Selecting and Managing Outside Counsel
Negotiating the Complex Business, Financial and Legal Issues
Recording of a 90-minute CLE teleconference with Q&A
Conducted on Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Recorded event now available
This seminar will review what corporate counsel must know to select and work effectively with outside counsel. The panel will present their insights and perspectives on negotiating fee arrangements and monitoring performance and billing practices of outside counsel.
Description
As economic forces drive corporations to more aggressively control legal costs, general counsel are carefully considering new approaches to selecting and managing outside counsel.
A 2007 survey of corporate counsel indicated that corporations are actively monitoring outside counsel, including requiring budgets, status reports and a summary of achievements on a regular basis and demanding discounted rates and minimum levels of experience for associates.
Managing outside counsel involves tricky billing and time-keeping issues and possible disagreements over legal strategy.
Listen as our panel of in-house attorneys offers strategies and best practices for corporate counsel in selecting and working effectively with outside counsel, including negotiating fee arrangements and monitoring performance and billing practices.
Outline
- Selecting outside counsel
- Cost/benefit analysis
- Objective criteria
- Competitive bids
- Conflict waiver
- Effective engagement letters
- Negotiating fee arrangements that reward performance
- Managing outside counsel
- Execute written agreement outlining expectations and fee arrangement
- Establish metrics to determine effectiveness and efficiency
- Establish efficient review processes
- Regularly evaluate work performance and identify areas needing improvement
- Require detailed budget and billings
- Monitor bills for non-approved charges and inefficiencies
- Monitor hourly rates and expenses for reasonableness
- Document and electronic data preservation
- Resolving conflicts
- Disagreements over legal strategy
- Performance concerns
- Personality differences and/or communication issues
Benefits
The panel will review these and other key questions:
- How does the distressed economy impact the use and selection of outside counsel?
- What issues should the general counsel consider in evaluating whether to hire outside counsel and how to select the right outside firm for the work?
- What are the best practices for inhouse counsel in managing and working with outside counsel, particularly dealing with disagreements over strategy?
Faculty
Linda M. Kearney,
Managing Associate General Counsel
WellPoint, Austin, Texas
She manages litigation nationwide for WellPoint’s UniCare/HealthLink subsidiaries. She was also responsible for the company’s outside counsel convergence initiative.
Kirk W. Watkins,
Attorney at Law
Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, Atlanta
He has worked with corporate counsel on complex litigation matters for over 30 years, including innovative alternative fee agreements and metrics for selecting and evaluating outside counsel. He recently participated in the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Annual Meeting and on a panel discussion held by the Atlanta Chapter of the ACC on the Value Challenge Initiative.
Rees W. Morrison,
Consultant
Rees Morrison Associates, Princeton, N.J.
He has consulted to more than 250 law departments during the past 21 years to help them better manage themselves and their outside counsel. He consults regarding operational reviews, cost control, re-engineering, structure and organization assessments, client satisfaction, technology and benchmarking.
Ordering
Online CLE - Audio Recording
Includes audio streaming of full program plus handouts (available 24 hours after live seminar).
CLE:
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Available 24 hours after the live event
Recorded Event
Includes full event recording plus handouts (available after live seminar).
CLE: Pre-approved for self-study credit in: AK, AZ, CA, CT, HI, MO, MT, NY, TX*, VT, WA, WV. Upon request, self-study credit is also available in: CO, FL, GA, ID, KY, ME, ND, NE, NH, NM, NV, OR, UT, WI, WY. If you are applying for self-study credit in one of these states, contact Strafford CLE at 1-800-926-7926 ext. 35 or CLE@straffordpub.com. (*Indicates that Strafford needs to process the CLE — see below to purchase this option.)
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Customer Reviews
I liked that the speakers had great knowledge of the topic and presented it with ease without making it overly complicated or rushing through the material.
Laura S. Brooks
Law Office of Laura S. Brooks
Good handouts and up to date references.
Andrew Davis
Lieben Whitted Houghton Slowiaczek & Cavanagh
The seminar was very well-organized, managed excellently and informative.
Julia Szadkowski
Equifax Canada Inc.
The webinar was clearly presented and organized. It was a good mixture of the law and practice.
David N. Crapo
Gibbons P.C.
The speaker's command of the subject matter and his ability to explain difficult concepts in a way that could be understood by everyone was great.
Craig Cockrell
Mitchell Williams Law Firm
Corporate Law Advisory Board
Partner
Hogan Lovells
General Counsel
Assurance America Corporation
Partner
Mayer Brown
Partner
Foley & Lardner
Kathleen Mayton
General Counsel
Rollins, Inc.
Partner
K&L Gates
Partner
Kaye Scholer
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