My ten most interesting posts during July 2009

Here are the ten best from July. For each, the bracketed text after the header gives a brief description of the post; click on the post title to read it in its entirety. If you would like all the posts at once, email me rees@reesmorrison.com and I will be return them to you.

“When you go to battle, you hire the army not the soldier” – not an apt metaphor for firm vs. partner (July 23, 2009)

[This quote struck me as misguided, for at least six reasons]

Newsletters produced by in-house legal groups (July 20, 2009)

[Communication within the department is important, and this post gives an example, with six other posts]

Host an innovation tournament in your legal department to identify and reward good ideas (July 17, 2009)

[A way to encourage members of the department to share cost saving ideas]

Tell law firms where they rank on metrics that matter to you, without identifying the firms (July 13, 2009)

[To spur your key law firms, tell them how they compare to their competitors in quantitative terms]

Don’t ask for a single budget, ask for scenarios of plausible outcomes in a matter and the associated fee estimates (July 9, 2009)

[The path of likely outcomes has many forks so when law firms budget they should deal with the various branches that might occur]

Ten most fundamental metrics for general counsel and interested observers (July 9, 2009)

[The header says it all – master these numbers]

Pros and cons of an in-house lawyer responsible for relations with a primary law firm (July 8, 2009)

[After five cons and eight pros, I come down on the side of having a supervising lawyer for your major law firms]

Pros and cons of hiring lawyers to reduce fees paid to outside counsel (July 4, 2009)

[Surprisingly, to bring work in from law firms by hiring lawyers has advantages and disadvantages]

Questions about statement that law departments in Europe are steadily handing more work inside (July 4, 2009)

[What is the basis for a claim that certain legal groups are “bringing more work inside”?]

Additional requirements imposed before inside counsel can hire outside counsel (July 1, 2009)

[One way to staunch the flow of funds to law firms is to set up some obstacles for your internal lawyers who want to do so]