Leading Law Departments
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What should be a mantra for decisions: data over anecdote. The point this article makes applies to contracts, but more broadly to all decisions by managers of law departments. 'Gather data, not anecdotes: If you're ready to begin the process of CLM implementation, the first place to start is with the data. Everyone has stories of contract negotiations that went horribly wrong or a sourcing that took way longer than it should have. There are always stories and anecdotes. But you should look into the data. How long is it taking you to get contracts through on average? And if you can, where is that time being wasted?'
Click here for the full text from Agiloft.
Five project management tools.
Asana project management software is based on the Kanban management system, which enables users to visualize work-in-progress.
Trello is another popular Kanban-style tool that, like Asana, stores information in the cloud. A client intake staff member can create a new board for each potential client. They can customize each board with columns so that staff members can track or manage the development of a case.
Evernote is used by a number of attorneys, particularly for capturing information for legal research, productivity tasks and even case management. Evernote has the ability to capture and save notes and recordings from the web in a variety of different formats, whether these be emails, legal briefs, research files or discovery documents.
dTrax is an end-to-end contract management tool developed by Deloitte's AI Factory to streamline the drafting process. While many attorneys are already familiar with text templates or speech-to-text applications, dTrax provides templates that can automatically input contextual data, speeding up creation of contracts that are highly repetitive in some sections and highly personalized in other sections.
TrialPad is a popular trial presentation iPad app from Lit Software that also serves as an affordable project management application.'
Click here for the full text from Trellis Research's Nicole Clark.
Scoring vendors as part of an RFP process. Often overlooked, law departments that put work out for bid should give thought to how they will score the responses that come back. Software can help. 'Manually taking notes on vendor prospects is a tedious process that should be left in the past. Vendor response ratings and scorecards provided by advanced eProcurement software solutions can help organizations to feel confident that the vendor that is most aligned with their needs is selected. With bid rating weight control, organizations can configure the weight of specific vendor criteria over others when scoring bids. User-friendly bid tabulation reports can be utilized to include scoring and pricing line items for a rapid and easy-to-understand overview of bids.'
Click here for the full text from Cobblestone Software.
Three techniques of law firms that inflate bills. A client balked at the fees charged by a law firm, and describes three methods in the pleadings. 'According to the suit, a lawyer within K&L Gates reported to [the client] that the law firm hosts an annual seminar in Phoenix for lawyers to learn various ways to increase their billing. The suit claims that K&L Gates used these techniques to increase billing:
- Block billing, in which lawyers aggregate multiple smaller tasks into a single block entry. Such billing can inflate total hours billed to a client by up to 30%, the suit says, citing information from a State Bar of California arbitration advisory on detecting bill padding.
- Hoarding, in which an overqualified professional with a high billing rate retains work that could be passed on to lower-paid professionals. 'Often, hoarding results in partners doing associate work, associates doing paralegal work, and/or paralegals doing clerical work,' the suit says.
- Multibilling, which occurs when multiple attorneys perform the same task or attend the same event when one lawyer could handle the task.'
Click here for the full text from the ABA Journal's Debra Cassens Weiss.
Higher-rate lawyers take on more work as law firms lay off lower-rate employees. With layoffs pounding lower-billing employees, effective billing rates of law firms will rise [see the previous comments on 'hoarding'. '[A]ssociates and non-lawyer timekeepers (including specialists, paralegals, litigation support staff, and other timekeepers) have experienced the most reduction in headcount thus far during the pandemic, with the average firm reducing their ranks 2.1%, and 2.6%, respectively. While the levels of equity partners and non-equity partners have only been reduced by 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively.' The image provides more insight.
Click here for the full text from Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor's Isaac Brooks.
Do you need to have law firms sign your guidelines? You could also have each invoice include an attestation that the firm has read the guidelines. It takes time and effort to track signatures. 'The signature page is your insurance that your outside law firms have read the billing guidelines.'
It's difficult to enforce guidelines if your vendors can claim they never received or read them. A simple signature page that states, 'Our firm acknowledges receipt and accepts the terms of these legal billing guidelines' can prevent a lot of disputes and headaches down the line.'
