Some general counsel thoughtfully restrict the responsibilities of the legal department

An article in Legal Strat. Rev., Winter 2009/10 at 24, describes several management points made by Richard Tapp, company secretary and director of legal services at Carillion plc. The nearly $10 billion company has 27 in-house lawyers focused specifically on “the company’s four core business areas of corporate, construction, private finance and outsourcing.” Tapp is very clear about the need to restrict the scope of responsibilities of his team to those primary client needs.

All legal services outside the boundaries of the four core areas are “diverted to one of the specialist firms or legal services providers on the Carillion Legal Network. All general counsel should discipline what services the legal team provides on its own and build deep capabilities in those areas. Make the core but buy the rest.