Posts on General Electric’s legal function

As part of a series on posts here about specific companies, General Electric deserved a festschrift for its 35 posts.

Many of the GC posts boast of costs and savings (See my post of Jan. 14, 2007: document management and savings from it; Aug. 5, 2008: savings from early case assessment; Aug. 5, 2008: savings from convergence; May 23, 2007: reductions in litigation cycle time; and May 7, 2006: total legal spending.).

Outside counsel selection and management represents many of the posts (See my post of Sept. 4, 2005: online auctions; March 12, 2006 regarding online auctions; Aug. 28, 2008: keep work inside; Aug. 29, 2008: sycophancy by law firm partners; April 7, 2006 about procurement; and April 16, 2007: US panel firms.).

Some refer to structure (See my post of Oct. 8, 2007: dispersed compliance function; May 7, 2006: GE reporting; Jan. 6, 2006: GE reporting; April 6, 2007: reporting lines at GE; Aug. 27, 2008 #3: growth of the legal department at GE; June 20, 2008: dispersed lawyers in Asia; and Feb. 4, 2008: centers of excellence.).

The GE posts are modestly populated in the talent category (See my post of July 31, 2005: legal specialists; April 4, 2006: diversity; May 7, 2006 on in-house training programs; April 6, 2008: new lawyer orientation; and April 17, 2007: workouts.).

A few items have appeared on this blog about the technological resources of the GE legal team (See my post of May 23, 2007: law department technology team; April 27, 2008: video conferencing; Oct. 11, 2008: software for patent landscapes; and Dec. 23, 2008: patent on an intranet.).

The remainder of the GE-related items cover a variety of management topics (See my post of July 31, 2005: Six Sigma; June 19, 2006: Six Sigma; Jan. 15, 2006: Six Sigma; Feb. 7, 2007: pledge to use arbitration; Feb. 7, 2007: IP czar; Oct. 8, 2007: banish the word “client”; Feb. 10, 2007: mandate to apply for more patents; July 20, 2007: pilot programs; and Aug. 5, 2008: offshore work coming back.).