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Transcript of Client Development Martindale-Hubbell How in-house counsel in CEE select and retain their external...
Client Development
Martindale-Hubbell
How in-house counsel in CEEselect and retain their
external counselBy Jeffrey Forbes, Executive Director, Forbes Institute
Presentation at CIS Local Counsel Forum
Kiev, 24.06.2009
Client Development
Martindale-Hubbell
Download a free copy of this survey at:
www.martindale-hubbell.co.uk (upper right hand corner of the page)
Continue this discussion online at:www.martindale.com/connected
Client Development
Martindale-Hubbell
What this presentation will cover
• Demographics• Selecting external counsel• Retaining external counsel• Removing external counsel• Client service• Summary• Action steps
A Client Development Solution
Martindale-Hubbell
CEE countries that participated in this survey (Table 1)
A Client Development Solution
Martindale-Hubbell Industry sectors represented in this
survey (Table 2)
A Client Development Solution
Martindale-Hubbell Where companies operate
geographically (Table 3)
A Client Development Solution
Martindale-Hubbell
Number of employees (Table 5)
A Client Development Solution
Martindale-Hubbell Size of legal departments - full-time
employees (Table 7)
A Client Development Solution
Martindale-HubbellNumber of law firms employed (Table
10)
A Client Development Solution
Martindale-HubbellExternal law firms’ share of the wallet
(Table 11)
A Client Development Solution
Martindale-Hubbell
Preferred billing terms (Table 16)
“The trend is away from the billable hour. Our CFO need to know the total cost. So we try for a fixed rate and if this is not possible
then we negotiate a cap. This is common even for litigation.”
A Client Development Solution
Martindale-HubbellWorking with foreign or local law firms
(Table 17)
A Client Development Solution
Martindale-HubbellHiring foreign instead of local law firms
(Table 19)
A Client Development Solution
Martindale-HubbellHiring local instead of foreign law firms
(Table 20)
A Client Development Solution
Martindale-Hubbell
Law firm panels (Table 21)
A Client Development Solution
Martindale-HubbellCriteria for selecting external counsel
(Table 22)
“A legal technician reviews a contract and says if it ok from a legal point of view. But a trusted advisor knows how to protect our
company regarding its strategy and business interests.”
A Client Development Solution
Martindale-Hubbell Key factors for retaining external
counsel (Table 24)
“I don’t like external counsel who are too cautious and don’t want to take any risk by just confirming an opinion created by my
internal team.”
A Client Development Solution
Martindale-Hubbell
Removing a law firm from a preferred provider list (Table 25)
“Legal mistakes are made and you deal with that. But non-legal mistakes such as missing deadlines or not communicating
properly, I don’t really need this.”
A Client Development Solution
Martindale-Hubbell
Uncovering client needs (Table 27)
“Lawyers do not approach their practice as a business. When they act like they are in an ivory tower they lose out. I would welcome
them to come up with new ideas for cooperation.”
A Client Development Solution
Martindale-HubbellConducting client satisfaction surveys
(Table 28)
“You are the first person (speaking to the author of this survey) that has actually come to my office to talk to me about these
matters.”
A Client Development Solution
Martindale-Hubbell Participating in client satisfaction
surveys (Table 29)
“It would be great for our law firm to have someone talk to me about our relationship but no one has done that yet. This is
strange because we consider customer information vital to our
business.”
A Client Development Solution
Martindale-HubbellInternal satisfaction surveys regarding
external counsel (Table 26)
“On an annual basis our headquarters asks us if we are satisfied with our external counsel. And even small warnings can build up
over time and the firm gets removed from our list.”
Client Development
Martindale-Hubbell
Summary
• CEE legal market like USA 20 years ago • Clients are saying: “Where is the ‘service’
from legal service providers?• Very little ‘best practice’ in terms of client
service• In-house counsel more business-minded• Opportunities for law firms willing to take
action• Challenges for law firms unwilling to change
Client Development
Martindale-HubbellActions that will give you a competitive
advantage
• Measure client satisfaction (set up formal program)
• Review strategy and plans based on feedback
• Provide training/coaching for service/bd skills
Client Development
Martindale-Hubbell
Download a free copy of this survey at:www.martindale-hubbell.co.uk
(upper right hand corner of the page)
Continue this discussion online at:www.martindale.com/connected
Information about Jeffrey Forbes’ services:
www.forbesinstitute.com
Client Development
Martindale-Hubbell
Thank you for your attention.
CIS Local Counsel Forum
Kiev, 24.06.2009