A New Age of Lawyers
September 18, 2015
Legal Expertise.
Business Principles.
Quantifiable Results.
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Tracy
Dalton,
Counsel
On Call
Deborah
Greenman,
master
title….Toyota
Darla Roden, Borden
Jessica Watts, Hewlett-Packard
Legal
Expertise. Business Principles. Quantifiable Results.
www.CounselOnCall.com
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2008
A quick show of hands…
Legal Expertise. Business Principles. Quantifiable Results.
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Legal Expertise. Business Principles. Quantifiable Results.
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2008: Tipping Point?
• Not Just a Recession – but a Reset
• Changed the Legal Profession Forever
• Disruptive Innovators Entered the Market
• Legal Departments Came Under Increasing
Pressure to Do More with Less
• They Passed Those Pressures Onto Their Law
Firms and Outside Providers
Legal Expertise. Business Principles. Quantifiable Results.
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New Pressures for In-House Counsel
“We feel we’re at the tipping point,”
Amar Sarwal, VP and Chief Legal Strategist,
Association of Corporate Counsel (2015)
• A decade ago, only the most cutting-edge law departments
had legal operations managers.
• Today: ACC estimates that at least a third of GCs at
FORTUNE 500 companies have added them.
Moreover, ACC predicts that legal operations teams will be
a fixture in not only large law departments, but at small
and medium-sized companies, too.
Legal Expertise. Business Principles. Quantifiable Results.
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New Requirements
Seven Most Common Requirements Set by In-House
Counsel for Outside Counsel:
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Providing Value Billing
Fixed Fees and/or Capped Fees
Discounted Fees for Volume Work
Detailed Budgets
Strategic and/or Financial Plans for Legal Matters
Technology to Improve Productivity / Reduce Costs
Fixed Budgets for Each Engagement
Project Management Systems or Tools
Legal Expertise. Business Principles. Quantifiable Results.
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A New Kind of Lawyer Has Emerged
Must Meet the Demands
• A “Legal Hybrid” – Talent with:
 Multi-disciplinary backgrounds
 Training in law that dovetails with a
formal education in one or more
other disciplines
Legal Expertise. Business Principles. Quantifiable Results.
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New Skill Sets
• Legal Knowledge Engineers
• Advanced Legal Systems Analysts
• Six Sigma Training
• Project Management
• Computer Programming
• Financial Management
• Business Management
Legal Expertise. Business Principles. Quantifiable Results.
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New Models Have Emerged
… To meet the talent demand in legal technology,
large data, flexible needs, budgetary constraints:
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In-sourcing
De-lawyering
Relocating
Off-shoring
Out-sourcing
Sub-contracting
Legal Expertise. Business Principles. Quantifiable Results.
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Co-sourcing
Leasing
Home-sourcing
Open-sourcing
Computerizing
No-sourcing
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New Technologies Have Emerged
How Technology Has Already Changed In-House
Legal Departments:
• Connectivity/Collaboration
• Software That Dramatically Improves Speed and
Efficiency (i.e., Discovery and Due Diligence)
• Matter Management
• Knowledge Management
• eBilling
Legal Expertise. Business Principles. Quantifiable Results.
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So How Is It Really Working?
Ethical Issues of the New Normal
• New Models
• New Kinds of Professionals, Including Non-Lawyers
• New Ways of Doing Business
Legal Expertise. Business Principles. Quantifiable Results.
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