Display an analytic, quantitative history of the law department and legal spend

In several of my consulting projects I have helped my client law departments compile a representation of their management history. In the form of a timeline, it depicts changes in the department’s size, locations and spending in relation to significant external events. The events include acquisitions, divestitures, organizational restructurings, revenue milestones, government investigations and others.

The diorama on paper pulls together an assortment of useful background information. The resulting map can be useful, such as how it correlates the number of lawyers in the department and their specialties to various changes in the company and to outside counsel spending. A retreat or off-site is a good place to display the results.