Audits of the legal condition in a country

During interviews in a consulting project, I heard about “legal audits” conducted at a US company that brings in roughly 50 percent of its revenue from overseas, Every year or two a team of senior lawyers visits a country where the company does significant business. The team kicks the legal tires.

They look at processes, form contracts, client education, knowledge management, and other steps taken by the in-country legal group. The audit team brings in outside counsel to obtain attorney-client privilege and a recordal (See my post of Nov. 13, 2005: IP audit at Dow Chemical; and Aug. 27, 2005: litigation audit.).