Collaborative Culture
ACHIEVING THE ULTIMATE “COLLABORATIVE CULTURE”
As the delivery of legal service to corporate clients undergoes major change and is subjected to considerable pressure to cut (or at least control) costs, the need to create a cooperative working relationship between inside and outside counsel – the ultimate partnership – becomes ever more critical. The rules – written and unwritten – must be created for each specific relationship. With our process and many years of experience in both the in-house and law firm realms, we can help you create the ultimate “collaborative culture.”
Law departments and law firms both seek broad, mutually reliant relationships (“partnering”). How do you achieve that?
Two Cultures, One Ultimate Goal
Corporate legal departments and law firms have different economic orientations. The former are directly responsible to their clients for cost-efficient delivery of legal service. Law firms must be financially secure to serve their clients. Their common goal is good results for the client. Lack of adequate communication on business issues such as strategy and billing are bound to cause friction. In many instances, insufficient attention by outside lawyers to costs, staffing and scope, and pressure by clients to reduce legal budgets has led to a misalignment of interests between clients and firms.
Forging the Common Ground
With heightened pressure for cost containment, clients want:
- Budgeting
- Alternative fee structures that create cost-containing incentives
- Sharing of risk with outside counsel
- Greater control of case/matter management
- Innovative uses of technology
In line with their professional and financial responsibilities, law firms want:
- Opportunity to recommend efficiencies and develop changes together with clients
- Assurances they won't have to cut corners when it is unwise
- Long-term relationships
- Respect as skilled counselors, not a “commodity” service
These disparate objectives can be reconciled by working to:
- Establish collaborative and cooperative relationships
- Align the interests of counsel and client for mutual benefit
- Develop team-based solutions to client needs
Ultimately, doing so will create a client/counsel culture of confidence, communication, consensus, cooperation, good value for efforts, recognition and great results.
It's not just about money.
It's about results.
Client/Counsel Partnership
No cookbook explains how to create an effective and satisfying working partnership. It depends on the individuals, their organizations, the type of matters to be handled, and the business client's and law firm's respective expectations. The specifics can and will vary, but the process for arriving at them applies across the board. We can help guide client and counsel to identify that optimal collaboration. Either the legal department or the law firm can initiate the process to define the relationship, but both parties together must shape the specifics.
Process Components
The process has five components:
- Identify issues with both parties
- Prepare for the meeting – all materials, surveys, analysis
- Run the meeting discussions:
- What is and is not working
- Facilitate discussion and mediation of issues
- Approaches to improve the working partnership
- Develop recommendations
- Prepare post-meeting summary and carry out follow on assignments
- Periodic review and update; and
(Optional) Train the client to run periodic follow on meetings
Consultant's Role
In-house and outside attorneys are busy with the legal work. In addition, each may not be sensitive to the other's perspectives on many issues. Relationship issues may not receive due attention as a result. As a neutral party familiar with the environment and the issues, we will help you establish the process and then facilitate the relationship-building meeting between client and outside counsel. This is a combination analysis, best practices and implementation meeting.
Our Added Value
- Familiarity with the relevant issues from in-house and firm perspectives
- Experience running similar meetings from the client side
- Experience running similar meetings from the law firm side
- Development of a protocol and process and facilitation skills to make the process work
- Research on the issues and feedback from past participants
- Objectivity
We save you time, effort, and the need to re-invent this wheel.
Getting Started
- Call us for a meeting to discuss the steps in detail.
- Put together a steering committee to identify the main issues.
- Determine whom to invite as the other party (parties) to the partnership.
- We'll lay the whole process out with you from there and either take the major responsibility or work hand-in-hand with your people.
The Collaborative Culture program is facilitated by Phyllis Weiss Haserot and former in-house counsel. Call 212-593-1549 or e-mail Phyllis at pwhaserot@pdcounsel.com for a confidential exploratory discussion on how to make this work for your firm.