It used to be that companies selected outside counsel based on things like relationships, reputation, and tickets to sporting events/fancy dinners. Those days are fading fast, especially beginning around 2008 and the resulting aftermath of the “Great Recession.” That’s not to say that the above are no longer important (who doesn’t like front row NBA tickets?), but more and more the selection of outside counsel is based on the same principles and processes the company uses generally to select any vendor. This includes the use of RFPs (Requests for Proposals) to search out and find the best firm for the problem at hand. Like many things involving the business part of the law, in-house lawyers aren’t particularly good at this process – for now. I remember utilizing the RFP process while in-house on a number of occasions. We were okay at it, but not great. We got better over time as we learned a lot of lessons during the process – especially from dealing with the results of our process (which is a big clue that we did not always get a gold star for our efforts). Regardless, more in-house departments are starting to use the RFP process – either on their own initiative or because they were “persuaded” to by senior management or other circumstances. If you do it right, the RFP process can deliver tremendous value to the legal department and the company. This edition of “Ten Things” walks you through how to run a legal services RFP process the right way:
Month: June 2019
Ten Things: A Primer on the Work Product Privilege
[I realized too late after my last post that I have surpassed 100 blogs. Wow. No celebration but, to be honest, I never imagined I’d write that many when I started “Ten Things” back in November 2014. But, here we are, all dressed up and lots of places still to go. So, thanks for reading and keep those emails and suggestions coming!]
As an in-house lawyer, I was always interested in any legitimate way I could keep information generated by the company or the legal department confidential. Or, more importantly, out of the hands of our adversaries. All of which meant I needed to stay on top of many things, from trade secret protection to teaching the business to write smart. But, as a lawyer, I had a particular interest in how privilege might apply to the materials I – or my team – was working on. The most obvious was the attorney-client privilege, something I have written about in a past blog and which ranks first on my list in terms of protecting information. Somewhat less obvious, and not as sexy as its cool, buff older brother, is the work product privilege. While more limited in the circumstances in which it applies, it is pretty powerful and can save the day when something happens to make the attorney-client privilege fall away. Kind of how Batman can curb-stomp some villains when Superman’s having an off day. I think it’s time we gave the work product privilege some love and this edition of “Ten Things” discusses what in-house lawyers need to know about our new, best buddy:[1]
Ten Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel® 