Fees and expenses associated with outside counsel typically comprise greater than one-half of the total expenditures for law-related service. Accordingly, finding, selecting and working with outside counsel has tremendous implications for whether or not a corporate law department achieves its goals and mission on behalf of the company. Finding and selecting the “right” counsel can make the difference between success or failure and whether or not the costs represent adequate value for the company. Properly and adequately evaluating outside counsel’s performance must be effected consistently with the other aspects of a law department’s activities in respect of its external peers.
Using appropriate mechanisms for identifying, selecting and retaining the “appropriate counsel” for the company occupies a central role in any law department’s thinking and actions. Steve Lauer’s experience in that regard offers significant advantage to a corporate law department that wishes to avail itself of the most-current thinking on these issues.
