Law Department Management Blog
Non-competes as they might bind in-house lawyers. An article in Acc Docket, Vol. 24, Nov./Dec. 2006 at 92, by Eric Reicin predicts that states will follow several other opinions, “finding noncompetes improper for in-house counsel working in a legal role.” I mentioned the New Jersey situation with BASF previously (See my posts of Feb. 4, 2006; and Feb. 18, 2006 #1 on Illinois.).
Multiple hats worn by some general counsel. The General Counsel of Cummins, Marya M. Rose, also serves as the company’s secretary and oversees the corporate services group, as stated in Counsel to Counsel, Jan. 2007 at 4-6, which oversight includes the safety, security, environmental, facilities, risk insurance and aviation functions (See my posts of May 20, July 31, Oct. 21, and Nov. 1, 2005 on whether a general counsel should also manage compliance and cognate functions.).
Upward mobility (height and intelligence). A somewhat mocking post presents the idea that tall counsel are better counsel (See my post of Nov. 9, 2006 on the altocracy.). Nonetheless, a recent study found that taller people are smarter, primarily because of differences in childhood cognitive ability that may be due to prenatal and childhood nutrition. More on the study, “Stature and Status: Height, Ability, and the Labor Market Outcomes,” Anne Case and Christine Paxson, National Bureau of Economic Research, comes from Atlantic. Has anyone studied the heights of general counsel?
50 percent of legal work is commodity? “I have heard estimates that up to 50 percent of the US business market is considered a commodity by buyers of legal services.” Those words come from consultant Ed Weserman in Of Counsel, Vol. 26, Jan. 2007 at 10. That estimate feels high (See my post of Jan. 25, 2007 with its exhortation to rethink “commodity legal work.”), but its accuracy depends what people mean by the term “commodity.”