The Value of Legal Service

Small law departments and value

June 22, 2018 by Steve Lauer 12,060 Comments

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 and fee arrangements

May 25, 2018 by Steve Lauer 11,090 Comments

Designing a fee arrangement that yields or leads to greater value for the client has proven to be a daunting task for many in-house and outside attorneys.

The language of value

April 20, 2018 by Steve Lauer 7,899 Comments

As long as law firms define a “productive” associate as one who bills more hours (the more hours, the more productive), value will remain an elusive quality at best for the clients of those firms.

Select your team members deliberately and specifically to maximize value

March 31, 2018 by Steve Lauer

Traditionally, corporate law departments have selected law firms to handle work that the in-house lawyers could not handle for whatever reason.

Value is not an immutable term

March 17, 2018 by Steve Lauer 7,903 Comments

Value means different things to different people and, often, different things at different times or in different contexts. In litigation, cost may be the most important consideration or it may rank much lower in the priority list than, say, a quick resolution.

The need for pro-active management by in-house lawyers

March 1, 2018 by Steve Lauer 7,059 Comments

Virtually any effort represents value. That holds true for effort in the legal profession as much as it does in other fields.

Why the client’s view of value must prevail

February 17, 2018 by Steve Lauer 8,593 Comments

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

Do the ethical rules require a discussion of value?

February 10, 2018 by Steve Lauer 9,004 Comments

“A lawyer shall not make an agreement for, charge, or collect an unreasonable fee.” So begins Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5, promulgated by the American Bar Association and adopted by many states’ bar associations.

Law department structure, organization and role

January 27, 2018 by Steve Lauer

The organization and operation of a corporate law department should reflect the company’s view of the value of legal service.

Selecting and working with outside counsel

January 5, 2018 by Steve Lauer

Fees and expenses associated with outside counsel typically comprise greater than one-half of the total expenditures for law-related service.

The Value of Legal Service

Footer