For dispersed law departments, select virtual teams for tasks to benefit the department (Halliburton)

Global law departments sometimes need their lawyers and paralegals to form teams, such as to choose software, analyze spending, assess client satisfaction, or carry out any of the numberless management initiatives discussed in this blog.

One, a group led by Susan Ponce as chief counsel of 20 Halliburton lawyers in 12 offices, “developed a system of virtual teams consisting of company attorneys who work as a group from their individual locations for a limited time on a task to benefit the department.” Counsel to Counsel, Jan. 2006 at 10. The article that described the system said that the general counsel appoints teams, or the project coordinator does so; further, “team memberships are non-negotiable except for extreme circumstances” while assignments are designed to last around six weeks.