"Outside counsel" refers to a lawyer or law firm that is hired by a company or organization from outside to provide legal advice or representation, as opposed to having an in-house attorney.
Full definition
With company budgets getting smaller, it's imperative that in - house counsel find more cost - effective ways to work
with outside counsel on complex matters and litigation.
While there is nothing inherently problematic in the use
of Outside Counsel Guidelines, there is reason for concern.
When I began my own practice, I spent several years as
outside counsel for a property liability insurance carrier.
While e-discovery software can somewhat soothe the painful process, many companies still continue to rely
on outside counsel for their discovery needs, vastly increasing their legal spend as a result.
After years of experience
as outside counsel in private practice, I chose a career change with a then - client.
How can general counsel begin to make sure they are getting what they are paying for
from outside counsel?
Second, the large firms are having to deal more frequently with
outside counsel guidelines, which often specifically forbid the firm from using the cloud.
But despite widespread criticism of the billable hour it still accounts for almost two - thirds of
outside counsel spend.
Managed
outside counsel in connection with the acquisition of an Australian medical software developer and acquisition of a computer consulting provider.
-- At the opposite end, the collection may be fully managed
by outside counsel but executed by corporate IT resources.
The workshop will highlight best practices, lessons learned, and strategies for effectively
managing outside counsel on legal projects.
Similarly, restraints on
using outside counsel have not only forced corporate counsel to do more with less, but also put pressure on private law firms to contain fees.
It's important to know how much your legal department has spent or has reserved to spend on
outside counsel fees, litigation costs and other expenses related to risk management.
While it is clear that attaining the right result is of the utmost importance to the client when
retaining outside counsel, the needs and desires of the client go far beyond the result.
I look for
outside counsel who are not only skilled trial attorneys and effective mediators, but also have business savvy and instill a sense of trust.
It delivers essential features and ready - built functionality to help legal staff manage matters with ease, streamline daily activities, and improve the management of
outside counsel billing costs.
They are experimenting with AI (eg, contract analytics, data analytics for
outside counsel management, and self - help for their internal business clients).
They should also be concerned by this: for the most part, surprisingly little was said about the problem of
outside counsel costs.
Mediation clients are able to seek
outside counsel at any time, but many clients first utilize counsel to review the Property Settlement Agreement.
This creates a matrix of work types, with very differing client expectations and
outside counsel selection criteria in each cell.
If there are no in - house lawyers,
engaging outside counsel familiar with the organization's business to participate in the interview and assessment process is money well spent.
Clients want less in the sense that they
need outside counsel who understand the client's risk tolerance and scope the legal work accordingly.
We were looking to
find outside counsel with specific expertise on short notice and needed those attorneys to be responsive to a fast - growing business operating with a lot of regulatory uncertainty....
All that's really happened so far is that corporate clients have become rather more stringent about
outside counsel budgets and have begun to use alternative suppliers more frequently.
From the law firm perspective, the low level of
new outside counsel hiring represents a challenge to firms hoping to acquire business from new clients.
Larger corporate legal departments, particularly those seeking to
reduce outside counsel fees (which can range in the millions annually), perform almost all of the substantive legal work in - house.
This may come directly
through outside counsel fees and litigation expenses or indirectly through the cost of maintaining an in - house legal department or attending to legal matters.
If you have the power to
choose outside counsel, you may be tempted to choose a former colleague or a friend, rather than who the company has always used.
Many corporate legal departments are seeking to better leverage technology to reduce e-discovery costs,
control outside counsel fees, reduce risk and get useful reporting on discovery metrics and case progress.
In terms of documents, correspondence with
outside counsel regarding a current case — independent of its location — is protected by the attorney's legal privilege.
If your child is
getting outside counseling, the counselor can give you additional strategies on actively listening and communicating with your child as well.
I have the luxury of being able to consult with colleagues on the question of
which outside counsel to speak to.
In terms of scope, most new legal operations teams will focus first on
outside counsel because that is where the majority of the legal spend resides.
You can also see this year
how outside counsel have stepped up to address the different demands of their in - house clients.
Areas of focus have
included outside counsel management, Legal - IT strategy development, contract and knowledge management, self - service contracting and request intake solutions.
You can decide up - front what you want to
pay outside counsel, and not a penny more, for a particular service.
Phrases with «outside counsel»