In-House Paralegals

Managing Litigation as a Business
Dallas

Join us January 26, 2012, as we expand this unique nationwide collaborative effort among in-house legal teams to improve how you manage your company’s litigation and implement a continuous improvement process.

►  Meet other Law Department Leaders committed to managing litigation in a businesslike manner
►  Examine litigation best practices and case studies from peer law departments
►  Evaluate your department’s competencies against the new “Managing Litigation Reference Model”
►  Form a “Success Team” to assist you in advancing your litigation management goals

There is no cost for your legal team to join this groundbreaking initiative.  The first step is for your company’s top Litigation Management Decision-Makers to attend the Dallas kickoff program.  Texas MCLE credit will be provided pending approval.

More Information

In a recent article, Law Department consultant Rees Morrison sets out these ”Ten Truths About Innovation in Law Departments.”  

• New ideas are plentiful, implemented good ones far less.
• Every single law department can innovate.
• Law departments have limits on absorption of new practices.
• Metrics foster innovation.
• Modules of change make more sense than whole practices.
• New practices, if successful, take a decade to diffuse.
• Novel ideas evolve during dispersion.
• Dispersion causes divergence, not convergence.
• The path to innovation is pocked with craters, blind spots, and curves.
• To do something new runs risks.

I’m wondering if you agree — and would welcome your comments.   My overall impression, if Rees is right — and he’s been consulting in this area for 20 years — is that fostering change in the in-house corporate setting requires a ton of effort and a huge amount of patience for relatively little return on investment of time and effort.

We read regularly about the marked law department accomplishments at name brand DuPont Legal, Pfizer, Cisco and innovator FMC Technologies — but what about the thousands of seasoned corporate lawyers and small in-house teams who take on the legal challenges of their companies every day?  Are they grinding away mired in old practices?  Stuck in a rut?  Or are many innovating and implementing changes that improve operational efficiencies, cut costs and provide their clients with more value for their legal spend?

“What we are seeing is a sea change in the legal industry,” according to Jim Jones, senior vice president of Hildebrandt Baker Robbins and former managing partner of Arnold & Porter. The quote appears in a recent Washington Post Capital Business “Commentary: Changing law firm business models.”

Jones believes the emphasis going forward will clearly be on finding ways in which legal services can be delivered more efficiently and cost effectively. We agree.

To these ends, seasoned in-house litigation managers, trial lawyers and support services suppliers attending one-day kickoff events of the nationwide “Managing Litigation as a Business” initiative in Chicago, Wash DC, Toronto and Phoenix were asked to identify “Key Elements” involved in managing risk, disputes and litigation in a cost efficient and effective businesslike manner from a law department perspective. They developed a list of 36 Key Elements, plus 5 “Supporting Management Practices.”

Today, these Key Elements and Supporting Management Practices have been restructured and organized into a comprehensive “Managing Litigation Reference Model” (MLRM).

The “Managing Litigation Reference Model” is designed to provide a universal, practical and flexible framework to (a) guide and educate organizations in techniques to avoid, mitigate and manage risks, disputes and litigation more efficiently and effectively; (b) enhance knowledge and skills relating to these disciplines; (c) promote implementation of continuous improvement processes in managing risks, disputes and litigation; and (d) marshal and centralize the resources needed to accomplish these goals.

As a comparison, think of the e-Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) expanded to cover risk, dispute and litigation management from A-to-Z. View an Outline of the MLRM.  You”ll see that many of the Key Elements have been fleshed out with detailed descriptions, implementation guidelines, answers to FAQs and additional reference materials.

We are currently forming dedicated MLRM Development Teams to support and expand knowledge and pertinent resources relating to each Key Element and Supporting Management Practice.

These Teams offer diverse opportunities for in-house legal teams and their preferred outside counsel and suppliers to contribute to the value of this groundbreaking endeavor; develop relationships with other participating law department decision-makers; expand individual and team knowledge and skills; and gain recognition as risk, dispute and litigation management thought-leaders.

Involvement in the MLRM project reflects a commitment to finding ways in which to deliver legal services more efficiently and cost effectively. There is no cost to participate.  We encourage you to learn more about Joining the MLRM.  In-house paralegals at all levels of experience are welcome.

