Morrison’s Morsels – No. 21

Contract general counsel. Just after my post of March 30, 2006, I read in the Columbia Law School Report, Winter 2006 at 38, that Frances Di Savino “is the managing member of Incounsel, which provides general counsel services to technology companies.” Note the industry specialization.

Research by law firms. Further to my post of April 7, 2006, I would add to the likelihood of large law firms producing research on law departments the even greater potential for associations of law firms to produce it. For example, Lex Mundi published findings on the attorney-client privilege (See my posts of May 30, 2005 on other Lex Mundi research, including lists of approved outside counsel and the involvement of the CEO in firm selection.)

Sideways moves by general counsel. Some general counsel are promoted (See my posts of Jan. 27, 2006 and March 13, 2006 with examples.) and some move to a lateral position. Allen Hill, the former general counsel of United Parcel Service became the senior vice president of human resources, according to Corp. Counsel, April 2006 at 56. The same item says that Hill’s replacement, Teri McClure spent a year, in the midst of her legal career at UPS, serving as the district manager for central Florida and supervising 4,000 employees (See my post of Aug. 3, 2005 about Rosemary Berkery.)

Associations of law firms – Association of Patent Law Firms. A distinctive variation on the global networks of law firms (See my posts of May 30, 2005 and Dec. 19, 2005 about international associations of law firms.), the APLF consists of 15 US patent firms (5 in Chicago), and one firm each in Australia, Germany and Canada, according to their magazine, the Patent Lawyer, Vol. 3, Spring 2006 at 25.