Click here for the full text from Simple Legal's Lauren Lee.
A rephrasing of Alternative Legal Service Providers' An enormous revenue claim, and one which needs to additional definition and specificity. 'Law companies now make up more than $12 billion of sales, and the market opportunity to grow into is huge. More than half of Global 200 law firms use or partner with law companies, and in 2018, 25% of Global 1000 CLOs said they planned to increase spending on law companies, almost double the response from two years before.
Meanwhile, outside capital - more than $1 billion in 2019 - is flowing into law companies, and M&A activity is heating up. The second quarter of 2020 saw $178 million in investment in legal tech companies, beating 2019's Q2 total of $122 million, despite the COVID-related economic crisis.'
Click here for the full text from Elevate's Liam Brown.
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Top News
- Top three lessons learned from implementing CLM software for procurement Agiloft Blog, August 28, 2020
- Legal Project Management for Attorneys Inhouse Blog, August 28, 2020
- Better Procurement: From Tedium to Innovation Cobblestone Software (Exari): Blog, August 28, 2020
- Overbilling Suit Alleges K&L Gates Used These Techniques to Increase Fees General Counsel News, August 27, 2020
- PMI Q2 analysis: Small headcount shifts creep into Q2 results Legal Executive Institute: Blog, August 26, 2020
- Legal Billing Guidelines: What to Include and How to Enforce Them SimpleLegal Blog, August 25, 2020
- Legal Department Operations (LDO) Index: Dedicated legal operations comes home Legal Executive Institute: Blog, August 25, 2020
- Law Companies – More Than the Big 4 for Law (via Passle) Elevate Services Blog, August 23, 2020
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- Collaboration PinHawk Law Firm Marketing - Joe Lamport, August 27, 2020
- Litigation Funding PinHawk Law Firm Marketing - Joe Lamport, August 27, 2020
- Virtual practice PinHawk Law Firm Marketing - Joe Lamport, August 27, 2020
- ILTA>ON Announcements Run Gamut From Tool For Combatting Racial Injustice To Long Expected Acquisition PinHawk Librarian News - John DiGilio, Constance Ard, August 26, 2020
- BOL: An Employee Gets Covid19. Now What PinHawk Legal Admin - Bill Lipner, August 25, 2020
- Some people never learn PinHawk Law Technology - Jeff Brandt, August 25, 2020
- Outages and digital snow days PinHawk Law Technology - Jeff Brandt, August 25, 2020
- More legal vendor sales PinHawk Law Technology - Jeff Brandt, August 25, 2020
- BOL: Zoom Fatigue PinHawk Legal Admin - Bill Lipner, August 24, 2020
- Apple // (billion) PinHawk Law Technology - Jeff Brandt, August 24, 2020
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- That was yesterday, what about today? PinHawk Law Technology - Jeff Brandt, August 24, 2020
- Read It and Weep: Feit Report Which Major Legal Research Vendor is Plummeting in the Market? PinHawk Librarian News - John DiGilio, Constance Ard, August 24, 2020
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Coronavirus
- Labor of Law: Litigation Updates | Return-to-Work Survey | Who Got the Work | Covid-19 Headlines | Gunderson Dettmer Snags New L&E Chair Law.com: In-House Weekly, August 28, 2020
- Insurers Deny Covid Business Interruption Claims Today's General Counsel: Career, August 28, 2020
- COVID-19 Business Implications: Agility Turns Disruption Into Opportunity ThoughtTrace Blog, August 28, 2020
- Fly-Fishing and All-Night Layovers: How McGuireWoods Got Face-to-Face With Summer Associates Despite COVID Challenges Law.com: In-House Weekly, August 27, 2020
- Law Firms Struggle With Developing Talent From Afar; How to Whittle Down Your Outside Counsel List; Under Armour Sued for Citing COVID to Kill Contract: The Morning Minute Law.com: In-House Weekly, August 27, 2020