Founders of the In-house Paralegal Blog are committed to finding ways in which to assist corporate clients in improving efficiencies, reducing costs and deriving more value from the services and products they purchase from law firms and suppliers serving the legal profession.  Their support of this endeavor is a reflection of this commitment.

These thought-leading individuals, law firms and companies also support the following groundbreaking initiatives that have similar objectives.

ACC Value Challenge

With approximately 25,000 members in over 70 countries, the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) is the largest organization serving the professional and business interests of attorneys who practice in the legal departments of corporations, associations and other private-sector organizations worldwide. ACC leaders believe that traditional law firm business models can be better aligned with what ACC members really want and need as corporate clients, namely appropriate, value-driven, high-quality legal services that deliver effective solutions for a reasonable cost.

The “ACC Value Challenge” is a nationwide initiative to bring in-house and outside counsel together to promote strategic partnering and use of appropriate fee arrangements, best practices, management tools and other resources to achieve better alignment between the value and cost of legal services provided by law firms to corporate clients. Click this link to watch the “ACC Value Challenge Overview Video”.

Managing Litigation as a Business

The mission of the “Managing Litigation as a Business” initiative is to provide participating law departments  – whether a solo General Counsel or dedicated team of corporate lawyers – the means and all the resources needed to design and execute a customized program for improving how they manage company risk, disputes and litigation; as well as implement a continuing improvement process to ensure they remain on a steady path for achieving better results at lower costs. 

There is no cost to participate in this groundbreaking endeavor.  Providing the complete solution in a way that every law department can afford to take advantage of it is what “Managing Litigation as a Business” is all about.

Importantly, senior in-house counsel participating in the Managing Litigation initiative are recommending the program as a resource that promotes, aligns with and facilitates achievement of ACC Value Challenge goals.

Managing Litigation Reference Model

Complementing the Managing Litigation initiative, the “Managing Litigation Reference Model” is designed to provide a universal, practical and flexible framework to (a) guide and educate organizations in techniques to avoid, mitigate and manage risks, disputes and litigation more efficiently and effectively; (b) enhance knowledge and skills relating to these disciplines; (c) promote implementation of continuous improvement processes in managing risks, disputes and litigation; and (d) marshal and centralize the resources needed to accomplish these goals.

Seasoned in-house and outside counsel, as well as experienced corporate risk managers, working on this important project have identified the “Key Elements” critical to managing risk, disputes and litigation in an effective businesslike manner.  Each Key Element is being fleshed out to include a clear definition, implementation guidelines, answers to frequently asked questions and supporting resources.  Complementary “pathfinders” are being developed to facilitate use of the Model by parties in varying circumstances (for example, small law departments).  Where appropriate, consideration is given to important “supporting management practices” (such as change, knowledge and/or project management).

Participants in the Managing Litigation initiative contribute to development of the “Managing Litigation Reference Model” (MLRM) and, in turn, gain the value the Model offers as a state-of-the-art guide for improvement.

High Value Legal Service Blog
 
The experienced litigation counsel who founded the Managing Litigation initiative and MLRM project have committed to sponsoring and contributing regularly to a new “High Value Legal Service” blog, which will be established to complement the MLRM project and all of these related initiatives.  

As its title reflects, the blog will be devoted to the subject of defining and delivering “high value” legal services to corporate clients, highlighting new developments in the field, and giving recognition to law departments, law firms and legal suppliers that contribute meaningfully by adding value and/or reducing costs in providing legal advice and services to their clients.

In-house Counsel InfoNet

Law department leaders are frequently challenged as “legal generalists.”  They frequently have to make decisions regarding matters that involve areas of the law about which they may have little or no knowledge or experience – or where the law is rapidly changing or particularly complex.

The “In-house Counsel InfoNet” is a very practical solution to this everyday law department need.  InfoNet users simply log onto the facility, select the legal subject area of concern, post an inquiry and, within 24 hours, outside counsel and other professionals with expertise in that area will respond with pertinent information.  The service is free to lawyers employed as in-house counsel.