Page 14 - CCCA 247020 Magazine Spring 2016

{ PraCTICe ManageMenT }

■ Results achieved on regular and com- Terms of engagement combined non-hourly fee arrangements that encour-
plex work for the department’s regular with more informal “when to call the age productivity. Second, reduce the cost
users. lawyer” protocols are absent in 90% of of external counsel by ensuring proper del-
■ Knowledge transfer within the de- Canadian departments. Addressing this egation of tasks within matters, minimiz-
partment, from law frms and through productivity challenge is a prerequisite ing annual rate increases for “infation,”
to other parts of the company to in- for hitting the mark on the five perfor- eliminating offce disbursement charges
crease their self-suffciency. mance indicators. and inviting a “second” bid for the most
■ Innovation on everything regarding ser- complex work.
vice delivery and professional practice. step 4: Assign and align the right These fve steps are not easy. How-
■ Cost reduction, especially with pro- amount of legal and paralegal resources ever, they are clear and the sequence is
gressive practices to retain external with each user group. right. That the most effective legal de-
counsel effciently. This goes far beyond informing every- partments are meeting these challenges
one of their contact in the department. under diffcult conditions should be an
step 3: manage work traffc in the As possible, General Counsel should also encouraging precedent. The metrics and
department. consider pairing counsel with more than performance indicators offer the neces-
This is where managing expectations 10 years of experience with other counsel sary focus. The active ingredient is legal
comes into its own. General Counsel need and paralegals to improve turnaround department leadership. ❚
to be explicit about the “terms of engage- times on matters.
ment” with other parts of the company. An-
nual work estimates should be written out step 5: Actively manage the cost of Richard G. Stock, M.A., FCIS, CMC, is a partner
and shared with each department. Every external counsel in two ways. with Catalyst Consulting. The frm has been advising
corporate and government law departments across
effort should be made to slash operational First, reduce the demand for external North America, Europe and Australia since 1996.
support work and ensure everyone is better counsel with explicit terms of engagement, He can be contacted at rstock@catalystlegal.com.
prepared when calling on the department. matter-by-matter legal project budgets and

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14 CCCa MaGazInE | SPRInG 2016 PRInTEMPS