The Point Though prized by earlier generations of corporate executives for their wide-ranging wisdom, today’s most highly sought-after lawyers tend to be narrowly-focused technicians. How did that come about? The technician specialties are highly rewarded financially, and they offer stable work. And, with the legal system’s intrusive and unreasonable demands…
The Point In turning from the current reactive, makeshift approach to Legal, to a financially sustainable and operationally coherent strategy, what options does the business have? I suggest three kinds. This Matters to Your Business 1. Where a task is best done by a lawyer, get one deeply experienced in…
The Point Part I of this series concluded: ” … In most companies, corporate Legal is a business function without a strategy … without objectives and metrics by which to assess its effectiveness .” In other words, most corporate Legal functions neglect to target specific results for which executive management can…
The Point In most companies, corporate Legal is a business function without a strategy. Executive management needs to fix this. Because neither attorneys in law firms nor those in-house have defined what is — and is not — within Legal’s scope of responsibility. And, apart from generalized concern about cost,…
The Point Two surveys of general counsel reported in December offer identical descriptions of the budget crisis facing corporate Legal departments in 2023: (1) From the legal system: most face increasing demands, and (2) From the C-Suite: most face cost reduction demands. In such circumstances, executive management usually asks Legal…
The Point Operational risk — the possibility that a business’ efforts might fail in their actual execution — poses the greatest peril to success of a company’s contracts. Operations take place outside of the corporate law function, so evaluation of the risks they pose should consist of practical judgments by…