[Thomson Reuters] 5 Tips to Negotiate for Better Legal Service
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작성일17-03-13 15:23관련링크
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Mar 2017, 5 Tips to Negotiate for
Better Legal Service
Thomson Reuters’ recent white paper, Transform Your Legal Department in Six Months, helps in-house counsel to create more efficient and analytical legal departments. One of the key recommendations of this paper is to assess your relationship with
outside
counsel and how work is allocated to them.
Most corporations and law firms focus on price when they negotiate contracts for firms to join external legal panels. Yet
despite the growing use of capped and
fixed fees, legal fees continue to rise year on year while service quality
rarely improves.
What if you instead focus your negotiations on service? Here are five things GCs should ask for when negotiating this year’s
corporate legal retainer contracts.
1
Clear KPIs
Demand that firms set and deliver key performance indicators (KPI). Agree on measurable service deliverables appropriate to
the type of work you are sending
out, for example, average time to resolve queries or litigation win rates.
2
Data Meet Ups
Schedule regular meetings to review the performance metrics collected. Ask them to interpret the data and bring
recommendations for improvement.
3
Document Automation
Request law firms to automate regular and routine documentation for a smoother workflow. Using modern tools such as
Contract Express, drafting even complex contracts can be automated and documents can be created quickly and cheaply.
4 Communication Protocol
Set
clear expectations for communication and insist on them. Reward firms that
provide good service by keeping you up to date
5
Billing Transparency
Demand greater transparency and accountability over fee structures. Much of this can be automated using tools such as Legal Tracker, which also lets your law firms share the burden of monitoring. Monitoring billing also generates metrics that make it
easy to demonstrate to the business
the value your department adds.
Demanding a better service from law firms is a key part of creating more efficient and analytical legal departments. Find out
more in our white paper, Transform
Your Legal Department in Six Months.
Peter
Davies,
Legal
Solutions — a Thomson Reuters Business