Client-Firm Relationships and the Management of Outside Counsel

In the “new normal” (as it’s called) environment in which the legal profession finds itself, client attachment to law firms cannot be assumed.

Virtually every law firm claims to be client-focused. (Perhaps everyone does, but I try to avoid categorical statements.) Can that be true?

In order to realize the greatest value in legal service, the work should be performed at the most appropriate level by the most appropriate individual. Does this general rule require that all work be “downstreamed” or delegated to the most junior level?

Small corporate law departments (i.e., those with no more than ten in-house attorneys) face the same challenges as their larger brethren when seeking to maximize the value of the legal service that they purchase and manage for their companies.

“Value” reflects the relationship between the cost of the service and the benefit that the client realizes from that service.