Huge role for contract managers, whether lawyer or not

The Scientific Atlanta legal department includes 30 people, its general counsel Michael Veysey said in an article interview: 14 attorneys, seven contract managers and legal assistants. According to reporter Katheryn Hayes Tucker, of the Fulton County Daily Report, July 23, 2007, some of the contract managers are lawyers, some are not, but they have the authority to negotiate standard contracts up to $5 million.

My view has been that contract administration should not reside in the law department (See my post of May 5, 2006 and references cited.). If it does remain there, however, it makes sense to have specialists to handle the bulk of the contractual matters. My further view is that after some period of gaining experience, lawyers and non-lawyers are on the same footing in terms of judgment and effectiveness.