2008: disaster planning; Jan. 3, 2008: risk management; Dec. 20, 2005: crisis management; Jan. 28, 2008: end-to-end contracts process; and July 3, 2007: morale...

Project teams in law departments ? Part I with definitions of the term?s scope

Posted on February 01, 2009
General counsel and other managers in legal departments designate project teams for almost every conceivable task I define a ?project team? as a group of people charged to accomplish a task in a timeframe and then to disband. Beyond that...

The ten most important management concepts for general counsel

Posted on February 01, 2009
To provoke readers, and to push myself to organize my own thoughts, I hereby anoint ten management concepts as the most crucial for general counsel to ponder and apply. The top five are Client, Risk, Quality, Productivity, and Talent: Client...

Algorithmic pricing as a new way for law firms to offer (sort of) fixed fees

Posted on February 01, 2009
If to fix a fee for somewhat complicated legal services is too difficult, such as a major lease negotiation, perhaps law firms should explore algorithmic pricing. To stay with the example (and to indulge in some fanciful speculation), the algorithm...

Terminology of total legal spending and total legal costs

Posted on February 01, 2009
Some people use the term "total legal expenses" to stand for what I refer to as ?total legal spending.? I define total legal spending as the sum of a law department?s internal expenditures and what it pays outside counsel and...

Thirteen books cited on this blog in 2008

Posted on February 01, 2009
Ideas for my blog posts materialize everywhere, especially from the books I read. Consultants travel all the time, and you will never guess what I do on flights?. I looked back and found most of the books I cited this...

Nine applications of Web 2.0 for law departments

Posted on February 01, 2009
For a charming and effective summary of Web 2.0 for law departments, read what Paul Lippe, the heart-and-soul of Legal OnRamp, flourishes in a recent column. Lippe includes six Web 2.0 capabilities in his description. He covers wikis, ?an online...

Split surveys that can ask lots of questions but in a manageable format

Posted on January 30, 2009
A long questionnaire deters clients from responding to a client-satisfaction survey (or members of the law department to a morale survey). Even so, some general counsel want to explore how clients or employees feel about a large number of attributes....

Eight benefits from a virtual data-room for large-scale due diligence

Posted on January 30, 2009
An article in the ACC Docket, Vol. 30, Dec. 2008 at 50, describes how Fairmont Raffles Hotels International used an online data-room from IntraLinks to enable potential purchasers to carry out their due diligence. More than 150,000 pages of documents...

Part XXIV of a collection of embedded metaposts

Posted on January 30, 2009
Here are the most recent embedded metaposts with URL links (See my post of Jan.13, 2009: Part XXIII.), each of which shows the number of references cited within them. 1. Blogs on law department management (See my post of Jan....

Lawyers are what they remember, so here are three tips for how to improve your memory

Posted on January 30, 2009
Mark Gluck, gluck@pavlov.rutgers.edu a PhD researcher on memory, gave a fascinating lecture a few nights ago. As I am riveted by how our brains work and what enhances their operation, I will share three of the points he made about...

Indemnification of general counsel for personal legal fees

Posted on January 30, 2009
An excellent article in Directors & Boards, Vol. 33, Fourth Quarter 2008 at 42, explains why general counsel might want to negotiate a personal indemnification agreement before they take the helm. Corporate bylaws may fall short of protecting them in...

Six reflections on the high-level RIF at Merrill Lynch?s legal department

Posted on January 30, 2009
At least six senior legal roles at Merrill Lynch have been axed as part of the investment bank's global restructuring. As reported on The Lawyer.com, an associate general counsel, the ?general counsel of litigation and employment,??co-head of global litigation,? and...

Some observations from the merger of Bank of New York and Mellon?s law departments

Posted on January 30, 2009
When the Bank of New York -- Mellon Corp. merger closed in July 2007, Carl Krasik, the general counsel, had to meld 150 lawyers from two very anxious, legal departments into one legal team. According to an article on Law.com,...

Rental cost in the US for a law department?s space ? about $25 a square foot

Posted on January 29, 2009
An undetermined number of legal departments live rent free. That is, the companies the departments serve do not charge the legal budget with a cost for the offices, hallways, conferences rooms and facilities space the lawyers and staff occupy. If...

Turf wars after efforts by a general counsel to usurp too much responsibility

Posted on January 29, 2009
On the heels of my post that argues for a more limited role of a legal department than a recent white paper advocates (See my post of Jan. 29, 2009: extremely broad scope of responsibility asserted for legal departments.), I...

Scope of responsibility of a law department does not extend to all ?processes, systems, protocols, structures, operations and controls?

Posted on January 29, 2009
?Essentially, legal departments must ensure accountability, defensibility and transparency in a company?s processes, systems, protocols, structures, operations and controls.? That prodigious comes from a White Paper on Legal GRC: November 2008 at 4. I disagree...

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