In my expertise, few moments really feel as disorienting as receiving a hefty legislation agency bill that reads like a puzzle and realizing nobody’s out there to elucidate it. That’s not luxurious, that’s simply costly confusion.
If that sounds acquainted, you’ll need to hear extra from Brent Dyer, director of authorized operations at Development Micro. In our full dialog, Brent breaks down what exterior counsel ought to actually be delivering, and the way in-house groups can increase their expectations. Test it out right here:
Redefining What We’re Paying For
Brent’s core message is obvious: simply because one thing prices so much doesn’t imply it delivers worth. Many legislation companies pitch themselves as luxurious suppliers, however the in-house expertise tells a distinct story. What’s being offered as high-touch service usually interprets into poor communication, delayed billing, and inflexible engagement fashions that ignore what the shopper truly wants.
This isn’t simply philosophical. Brent’s insights give in-house attorneys a sensible framework to guage companies and take management of the connection.
3 Issues To Anticipate — And Demand
Should you’re managing exterior counsel, listed below are three areas the place you may and will set greater expectations:
- Billing that saves you time, not creates extra work. Push for itemized, well timed, and clear billing. In case your agency takes months to ship an bill or when you’re doing the cleanup they need to have finished, converse up. Brent suggests making well timed, clear billing a non-negotiable a part of your engagement.
- A transparent understanding of your authorized and enterprise targets. Don’t let exterior counsel assume what you need. Construct in a 30- to 45-minute alignment name earlier than every matter kicks off. Have them repeat again your aims in writing. Brent has seen this one step flip an engagement from reactive to results-driven.
- A dependable channel for suggestions and escalation. Should you’ve ever flagged a priority that goes nowhere — or worse, triggers defensiveness — you’re not alone. Brent recommends asking upfront who you may speak to if one thing goes improper. Deal with this like vendor administration, not a favor you’re asking.
For Authorized Operators: Construct Higher Expectations Into The System
Should you’re in authorized ops, take this additional by institutionalizing these expectations. Add billing accuracy metrics to your agency scorecards. Embody matter kickoff questions that seize enterprise targets in plain language. Create a easy suggestions type purchasers can use post-matter.
And if a agency refuses to align on these fundamentals? You understand what to do.
The Actual Luxurious: Being Heard And Understood
Brent’s remaining takeaway? “Discover your inside assertiveness and revel in it. Don’t really feel responsible about it.” When a agency treats you such as you’re too small to matter, remind them that each huge shopper as soon as began small. Respect is just not a reward, it’s a requirement.
As in-house attorneys, we’re not simply price facilities or inboxes to be managed. We’re the shopper. And which means we get to outline what good service appears like.
Your Flip
How are you setting expectations with exterior counsel? What practices have labored greatest for you — or fully backfired? Share your ideas, tales, and even your favourite consumption types. Let’s preserve constructing a better solution to companion with the companies we depend on.
Olga V. Mack is a Fellow at CodeX, The Stanford Middle for Authorized Informatics, and a Generative AI Editor at legislation.MIT. Olga embraces authorized innovation and had devoted her profession to bettering and shaping the way forward for legislation. She is satisfied that the authorized occupation will emerge even stronger, extra resilient, and extra inclusive than earlier than by embracing know-how. Olga can be an award-winning common counsel, operations skilled, startup advisor, public speaker, adjunct professor, and entrepreneur. She authored Get on Board: Incomes Your Ticket to a Company Board Seat, Fundamentals of Good Contract Safety, and Blockchain Worth: Reworking Enterprise Fashions, Society, and Communities. She is engaged on three books: Visible IQ for Legal professionals (ABA 2024), The Rise of Product Legal professionals: An Analytical Framework to Systematically Advise Your Shoppers All through the Product Lifecycle (Globe Regulation and Enterprise 2024), and Authorized Operations within the Age of AI and Knowledge (Globe Regulation and Enterprise 2024). You may observe Olga on LinkedIn and Twitter @olgavmack.
