What fairy tales teach us about how to manage a law department

Everything you need to know to run a law department you could have learned before kindergarten just from conceptual analogization from the Brothers Grimm:

Chicken Little – risk aversion among litigators as the sky falls just before trial (See my posts of April 12, 2006 and Oct. 18, 2005 generally on lawyer risk aversion; and Dec. 17, 2006 on Type I and II errors.).
Cinderella – dance with regional counsel before they (and their costs) turn into big firms (See my post of Jan. 16, 2006 with some billing rate comparisons.).
Emperor’s New Clothes – outside-counsel management has little on for individual lawyers (See my posts of June 30, 2007 and Oct. 26, 2007 n the reluctance of line lawyers to cut costs of the firms they use.).
Hansel & Gretel – law firms fattening up (See my post of March 9, 2007 about the predicted demise of high-earning traditionalist law firms.).
Little Red Riding Hood – law firms and the wolf of partnering (See my post of May 1, 2005 about the dark side of “partnering.”).
Rapunzel – open disclosure and letting your hair down with firms (See my post of Dec. 3, 2005 about conferences with select firms.).
Rumpelstiltskin – law firms weave the straw of callow associates into gold (See my post of Nov. 8, 2005 about minimum experience requirements for associations; but see my post of Nov. 19, 2007 for an opposing argument.).
Sleeping Beauty – failing to deal with a problem, the spindle (See my post of Jan. 24, 2006 on preventive law training.).
Snow White – beware the poisonous apple of hourly billing (See my post of Oct. 24, 2007 on alternatives to hourly billing.).
The Princess and the Pea – small irritations in bills keep general counsel awake (See my post of Sept. 13, 2005 about prohibitions on charges for online legal research.).
Three Little Pigs – build a solid e-discovery process and team (See my posts of Oct.1, 2005 for background about Kibbe and Pfizer; and Feb. 1, 2006 about Verizon and Altria )