LEGAL
A month dedicated to legal department management
We are dedicating the month of March to a variety of challenges you face in managing and operating your legal department. Find practical advice on creating a client satisfaction survey and measuring your legal department’s performance; we’ve also interviewed NetApp to learn how they have deployed their metrics program. Plus, learn how to manage new additions to your department, including best practices to onboard temporary contract attorneys and successfully working with the incoming Millennial attorneys who make up the next generation of lawyers. Also be sure to check out the Westlaw® Corporate Twitter feed, the Corporate Counsel News & Views section on legalsolutions.com, and the Legal Solutions Corporate Counsel blog for more in-depth articles and information on selected department management topics.
The Insider: Creating a client satisfaction survey
There are a number of reasons why you would want to send out a client satisfaction survey for your legal department. Primarily you can gather helpful data and comments about how the legal department is performing and how it is perceived throughout the organization. This article walks you through the process of creating, distributing, and analyzing the results of a client satisfaction survey.
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Tips for becoming a better GC
I recently spent a Sunday acting as an executive in residence at the Business Leadership Program for In-House Counsel. We were discussing the role of the general counsel. Some of the key issues included: why do we need general counsel? What are the key attributes of a successful GC? And how can a GC adapt to the changing legal practice? There were some great insights regarding the key attributes or strategies that will assist a GC – especially a GC new to his or her role – to be successful.
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A checklist to measure your legal department performance
Faced with increasing pressure from company management, corporate law departments are becoming more efficient by using a variety of cost-cutting methods. To measure the outcome of these efficiency efforts, many law departments use metrics to objectively quantify, analyze, and report on their improvements in performance over time. Determining the right metrics can provide in-house counsel with compelling evidence that law departments add demonstrable value to their companies.
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The temp: Helping your contract attorney hit the ground running
Has your legal department decided to redirect more work in-house and rely less on outside counsel? The recent Thomson Reuters Legal Department In-Sourcing and Efficiency Report addressed this trend and discusses some best practices in how to handle this influx of work. One solution is to hire a contract attorney. What’s the best way to prepare the new contractor to be an efficient member of your team – especially in light of the often temporary nature of the role?
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Driving legal department performance at NetApp
More important than the mere ability to collect and measure numbers and data is asking what should be counted – what has an actual impact on the department and the greater business the department serves? These are the questions that riddle many legal departments in the early stages of building formal metrics programs. Learn from NetApp’s general counsel, Matt Fawcett, and his chief of staff and director of legal department operations, Connie Brenton, and hear how they built a sophisticated, world-class metrics program.
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Telling your legal department’s story
Storytelling evokes a strong neurological response in people. Research indicates that stories can cause our brains to produce the stress hormone cortisol which allows us to focus, while happy endings and humor can create connection and empathy, releasing dopamine. This is why storytelling is such a powerful tool. Telling your legal department story is no different, though making it as interesting as an Elmore Leonard novel can be a challenging task. Here are some tips on figuring out what story you should tell, and ways to go about telling it.
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Failure to plan increases risk of reputational damage in high-profile lawsuits
While most senior legal officers across corporate America acknowledge the importance of communications with stakeholders during high-profile lawsuits, the majority have outdated strategies or no strategies at all to direct communications outside of court, according to a new survey conducted by Greentarget Global Group.
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The role of the law department in legal risk management
Legal risk management (LRM) is one of the core activities of any corporate legal department, regardless of the size of the department or the company itself. If there is just a single lawyer in the legal department, he or she must develop a basic LRM initiative that takes into account the dearth of time and other resources available. In larger legal departments, LRM will involve all of the attorneys and paralegals, and it will include extensive and continuous outreach to personnel and resources from the company’s outside law firms and business partners.
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SEC whistleblower report; Director overboarding; Additional time for ACA compliance
View the recent SEC report that reminds regulated companies to implement measures to anticipate and investigate whistleblower complaints promptly and effectively. Plus, why public companies should evaluate their policies on limiting outside board memberships in light of upcoming changes to the proxy voting guidelines of ISS and Glass Lewis, and delays and extensions involving two key provisions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
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Millennials move in-house! 4 things you need to know about the age gap
Law department leaders would be wise to remember the saying “the only thing constant is change” when it comes to embracing Millennials, who represent the changing face of their industry. Millennials are the fastest-growing segment of today’s workforce. According to reports, half of all Millennials – a generation of about 80 million born between 1980 and 1995 – are already working, with millions more joining the workforce every year. By 2025, Millennials will account for three out of every four workers globally.
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