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How to be compliant and enforce your organization’s IG policies |
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In today’s business environment, corporate malfeasance in the management of business-related information will cost a company millions in penalties and even more in damage to brand image, argues Patricia Mabilleau and Adnan Halilovic of Information Governance solution provider RSD in this "how to" article. |
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Support through technology for the challenge of the small print |
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Today in-house lawyers understand every unit of an organisation must justify its existence - including the legal department. This can be a daunting prospect, but also a potential evolution for the legal function. Automated contract management may well be a key component in this evolution, argues Ronan Lavelle.
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Choices in international arbitration |
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A recent empirical survey has thrown new light on the choices made by international corporations and their corporate counsel around the submission of disputes to arbitration. It considers the key factors that influence corporate choices about international arbitration, and its findings provide an important reminder of...
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Top ten issues in international records retention |
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Recent corporate scandals concerning email deletion/retention carry lessons for all international-level general counsel and their teams.
Paul Smith and Lee O’Connell of Eversheds Consulting set out ten of the current issues that you should address in your international records and information management project.
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Long live the billable hour |
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The debate about the billable hour continues to rage and the pros and contras are likely to last for years to come. Götz Otto, partner in a firm specializing in billing for legal departments argues, that in spite of the hyperbole hourly billing will have a long and prosperous future. |
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Disclosure: The new get-tough direction for English litigation |
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Litigating in England takes a giant leap forward into the technology age this October, with new procedural rules governing electronic documents. Parties will no longer have an excuse to plead that it was ‘impossible’ to retrieve documents and other evidence needed, write Daniel Kavan and Tracey Stretton. |
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How money can be saved on efficient contract management |
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Based on the new BearingPoint Survey Contract Management 2010 three of Bearing Point’s experts – Steffen Tampe, Director; Sabine Brumme, Legal Counsel; Claudia Georgi, Manager – explain how General Counsel can support cost savings with Contract Management. |
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It’s about time: Legal department cuts are not just a US phenomenon |
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Pamela H. Woldow and Douglas B. Richardson, of Edge International, count the costs of the squeeze on budgets and time billing. As one new survey suggests outsourced fees have entered terminal decline, and general counsel should now be thinking not of routine instruction, but Legal Project Management. |
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The perilous journey into litigation – a roadmap to lowing costs |
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Litigation is traumatic, chaotic and confusing for most clients. The main reason is the failure of external counsel to properly manage the case and involve the client. Antonio Bravo is an experienced Spanish and international litigator who has recently made a wide-ranging study of litigation costs and how to lower them. |
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Why Fixed Fees Matter |
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In this extract from a new, wide-reaching, report on the new legal landscape for general counsel (GC) and law firms, international consultant Tony Williams, former managing partner of Clifford Chance, explains why fixed fees go to the core of what lawyers do and how their work is perceived, which will be so important in the future. |
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Russian legal departments reduce spending |
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A new survey shows most, but not all legal departments in Russia, had to reduce their budgets in 2009. This article reveals for the first time publicly the extent of pain by showing how much they had to surrender and which industries were most affected, reports Jeffrey Forbes.
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New benchmark study of global law departments shows European metrics |
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Total legal costs of companies as a percentage of their revenue, as they might vary across different countries, has been missing from benchmark studies. The existing studies focus on a single country, the United States generally but at least one focuses on Germany. We simply do not know cross-country data. |
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Implications for profitable legal departments |
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After all, it’s not easy changing the mindset of in-house lawyers and others in a company to become more vigilant and pro-active to recover or prevent future financial losses. But now that the genie is out of the bottle, it got me thinking about wider implications for this evolution. Here are four...
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A watchful eye on data protection laws |
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Despite increases in global commerce, there exists a palpable tension between the restrictive provisions of European Data Protection laws and the much more permissive provisions of US discovery laws. This tension becomes apparent when foreign companies are sued in the US or become subject to discovery request.
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Back to the Future? A history of the billable hour |
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For several hundred years, lawyers priced their services based on what value was being conveyed to the client – with time expended being only one criterion of that pricing equation. For the last 20 years the profession has been talking about getting back to that model, and in the next few years we may actually see this...
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Litigation: a third way? |
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Litigation is almost always costly and time-consuming. But there are alternatives: Why not get a third party to assume all or some of the risk? In this new area of litigation management and financing, I often get asked to explain in basic terms what is third party litigation funding and why should in-house counsel consider it? |
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When costs count, joining parties in arbitration makes sound financial sense |
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One of the leading disadvantages of international arbitration is the perceived inability to join to arbitration proceedings to an individual, or entity, which is not party to the relevant arbitration agreement. It follows from the very nature of arbitration that as a general rule a third party cannot be compelled to participate.
