Resource Library

LEADING PRACTICES IN COMPENSATION PROGRAMS AND RETENTION STRATEGIES FOR IN-HOUSE LAWYERS: What Companies are Doing

Provides examples of strategies that firms can use to create a competitive advantage. Includes advice such as keeping fee rates in step with the local market, fostering collaboration, creating efficiencies, and encouraging diversity.

This resource presents the leading practices of legal departments that leverage dedicated legal operations staff to manage the business aspects of Legal. Through profiles of 11 legal departments, it conveys who leads the legal operations function, relationships between general counsel and their legal operations leaders, reasons for the legal operations function, how it functions, its scope and impacts.

Some would argue that finding the right people is paramount to outlining strategies and tactics. When running a legal department, however, perhaps that order should be reversed: First, what ... then who. With discipline and commitment, legal departments can achieve significant cost savings and operational efficiencies by implementing this approach.

ACC revisits the topic with an updated Leading Practices Profile that asks law departments — in industries ranging from technology to health and telecommunications — to explain how they’ve successfully allocated lawyer and non-lawyer resources to drive value. This Leading Practices Profile showcases the best operational, technology, metrics and process-improvement strategies for maximizing resources across the entire spectrum of legal operations.

This Leading Practices Profile, an update to ACC’s 2011 Crisis Management and the Role of In-House Lawyers: Company Leading Practices, features the leading business continuity and crisis management plans of four entities that share plan aspects, including core components, operational strategies, and lessons learned. The Profile also addresses the law departments’ role in prevention planning, training, risk assessment, crisis management, and continuity planning.

The challenge: do more, do it well, do it quickly, and keep costs down. This is a reality facing law departments today. This practice profile explores how nine companies are stepping up to this challenge. Learn about practices utilizing non-lawyer personnel at companies such as 3M Company, ConocoPhillips, DuPont, FMC Technologies, Inc., McDonald's Corporation, Monsanto Company, Southwest Airlines, and Starbucks Coffee Company.

This Leading Practices Profile, an update to ACC’s 2010 piece, features law department leading practices for generating and demonstrating value through a number of value levers, as well as best practices for improving the bottom line and enhancing collation across business units. In wake of the economic downturn in the last decade and the increased pressure to “do more with less,” six participating corporations share their best value-sustaining practices in law department staffing, targeted practice areas, outside counsel management, strategic planning and the use of metrics to measure and track best practices.

This Leading Practices Profile, an update to ACC’s 2005 Leading Practices Profile, Leading Practices in Law Departments Adding Value and Moving Beyond the Cost Center Model, features law department leading practices for generating and demonstrating value to the organization, as well as best practices for improving the bottom line and optimizing collaboration with business units. In the wake of the economic downturn and increased pressure to “do more with less,” 10 participating corporations share their best value-generating and value-sustaining practices in law department staffing, targeted practice areas, outside counsel management, strategic planning and the use of metrics to measure and track value practices.

Converging External Counsel Leading Practices in Selecting Implementing and Managing Value Driven Preferred Network