Kenneth Fredeen, the General Counsel of Deloitte Canada, mentions in ACC Docket, June 2012 at 114, that he uses strategic planning as a management tool. In fact, “His staff participates in the exercise annually.” I have cast doubt on the value of strategic planning by a group that is essentially…
We hear all the time praise for law departments that innovate. Do something new, General Counsel are told, to keep up in the competitive race and make the cover of a trade journal. In fact, it may be far more effective to copy what other law departments do and perhaps…
Every general counsel who has direct reports, by which I mean senior lawyers who manage other lawyers, deals with the different styles of those lawyers in staff meetings. Every general counsel encounters how their comments dampen or direct discussion (See my post of Feb. 1, 2006: how to reduce the…
An enthusiast duplicate bridge player, I have for years added periodically to my personal summary whatever strikes me as useful. My personal bridge log is now about 60 pages. Writing helps test whether I have learned something, it helps me remember, and it helps me reorganize material in ways that…
Most general counsel sharpen their management tools from reading about a technique that strikes them as worthwhile, or from hearing about one at a conference or meeting. Some less common sources also supply new ideas. You can ask your favorite law firms to critique how a major matter was handled…
Matter management and e-billing systems come with built-in reports, sometimes called “canned reports.” They and the more sophisticated capabilities of report writers can tell users quite a bit. For example, they can show the law firms paid the most during a specific period of time. A dashboard advances data analysis…
You can find posts here on different conceptual frameworks. Each framework attempts to package and comprehend the multifarious components on law departments. McKinsey 7S model and similar frameworks. The alliteration is tiresome and forced but the terms cover a lot (See my post of Aug. 8, 2005: McKinsey 7S model.).…
Reid G. Smith, who is currently Enterprise Content Management Director and IT Upstream Services Manager, Marathon Oil, published several years ago a list of non-starters for knowledge management initiatives in law departments. I quote the four. • Expect that people will “make time” for KM. Either give them extra time,…
In-house lawyers do most of their reading, listening, and giving advice – their primary ways of learning – within a relatively narrow cone of their practice areas. Further, while seated at their desk they do most of this. Time and facilities don’t permit otherwise, they would remonstrate. That rigidity takes…
The Am. Scholar, Spring 2012 at 66, reveals how we read. Our eyes make hops, known as saccades, and for the 20 to 30 milliseconds of each we do not perceive anything, and then they fixate for 200 to 300 milliseconds. Thus, the absolute fastest any of us can read…