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General counsel probably value being asked by law firms about their views on the firm

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In 2005, the US mega-firm Reed Smith hired Julia Cline, a former general counsel, as its first director of general counsel relations. According to Law Firm Inc., Vol. 5, March 2007 at 22, after Cline’s departure to return to practice, the firm appointed Marti Candiello, previously the general counsel for Sunoco Chemicals, to continue the program of interviewing senior lawyers at the firm’s clients.

Candiello wants to “probe[s] clients for suggestions on how to add what she calls ‘the wow factor’ to Reed Smith’s legal services.”

OK, wow. Still, most in-house managers of outside lawyers would welcome a candid and thoughtful chat about the relationship with a firm and what might improve it. The blunt truth is that law departments ought to initiate those discussions.