Page 7 - CCCA 239285 Magazine_Fall 2015

{ PerForMance in tHe Law DePartMent }

demand for legal and advisory services. “ Trough CEB’s self-assessment process,

law departments can decide whether they
plan and strategic priorities. need to take action on a number of fronts.
I would add the following four statements:
■ We prepare a written forecast of the ”

The forecast details the type and volume
of work by client, complexity and value. knowledge, skills and attributes geared to and the extent to which the law depart-
■ We conduct an annual technology lit- experience levels and to the department’s ment calls for competitive proposals for
eracy audit for each lawyer in the de- annual demand forecast. Targets should key matters and books of business.
partment. We have targets to measur- be set to evaluate how much and how well Three should be added:
ably increase their self-suffciency. low-value work is reduced across the de- ■ Our law frms are very effective in legal
■ We have a program for practice man- partment. These targets should be refect- project management with the related
agement skills that helps lawyers man- ed in the demand forecast. budgets. We review and approve de-
age email and other communications As an advocate of setting stretch goals, tailed matter plans to ensure balanced
more effciently. I have added one statement to this cat- legal teams.
■ Lawyer compensation is tied to the egory: “We allocate special and strategic ■ We are quickly migrating away from
performance of the law department. projects to challenge lawyers and staff at hourly-based fees toward alternative
That performance includes metrics for all levels of experience. The department’s fee arrangements that include perfor-
productivity. annual business plan and the perfor- mance-based fees.
mance plan for individual lawyers refect ■ We rely on the expertise of our strate-
talent management this allocation.” gic sourcing department to support us
The focus for this category is on optimiz- in measuring the cost-effectiveness and
ing legal talent for high-value work. CEB’s effective external Counsel the performance of external counsel.
four assessment statements are a logical In light of today’s pressure to reduce the
follow-up to the earlier ones on shedding costs and better manage the use of external The results of the 29-point check-up, es-
low value activity and improving opera- counsel, CEB’s four statements in this cat- pecially those points that are priorities,
tional effectiveness. However, the state- egory can be fne-tuned. The frst evaluates should fnd their way into the law depart-
ment on acquiring skills is too narrowly how well the law department measures the ment’s annual plan.
worded, as it refers only to legal skills. It amount and type of external legal spend. It is easy to be an armchair critic of
should be expanded to include leadership The second calls for the evaluation of law CEB’s comprehensive diagnostic tool.
and business skills as well as profciency in frm performance but should link it to per- However, fne-tuning and expanding the
project management. formance pay for legal services. The third areas of assessment better challenges cor-
The statement on lawyer engagement refers to the use of collaboration tools porate law departments to achieve supe-
makes sense if the department’s program among external counsel, the law depart- rior performance. ❚
to secure engagement is formal and the ment and internal clients. This is similar to
results are measured annually. the earlier statement on knowledge man-
The next statement on targeting law- agement and transfer. The fourth assesses Richard G. Stock, M.A., FCIS,
yer development should be adjusted to how well cost and quality of external coun- CMC, is a partner with Catalyst
Consulting. The frm has been
include additional non-law specifc com- sel are systematically managed by the law advising corporate and govern-
petencies for lawyers. Progressive com- department. It should be revised to refer ment law departments for 20
panies use a comprehensive matrix of to targets to measure how well this is done, years. He can be contacted at
rstock@catalystlegal.com.

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