Legal Management

Hiring Outside Counsel: Legal vs. Purchasing

The tension between the legal department and the purchasing department when it comes to select outside counsel is certainly a matter of growing importance in many corporations, and should raise growing concern among law firms. It has to do with other hot issues such as legal costs savings, the transformation of legal services in commodities, performance metrics for law firms, the costs of cost savings, and ultimately power struggles among heads of departments in corporation. An interesting article on this appears on www.law.com.

Antoine Henry de Frahan

Getting the Best Value for your Consulting Money

The man to his wife: “Darling, we had a great time last year vacationing together. I’d like to do it again. So I am going to organise a beauty contest with a few women in the neighbourhood to select the one that will accompany me this time. I don’t exclude to select you, sweethaert, but you’ll have to convince me about your added value compared to your competitors. But don’t worry, if I don’t pick you this time, you still have your chances next summer.”

To some men this could seem a dream scenario, but I am not sure the wife you feel the same way, nor actually any woman with basic self-esteem. So eventually, the man may end up vacationing alone or in the company of women with lower self-esteem, which may not be the most interesting option.

This is simply not the way relationships work. It may well work if you want to buy a car or an airplane ticket, but when it comes to buidling a meaningful relationship, other rules apply. Many men like to keep their options open and be free, I know, I have been there, but, hey, let’s face it, this is not how we build strong relationships, is it? Like grandma used to tell, there must be some commitment at some point if you want to make it work, like a long-term vision (whether long-term means three months or 50 years is another question).

Some clients apparently believe they will be better served by their counselors if they keep their options open, organise a beauty contest for each assignment, constantly put competition pressure, and never commit for the long-term. They are unable or unwilling to switch to the relationship mode with their counselors. And they believe they are better off. There are not. They are actually losing a lot. How do you think your counselor will feel and perform if every six months you ask him to respond to a request for proposals and so put the relationship into question? Do you really believe that this is the way to create commitment, loyalty, enthusiasm, cost-effectiveness and therefore improved performance? How does it feel when YOU are treated that way?

The morale of the story is clear: if you want loyal, value-adding, creative, cost-efficient advisors and counselors, do not treat them like the commoditised wife in the story. Make an explicit COMMITMENT and INVEST in the relationship with them. This is how you are really going to get best value for you money.

Antoine Henry de Frahan

10 Top Tips to Manage Outside Counsel

I have set up a top 10 list describing what in-house legal counsel who manage outside counsel well actually do:

1. They involve outside counsel early in projects and transactions;

2. They do not call “urgent” what is not;

3. They give clear objectives, directions, and instructions to outside counsel;

4. They have face-to-face meetings with outside counsel on a regular basis;

5. They respond to emails and phone calls from outside counsel and attend meetings with outside counsel as planned;

6. They make clear arrangements on budgets with outside counsel and monitor costs accordingly;

7. They inform outside counsel about the outcome of the project;

8. They express recognition and gratitude to outside cousnel when the job was properly done.

9. They express their griefs and make explicit requests as soon as outside counsel do not meet their expectations.

10. They maintain a healthy balance between showing trust and loyalty to outside counsel and challenging them to improve performance and remain competitive.

What would be your list?

Antoine Henry de Frahan

A Letter to the Chronically Unhappy Client

You, the client who easily blame lawyers for their lack of responsivness and availability, the practical irrelevance of their advice, their inability to focus on the right issues, and the excessive number of hours they bill: what about you? It takes two to tango, and it takes two to make any relationship work. The best lawyer in the world cannot make a relationship work if you, the client, do not do your share.

Speaking about responsivness and availability, how responsive and available are you to your lawyer? Do you return his phone calls? Reply to his emails? Do you actually read what he writes to you in emails and memos? Do you take the time to meet, discuss and give feedback? Do you meet agreed deadlines and comply with timetables, and if you don’t, do you give him notice in advance? Do you make request in advance or do you wait until the last minute and call “urgent matter” what is simply the result of your lack of organisation and planning? How much of your quality time and energy do you allocate to working with your lawyer? Do you actually manage or at least co-manage the relationship?

Speaking about irrelevance of advice and lack of focus on the right issues, what about your performance in this area? Do you give practical instructions and specifications? Do you provide the facts and supporting documents in an orderly way? Do you give clear objectives and priorities? Do you actually know what you need and what you want?

Speaking about wasted time and inflated invoice, what do you do to help your lawyer use his time effectively? Again, are you clear about what your needs and expectations? Do you provide the information and feedback that allows a time-effective performance? Do you manage meetings so as to make them time efficient? Are you consistent in your requests or do you give contradicting directions?

When things do not work as well as hoped, blaming the other is always easier than taking responsibility and changing ourself. In today’s legal market, with such an intense competition among suppliers of legal services, it is very tempting and easy for clients to put all the blame on the lawyers whenever the relationship is not satisfying, and just pick another lawyer. Unfortunately, by doing so, they ignore and fail to remedy their own shortcomings in making the relationship work. Of course, this strategy does not lead to any lasting improvement, but only to an endless cycle of mutal disappointments.

The current assumption in the market is that lawyers must live up to or exceed clients’ expectations, and the clients must live up to nothing else than paying the bill. This unbalanced standard does not lead to healthy, productive, cost-effective relations. Clients must assume their share of responsibility in making the lawyer-client relationship work.

Antoine Henry de Frahan