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GCs think right about the price |
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The economic downturn has made GC in Europe more price-sensitive than ever. This is not necessarily a new trend. But what is new this time is how the pricing debate has opened a Pandora’s box of management issues related to fixed-price billing that are affecting both in-house counsel and their external law firms... |
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Incumbent outfoxed by partners with empty portfolio |
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A large Dutch multinational wanted to dispose of an affiliate with 1,500 staff with locations in three European countries. The corporation’s general counsel agreed to an anonymous tender being organized to find the best value for money and wrote a full brief. This process shows how law firms can win new clients too. |
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All credit to the bidders |
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When a credit card payment processor wanted to expand its activities across the enlarged EU an overview of the legislative status on banking rules was required before making investment decisions. Under SEPA (Single European Payment Area) member states must open their markets for foreign investors in the...
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Patrick Wilkins interviews ACC Europe President Iohann Le Frapper |
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The highly-internationalised European chapter of the prestigious Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) is rapidly approaching the end of its second decade, and the race is on to push membership towards the magic figure of 2000 members, and beyond. Leading that push is this year’s president... |
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The wind of change |
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Change is blowing over the legal profession in these needy economic times. On the side of the in-house lawyer it may be seen as a warm and welcome breeze: law firms, on the other hand, may sense it as somewhat chilly and uncomfortable. But there are many other forces that have changed budgetary issues into a... |
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The long arm of the law and in-house lawyers’ associations |
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When the news broke early in 2011 that the Canadian Bar had sacked the entire board of its in-house lawyer arm, the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association, ripples were felt here in Europe. Similar debates about ‘ownership’ and the status of in-house lawyers have rumbled on for years in many countries.
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Can ECLA's fight for legal professional privilege ever succeed? |
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In a wide-ranging exclusive interview Dr. Peter Kriependorf, recently-elected president of the European Company Lawyers’ Association (ECLA), outlines where the corporate lawyer organisation goes from here following the refusal of judges at the European Court of Justice to re-instate privileged communications... |
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Marrying technology with law |
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Patrick Wilkins recently spoke with Jacob Eisenberg, director of Legal IP for TomTom International BV, the Dutch listed global satellite navigation company, who is one of the few in-house lawyers to have grasped the necessity of today’s marriage of law and technology, who believes all lawyers must... |
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Arbitration group for GC grows in Europe |
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The Corporate Counsel International Arbitration Group (CCIAG) was established in 2006 as an Association under French Law with no connection to any law firm or arbitral institution. It considers itself totally independent as a thought-leading group with members from more than 80 major companies accross Europe. |
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Legal horses for legal courses |
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Steve Coope is the UK Legal Director for Sara Lee, the NYSE listed consumer goods corporation responsible for such brands as Douwe Egberts, Radox, Kiwi, and Sara Lee itself. Operating it 200 countries the corporation has a turnover of $13 billion and more than 41,000 employees world-wide. |
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The profitable legal department: The ‘Revolution’ takes hold |
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Since our ground-breaking article in European GC on the hugely-profitable legal department of the global pharmaceuticals-to-chemicals company, DuPont, the concept of in-house lawyers making money for their organisations – as opposed to being a cost centre – is gathering a head of steam, writes Patrick Wilkins.
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Lessons for law firms in the new DuPont model? |
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At first glance law firm partners will stand back in admiration at the work of Tom Sager in turning DuPont’s 185 attorney legal department into a health profit centre for the company. Look deeper, however, and there are important lessons law firms can learn from understanding, and then shadowing what Mr. Sager is doing. |
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The Legal Department: How it becomes a profit – not a loss – centre |
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Tom Sager is a man on a mission. Already credited as the mastermind behind convergence by in-house legal departments – he led the DuPont Wheel concept of dramatically reducing the number of law firms and making them share information to save costs – he now wants to go a big step further forward.
