In my last book, Showing the Value of the Legal Department: More Than Just a Cost Center, I tackle one of the fundamental issues facing all in-house legal departments: it sucks to be a cost center.  You can check if you want, but I am pretty sure that’s what I said.[1]  Why does this matter? Because cost centers are places the business looks to cut when times get tough, or the numbers need “improving.”  And, historically, most legal departments have had a ”cut my budget” sign taped to their backs.  This is due partly to those evil bastards in finance, and in part because most in-house legal departments have not aggressively marketed themselves to the business.  It’s probably more the latter, but who’s keeping score?[2]  By aggressively market, I mean taking the steps necessary every day to show the value provided by the legal team, and, more importantly, showing how the department can create even more value if properly nurtured.  If you have been a long-time reader of the blog, you know that I have written about how to go about showing value and how to market the department.  Now I want to take on yet another task in-house lawyers often suck at (my early self included), i.e., how to ask for more resources (and not get laughed out of the room).[3]

I’ll lead off with it is not easy, but it can be done if you prepare the ground in advance of the ask.  And now that most in-house legal departments are heading into “budget season.” It’s the perfect time to rip the “cut my budget” sign off your back and replace it with a “we deserve more budget” sign – or button.  That’s right, this edition of “Ten Things” takes you through the process of how to ask for more resources and – on occasion – get them:

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