Your R&D is not my capital investment … it’s yours.

So last weekend, on a quiet nondescript morning, coffee freshly poured I thought, “No finer time than right now to review some law firm invoices.”  Ok, I didn’t really think that, but since this past week was going to be highly unproductive (it didn’t disappoint) it was time to get the mundane out of the way.

I pulled the first one off the stack.  The General Matters invoice.  There was only one entry:

“Review recent court decisions concerning intellectual property rights.  0.6 hrs.”

The expense statement was even better.

“LEXIS/NEXIS case searches for recent court decisions concerning intellectual property rights . . . . . $467.00″

Now all this would be perfectly acceptable if we had actually engaged the firm to do some research.  But we hadn’t.  Hmmm… this was probably just another time entry foul-up (expense charge too — same day, probably automated).  No big deal.  We’ll just call and have it fixed.

Serving lawsuits

Attention plaintiffs’ bar:

If you’re suing a corporation, a limited liability company or a limited partnership, please go to the secretary of state’s office website for that jurisdiction, look up the exact spelling of the entity and its registered agent’s name and address.

Draft and serve your summons & complaint accordingly.

Time spent: 5 minutes. Time saved fighting over proper service of process: priceless. For both sides.

Don’t Nag Us to Pay Legal Bills Early

Please don’t nag us to pay your December 10th invoices by year end.   

Floating Deadlines

We’ve all made the mistake of giving an assignment and failing to establish a clear deadline.  Outside counsel are no different from your staff or anyone else you’re collaborating with. 

Ask for Discounts… Now.

Nothing new here: things are slowing down (except bankruptcy and litigation, naturally.)  If you’re not asking for discounts, you’re not doing your job.

Not dormant, just redirected

This economy is creating all sorts of new “challenges” that have momentarily directed our ranting elsewhere.  We’ll be back shortly.

IHR

A Marketing Lunch that Worked

Last week we were invited to lunch by counsel who are working with us for the first time. 

It’s 4:30 p.m. Do you know where your lawyer is?

In film production they call it “the magic hour”: that wonderful time of day when the sun is low in the sky, and the ambient light takes on a golden hue that makes everyone look great.

Management is not Fun

This is a rant about managing.  Actually, it’s about not managing.

My department keeps fairly busy dealing with the legal fallout from executives who won’t manage their direct reports.  Not can’t manage — won’t manage.

How to get Legal Business – Step 3

More on getting legal business.  This time: Get your message out.  Demonstrate your successes.  You’ve got credibility . . . show it.