- Always Braced for a Storm, These Louisiana Firms Knew How to Cope Amid COVID-19 Law.com: In-House Weekly, August 26, 2020
- Bayer Reached $1.6 Billion Settlement Over Essure in Wake of Trial Delays Due to COVID-19. Plus: Flint Water Accord to Benefit Children Law.com: In-House Weekly, August 26, 2020
- Utah's Business of Law Innovation Experiment; Buddying Up for Bankruptcy Cases; Another Missouri Class Action Seeks COVID Coverage: The Morning Minute Law.com: In-House Weekly, August 26, 2020
- Employers Hit With Covid-19 Wrongful Death Lawsuits Today's General Counsel: Career, August 26, 2020
- The State of the e-Discovery and Data Privacy Job Market: Pre- and Post-COVID-19, Part 1 Law.com: In-House Weekly, August 25, 2020
- The Growing Litigation Battle Over COVID-19 in the Nation's Prisons and Jails Law.com: In-House Weekly, August 25, 2020
- Australia Will Likely See More COVID-19 Class Actions, Lawyers Say Law.com: In-House Weekly, August 25, 2020
- Holland & Knight, Stoel Rives Partially Restore COVID Pay Cuts Law.com: In-House Weekly, August 25, 2020
- Bolstered by Revenue Growth, U.K.-based Kennedys to Pay Out Salary Increases and Bonuses After COVID-19 Delay Law.com: In-House Weekly, August 25, 2020
- Firms Are Reversing COVID-19 Cuts but Remaining Cautious; Associates Appreciate Honesty (Especially Now); Crowell Alleges Pharmacy Chain Scammed Insurer Clients: The Morning Minute Law.com: In-House Weekly, August 24, 2020
- Managing COVID-19 in the Hospitality Industry While Helping to End Systemic Police Brutality Inside Counsel, August 24, 2020
- Jennifer Dulos’ Family Sues CT Judge Over Court Delays Due to COVID General Counsel News, August 23, 2020
- Billion-Dollar Am Law 50 Firm Walks Back Its COVID-19 Salary Reductions General Counsel News, August 23, 2020
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In the News
- Nonprofit Board of Directors Training Best Practices BoardEffect Blog, August 28, 2020
- Eswatini Sugar Association Goes Paperless in the Boardroom BoardBookit, August 26, 2020
- Nonprofit Board of Directors Training Best Practices BoardEffect Blog, August 26, 2020
- Diversity Legislation Sparking Conversation BoardBookit, August 26, 2020
- How Should Nonprofit Boards Define Risk Management? BoardEffect Blog, August 24, 2020
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In the News
- Trends in Mobile App Infringement and Enforcement Measures to Take Inside Counsel, August 28, 2020
- Dialed-in: SSGA Letter Calls for Racial Diversity Disclosures CorporateCounsel.net Blog, August 28, 2020
- SEC “Modernizes” Reg S-K! Risk Factors, Human Capital & More CorporateCounsel.net Blog, August 27, 2020
- PMI Q2 analysis: Small headcount shifts creep into Q2 results Legal Executive Institute: Blog, August 26, 2020
- Providing Guidance: Where are We Now? CorporateCounsel.net Blog, August 26, 2020
- Why Having the Right Data at the Right Time Is Paramount to Corporate Legal's New Normal Inside Counsel, August 25, 2020
- Arbitration and Mediation in the Workplace - Important Considerations for an ADR Program Inside Counsel, August 25, 2020
- SV Risk Factor Disclosure Trends: Potential Impact of Proposed Rulemaking CorporateCounsel.net Blog, August 25, 2020
- Legal Department Operations (LDO) Index: Dedicated legal operations comes home Legal Executive Institute: Blog, August 25, 2020
- Working Remote: Advantages Gained from Legal Technology Adoption Inside Counsel, August 25, 2020
- UPFRONT & PERSONAL: Recruiting individuals with a high EQ will give you a diverse team, says Seth Weissman, CLO of Marqeta Legal Executive Institute: Blog, August 24, 2020
- Managing COVID-19 in the Hospitality Industry While Helping to End Systemic Police Brutality Inside Counsel, August 24, 2020
- SEC’s Reg S-T Proposal: The End of “Fake” Filings? CorporateCounsel.net Blog, August 24, 2020
