“Little merit to a full-service law department….”

The lawyer who heads the corporate group at the UK law firm Lawrence Graham, Christopher Tite, recently tossed off an incredible statement. As paraphrased in the Fin. Times, Aug. 22, 2006 at 5, Tite believes “there is little merit in having a full-service legal function in-house, as many operations can be accomplished cost-effectively elsewhere.”

Only a law firm ego would utter that statement, one which not only seems wrong, but at the least cries out for some examples of more economical choices than inside lawyers (See my post of Nov. 19, 2005 on another patronizing British comment about law departments.).