Value is not an immutable term

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. If the CEO has been named personally in a complaint against a company, you can bet that the company’s GC will fret less about the cost of defending that case than she/he might have were no corporate officer named personally.

Understanding which value related qualities (VRQs) matter to the company in the specific context will enable the in-house and outside lawyers to deliver higher value to the company much more easily than they could do without that appreciation. Start by identifying those factors that might count toward a higher or lower value of the legal service in the eyes of the ultimate client (i.e., not the in-house lawyer).