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“Clients are deciding what they really want” |
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It has been said that the recession will provide opportunities to independent law firms across Europe and the USA. Charles Martin, senior partner of Macfarlanes, the London City Law firm, is convinced that rather than see the current crisis as a threat, there are plenty of optimistic signs on the horizon. |
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Rousing the silent majority |
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For years Serengeti has been arguably the most reliable source of hard data regarding the latest trends in the in-house profession. In this interview Patrick Wilkins digs even deeper into the background of the initiative and the source of the ACC research: the annual ACC-Serengeti Managing Outside Survey Report. |
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Kimberley Clark’s Mark Maurice-Jones cuts through the pricing crisis |
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Mark Maurice-Jones is chief counsel (EMEA) of Kimberley Clark (Europe), the global paper products corporation, manufacturing and selling everything from tissues to infant napkins. He talked with Patrick Wilkins of European GC, and his experiences will undoubtedly be useful to others as they find... |
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The IN Crowd |
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The book ‘The Wisdom of Crowds: Why many are smarter than the few’ interested me since I had always been fascinated by the so-called ‘crowd emotion’ that has so preoccupied philosophical schools as they endeavour to decipher why large groups of people can quite easily be inculcated with bad ideas.
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Running the media empire |
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South African-born André Coetzee is general counsel for Naspers, one of the world’s largest multinational media companies, operating diversely from print media to pay television to internet platforms in more than 30 countries. London-based Mr. Coetzee recently talked with Patrick Wilkins.
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Law firms respond to the pricing and relationship crisis |
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The recession has caused law firms to look closely at their structures. Creating, not cutting, appears to be emerging as the key to the future as the following comparative cases show. What emerges following is a legal sector plainly struggling with current economic conditions and finding answers... |
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‘Pioneers’ of new pricing arrangements |
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As the economic crisis eases, law firms everywhere have begun to examine their pricing and relationship models , with general counsel under greater pressure than ever to either cut, or better justify their spend on outside legal advice. What happened between Tyco and Eversheds is almost uncanny in that it predicted... |
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ACC Value Index initiative gains increasing momentum |
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The US-led movement to re-engineer pricing, process and staffing structures for legal advice is gaining momentum – it may well be the largest initiative ever undertaken in four decades of growth and international expansion of law firms, reports Patrick Wilkins. |
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The experts speak – Part 3: The global view |
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Now that pricing and client relationships are in question as never before, Patrick Wilkins asked three experts to set out their views on the issues in-house lawyers, and their law firm, need to be examining to adapt to the new climate. Their insights should prove invaluable, whichever side of the buying spectrum you sit. |
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The experts speak – Part 2: The US view |
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Now that pricing and client relationships are in question as never before, Patrick Wilkins asked three experts to set out their views on the issues in-house lawyers, and their law firm, need to be examining to adapt to the new climate. Their insights should prove invaluable, whichever side of the buying spectrum you sit. |
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The experts speak – Part 1: The European view |
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Now that pricing and client relationships are in question as never before, Patrick Wilkins asked three experts to set out their views on the issues in-house lawyers, and their law firm, need to be examining to adapt to the new climate. Their insights should prove invaluable, whichever side of the buying spectrum you sit. |
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The tender way to achieve price control |
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Very few general counsel across Europe are currently outsourcing legal work by procurement processes, except in the public sector. Under an EU directive, if the amount to be tendered is over €400,000, or national rules if it is less, all government legal outsourcing must be done in this regimented, fair and... |
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The seismic shift in pricing rumbling east towards Europe |
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The largest association of in-house lawyers in the world, the 25,000 member Corporate Counsel (ACC), has launched root and branch reforms on relationship and pricing issues between client and law firm. Known as the ACC Value Challenge, the initiative is about to cause a seismic shift... |
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The elite art of general counsel helping themselves |
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Around the world there are several organisations of in-house lawyers. The Association of Corporate Counsel has chapters in both the US and Europe, the European Company Lawyers’ Association combines various local organisations in each member state, and independent member clubs such as the... |
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What lies ahead in pricing |
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Ask any experienced or retired general counsel and they will tell you that purchasing legal advice from law firms has always been an arcane subject. Even in the days before in-house lawyers fifty years ago, when it was the chief executive or chairman who took care of that area of the business, it was equally mysterious... |
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NEW FEATURE
TalklawEUROPE™ is our exciting new virtual round table discussion led by a general counsel who poses questions about pressing matters to an expert panel.
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Exclusive Interview
Patrick Wilkins, who is the Editor of EuropeanGC.com, spoke with Fred Krebs, the President of the Association of Corporate Counsel back in 2010. They talked for 30 minutes about the billable hour and other challenges for GC and law firms in the new economic landscape. Watch the full interview in 3 parts below.
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