- Why collaboration is (usually) doomed to fail — and how to buck the odds Legal Executive Institute: Blog, August 24, 2020
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In the News
- Tips To Avoid Compromised Contractor Accounts Today's General Counsel: Career, August 28, 2020
- Insurers Deny Covid Business Interruption Claims Today's General Counsel: Career, August 28, 2020
- Spotlighting In-House Memos, Ninth Circuit Adopts Work-Product Waiver Standard Today's General Counsel: Career, August 27, 2020
- Uber Security Chief Faces Two Felony Charges For Hiding Breach Today's General Counsel: Career, August 26, 2020
- Employers Hit With Covid-19 Wrongful Death Lawsuits Today's General Counsel: Career, August 26, 2020
- Are You Required To Report a Ransomware Attack? Today's General Counsel: Career, August 25, 2020
- Compliance Conundrum: Pay a Bounty and They Thrive Today's General Counsel: Career, August 25, 2020
- Univ. of Utah Pays Ransomware Gang Today's General Counsel: Career, August 24, 2020
- Best Value For Dollar Law Schools Today's General Counsel: Career, August 24, 2020
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In the News
- Top three lessons learned from implementing CLM software for procurement Agiloft Blog, August 28, 2020
- Inventorship as the Wind Blows Patently-O - Dennis Crouch, August 28, 2020
- What Will Happen to the Role of the E-Discovery Professional? Exterro Blog, August 28, 2020
- An Overview of the CCPA - August 2020 Epiq Systems, August 28, 2020
- Better Procurement: From Tedium to Innovation Cobblestone Software (Exari): Blog, August 28, 2020
- COVID-19 Business Implications: Agility Turns Disruption Into Opportunity ThoughtTrace Blog, August 28, 2020
- Friday Funnies: Exterro's Meme Series - Walk This Way Edition Exterro Blog, August 27, 2020
- Brazil's General Data Protection Law to Take Effect Immediately Exterro Blog, August 27, 2020
- The UK Supreme Court’s Re-interpretation of FRAND in Unwired Planet v. Huawei Patently-O - Dennis Crouch, August 27, 2020
- 6 Tips for Vendor Management Excellence Cobblestone Software (Exari): Blog, August 26, 2020
- The Secrets of (Customer) Success: An Interview with Sean Ho'okano-briel (via Passle) Elevate Services Blog, August 26, 2020
- IPR: Not a Taking; Not an Illegal Exaction Patently-O - Dennis Crouch, August 25, 2020
- Requirements You Should Have When Choosing Contract Analysis Software Linksquares Blog, August 25, 2020
- CAFC: IPR Cancellation Is not a 5th Amendment Taking Patently-O - Dennis Crouch, August 25, 2020
- Doubling Up: Federal Circuit Mischaracterizes both its own Precedent and the Lower Court Ruling Patently-O - Dennis Crouch, August 25, 2020
- NIGP Forum: See CobbleStone's Government Contract Management Software Cobblestone Software (Exari): Blog, August 24, 2020
- Bridging the Technology Gap Malbek Blog, August 24, 2020
- Take back your time: Top time wasters for Corporate Counsel & Remediation ThoughtTrace Blog, August 24, 2020
- Can You Pass the Contracting New Normal Test? ContractRoom Blog, August 24, 2020
- NJ Law Limiting Patentee’s Capacity to Sue Upheld on Appeal Patently-O - Dennis Crouch, August 24, 2020
- Law Companies – More Than the Big 4 for Law (via Passle) Elevate Services Blog, August 23, 2020
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| | Rees Morrison, Esq., Editor
Rees Morrison, Esq. is a Senior Manager at EY consulting to law departments on management issues. The views he expresses in Leading Law Departments are his personal views, and are not necessarily the views of EY. |
Follow me on Twitter: @ReesMorrison | Join my LinkedIn group: Law Department Management
Follow all the PinHawk highlights @PinHawkHappens Website: PinHawk.com Blog: PinHawkBlog.com
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