LawPartnering Initiatives

LawPartnering is committed to finding ways in which to assist corporate law department leaders in improving efficiencies, reducing costs and deriving more value from the services and products they purchase from law firms and law-related services suppliers.

To these ends, LawPartnering is the founding contributor of the following groundbreaking initiatives:

• Managing Litigation as a Business
• Managing Litigation Reference Model
• High Value Legal Service Blog
• In-house Counsel InfoNet
• In-house Paralegal Blog

Managing Litigation as a Business

The mission of the “Managing Litigation as a Business” initiative is to provide participating law departments  – whether a solo General Counsel or dedicated team of corporate lawyers – the means and all the resources needed to design and execute a customized program for improving how they manage company risk, disputes and litigation; as well as implement a continuing improvement process to ensure they remain on a steady path for achieving better results at lower costs.

There is no cost to participate in this groundbreaking endeavor.  Providing the complete solution in a way that every law department can afford to take advantage of it is what “Managing Litigation as a Business” is all about.

Importantly, senior in-house counsel participating in the Managing Litigation initiative are recommending the program as a resource that promotes, aligns with and facilitates achievement of ACC Value Challenge goals (see description below).

Managing Litigation Reference Model

Complementing the Managing Litigation initiative, the “Managing Litigation Reference Model” is designed to provide a universal, practical and flexible framework to (a) guide and educate organizations in techniques to avoid, mitigate and manage risks, disputes and litigation more efficiently and effectively; (b) enhance knowledge and skills relating to these disciplines; (c) promote implementation of continuous improvement processes in managing risks, disputes and litigation; and (d) marshal and centralize the resources needed to accomplish these goals.

Seasoned in-house and outside counsel, as well as experienced corporate risk managers, working on this important project have identified the “Key Elements” critical to managing risk, disputes and litigation in an effective businesslike manner.  Each Key Element is being fleshed out to include a clear definition, implementation guidelines, answers to frequently asked questions and supporting resources.  Complementary “pathfinders” are being developed to facilitate use of the Model by parties in varying circumstances (for example, small law departments).

Participants in the Managing Litigation initiative contribute to development of the “Managing Litigation Reference Model” (MLRM) and, in turn, gain the value the Model offers as a state-of-the-art guide for improvement.

High Value Legal Service Blog

LawPartnering and the experienced litigation counsel who founded the Managing Litigation initiative and MLRM project have committed to sponsoring and contributing regularly to to a new “High Value Legal Service” blog, which will be established to complement the MLRM project and related LawPartnering initiatives.

As its title reflects, the blog will be devoted to the subject of defining and delivering “high value” legal services to corporate clients, highlighting new developments in the field, and giving recognition to the law departments, law firms and legal suppliers that contribute meaningfully by adding value and/or reducing costs in providing legal services, resources and tools to their clients.

In-house Counsel InfoNet

Law department leaders are frequently challenged as “legal generalists.”  They often have to make decisions regarding matters that involve areas of the law about which they may have little or no knowledge or experience – or where the law is rapidly changing or particularly complex.

The “In-house Counsel InfoNet” is a very practical solution to this everyday law department need.  InfoNet users simply log onto the facility, select the legal subject area of concern, post an inquiry and, within 24 hours, outside counsel and other professionals with expertise in that area will respond with pertinent information.  The service is free to lawyers employed as in-house counsel.

In-house Paralegal Blog

Paralegal professionals working for law departments and in other law-related in-house positions have grown to be an essential and valuable force for companies intent on improving efficiencies, reducing costs and gaining more value for their legal spend.  It simply makes good business sense for businesses to be using all their legal personnel more cost effectively.

Recognizing this, LawPartnering founded and is collaborating with other parties in producing the “In-house Paralegal Blog,” a unique new online resource dedicated to supporting and advancing the in-house paralegal profession.

Supporting the ACC Value Challenge

With approximately 29,000 members in over 75 countries, the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) is the largest organization serving the professional and business interests of attorneys who practice in the legal departments of corporations, associations and other private-sector organizations worldwide.

ACC leaders believe that traditional law firm business models can be better aligned with what ACC members really want and need as corporate clients, namely appropriate, value-driven, high-quality legal services that deliver effective solutions for a reasonable cost.

The “ACC Value Challenge” is a nationwide initiative to bring in-house and outside counsel together to promote strategic partnering and use of appropriate fee arrangements, best practices, management tools and other resources to achieve better alignment between the value and cost of legal services provided by law firms to corporate clients.  Click this link to watch the “ACC Value Challenge Overview Video.”

LawPartnering is committed to promoting the ACC Value Challenge and contributing meaningfully to achieving better value-cost alignment in all areas of legal services.  Pursuant to its commitment, in 2010 and 2011, LawPartnering assisted ACC ‘s Arizona, Mountain West, Nevada and North Florida Chapters in producing introductory sessions in support of the ACC Value Challenge; as well as a special program for New Mexico corporate counsel combining an introduction to the ACC Value Challenge and a Managing Litigation as a Business kickoff event.
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Please contact Peter Jenkins, President of LawPartnering, Inc., for more information about the above-described initiatives (phone: 928-776-4600; email: peter.jenkins@LawPartnering.com).