Page 10 - CCCA64_2011

CCCA_V5No4_Dept-Performance-FIN_CCCA_V5No3_Dept-Performance-V1.qxd 11/20/11 9:35 PM Page 10 Performance in the law department Legal departments have a lot of ground to much more about the mechanics of legal assumptions and the degree of probability make up, given the fairly loose approach to project management (LPM). for the resources assigned to each task terms of engagement, before AFAs are even I surveyed CCCA conference partici- within a phase of legal work.A number of considered. pants on this last year, specifically on the progressive law firms have been doing this use of matter budgeting applied to com- for a couple of years now. Nothing wrong Matter budgets plex legal work. Some 68.5 per cent said with buying a reconfigured legal team The 2009 ACC-Serengeti survey con- they did this only occasionally, 14.3 per from your preferred law firms rather than ducted by Serengeti’s Rob Thomas and cent half the time, and 17.2 per cent said the classic open-ended arrangement with reported at CCCA’s 2009 Spring they almost always require detailed matter the relationship partner. Conference reported that only 30.8 per budgeting for complex matters. cent of companies required detailed mat- Matter budgets should be sufficiently Barriers to change ter budgets from their preferred counsel. detailed to look at the proposed distribu- There a few barriers to ensuring external We found that when it comes to matter tion of work across partners, associates counsel are used cost-effectively.These are budget accuracy, corporate counsel found and paralegals for each task in a complex lack of experience in detailed matter that 60 per cent come within budget more matter. Delegation and teamwork are far budgeting, in measuring value and in often than not,26 per cent said their firms more effective in controlling the cost of a AFAs. Corporate counsel have not been did so consistently, and only 1 per cent matter than a 10 per cent discount on the prepared to invest the time and resources reported their firms were always on or hourly rate.And, of course, looking at the to change the paradigm. Here are eight below budget. It came as no surprise to proposed number of hours for each task action steps to generate momentum. hear the Halifax conference participants helps keep the lid on costs. Firms should express a uniform interest in learning be prepared to describe their planning 1. Set a goal to reduce total legal spend by 10 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association WINTER 2011