Page 19 - CCCA 247020 Magazine Spring 2016

He who wins

what you fnd. TELUS’s point system tallied to 200, and frms
were scored on a scale of 1 to 3, with one being the optimal.
Belec says some law frms did better than expected, while last, wins.
others did worse.
It’s not an exact science, he notes, so to build in an added lay-
er of scrutiny, they had the other lawyers in the department run
through the metrics and compare scores. “It was interesting to Whether you won at trial and face an
see how all the frms were ranked,” he says. The various lawyer appeal or lost at trial and wish to launch
assessments “were slightly different, but not radically different.”
an appeal, we can help you determine
6 CommuniCAte, CommuniCAte, CommuniCAte the final outcome for your client.
Don’t underestimate the impact of running an RFP, says
BMO’s Cudjoe. It permeates across the organization and
reaches into your outside supply chain. That’s especially true if
the business units are used to managing their own legal spend
and suddenly someone from the law department is knocking
on their door, looking for information or recommending
internal counsel become more involved in their affairs. By
the same token, existing external law frms may start to get
nervous if they learn their client is setting up an RFP process,
fearful that they may get the boot.
Cudjoe calls it a classic “change management” program,
which requires winning people over and getting buy in. “I
think the big [thing] that we learned through all of this is that
you can’t communicate enough, both externally or internally.
Thinking back, we probably could have done more.”

7 FolloW up Once you have
issued your RFP, evaluated the I think the big
[thing[ that we
responses and selected your frms, learned through
don’t think you are done. This is all of this is
“If you are not implementing ”
simply the beginning. Now you that you can’t
communicate
eno
need to monitor and measure the “ugh.
progress and results to ensure you
are on track and your assumptions
were correct. To sign up for the Lerners’ Appellate Advocacy
any kind of process to measure the Netletter, visit www.lerners.ca/appealsnetletter
outcome of efforts, how do you
know it was ever worthwhile?” asks Bindu Cudjoe Toronto: 416 867 3076
Belec. Lawyers from the TELUS Earl A. Cherniak, Q.C., William Pepall, Kirk Boggs,
legal department meet quarterly with an assigned top Mark Freiman, Kirk Stevens, Angus McKinnon,
tier frm to review a scorecard Belec says was “developed with Bryan Smith, Jasmine Akbarali, Brian Radnoff,
each frm and is intended to measure the success of the rela- Cynthia Kuehl, Jason Squire, Stuart Zacharias
tionship.” It looks at different metrics, including total spend,
the work done, the number of fles rejected because of conficts London: 519 672 4510
and the various value-added services the frm has provided. Peter Kryworuk, Andrew Murray, Carolyn Brandow
So what about the law frms? A lot of work can go into an
RFP only to result in no invitation to the party or, worse yet, to
be shown the door after years of service.
Belec says he found the frms that participated put their best
foot forward. “I didn’t get a sense they held back a lot. It’s a
pretty competitive market out there.” ❚
www.lerners.ca

Jim Middlemiss is a writer based in London, Ontario.

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