Recent Articles

What You Measure and How You Measure It

February 21, 2010 17:08

If you decide that you are measuring your law department’s performance in the correct context (see prior blogs), you then face two more important hurdles. The first, whether you are measuring something that accurately measures a relevant factor and second, that you are measuring the right...

Jingle Bells in the Brenner Pass- Part 4

February 12, 2010 00:04

The good news—and what was going to be the only good news for some time, was that we were upgraded to Business First on our flight from Chicago to Munich. The flight from Chicago arrived in Munich on time. That was the last time, for the next two days, that anything we traveled on either...

Jingle Bells in the Brenner Pass- Part 3

February 05, 2010 20:36

  Read Part 1 Read Part 2 Armed with my Italian sourced flight data, I approached the gate agent and explained that going to Chicago that evening seemed pointless; I needed to be rebooked for a departure next evening. He agreed and began the rebooking process only to come to a sudden stop....

Jingle Bells in the Brenner Pass- Part 2

February 03, 2010 18:38

 (Read Part 1) With the location of Christmas settled, plans were made for arrivals. My wife and I would depart from Cleveland in the evening on December 20th arriving in Torino (Turin) Italy in the late afternoon of December 21st. Our oldest son would arrive from China in Torino. This would...

Law Firm Access to ACC Value Index

February 03, 2010 18:13

The ACC Value Index (AVI) is a tool meant to inform in-house counsel decisions as part of a larger process of selecting and retaining a law firm. The AVI is a searchable database for in-house counsel to share subjective evaluations of the firms they engage.  It is key to note that this is a...

Privilege Is Under Attack--Perhaps Not--You Are Under Attack And Only You Can Stop It.

February 01, 2010 13:33

  In Susan Hackett’s blog on the Textron case she states that the privilege is under attack. Let me suggest, at the risk of inspiring disagreement from Steve Bokat, that what is really under attack is the notion that in-house counsel is really practicing law. Susan says as much: Can...

ACC Files Amicus to Uphold Lawyer-Client Work Product Confidentiality

January 28, 2010 17:46

ACC filed an amicus with the Supreme Court on January 27, 2010 in the Textron case.  This is the third brief we’ve filed in this matter as it’s cut a tortuous path through the appeals and circuit courts; the Press Release we issued recounts it all for those inclined to read...

Will Your Work Product Become Your Adversary's Exhibit A?

January 28, 2010 16:55

ACC filed an amicus with the Supreme Court on January 27, 2010 in the Textron case.   This is the third brief we’ve filed in this matter as it’s cut a tortuous path through the appeals and circuit courts; the press release we issued recounts it all for those inclined to read...

The Starring Role in Relationship Management: A Five-Point Focus on the Fundamentals

January 27, 2010 17:46

As we enter 2010, many law departments and law firms are still reeling from the tumultuous paradigm shifts of 2009, and working to bring order to the budget and staffing chaos of the last several months.  If 2009 was the year we all scrambled just to get it done for less and with fewer hands...

There Are Numbers- Then There Are Numbers

January 27, 2010 14:29

Fred Krebs, in his President’s message, in the January/February 2010 issue of the Docket, encouraged measurement of law department performance. The central themes of his comments are: The more we measure our successes, our challenges and even our failures, the more we will learn how to carry...