Using litigation funding to increase certainty in outside counsel spend

General counsel can reduce budget volatility by partnering with a firm that can cover overages from unexpected lawsuit costs, a finance executive says.  

By Robert Freedman • April 20, 2023

Law firms take cautious approach to use of generative AI

Despite the slow rollout, 51% of law firm professionals believe tools such as ChatGPT should be applied to legal work, a survey found.

By Lyle Moran • April 19, 2023

Leveraging outside counsel to manage multiple priorities

Legal leaders can’t put compliance or other matters on hold to focus on deal making or litigation, so a mix of in-house and outside expertise is considered crucial. 

By Robert Freedman • April 18, 2023

How legal ops helped Ingersoll Rand cut tort liability costs

The company’s in-house team created what amounted to a virtual law firm, spread across the country, to better process asbestos-related claims.

By Robert Freedman • April 13, 2023

Patent trolls often target smaller companies, study finds

IPOs and private funding rounds can also put companies at greater risk of facing patent lawsuits from entities created to file such litigation.

By Lyle Moran • April 11, 2023

Ex-Trump CFO, facing fresh legal pressure, swaps attorneys

The legal turmoil still swirling around the Trump Organization’s former CFO shows just how closely intertwined a finance chief’s fate is with that of the organizations they serve.

By Maura Webber Sadovi • April 4, 2023

How to develop and enforce effective outside counsel guidelines

Creating guidelines related to budgets, internal communications and research can help you save significantly on legal costs.

By Kevin Cohn • April 4, 2023

Tapping accountants’ expertise in financial fraud claims

It’s not the role of accounting professionals to offer views on liability when a financial matter is in the spotlight but their knowledge of standards can shed light on evidence others might miss.  

By Jeffrey Matthews • March 30, 2023

Longtime Portland Trail Blazers GC says relationship-building was key

In-house legal leaders don’t always need to play hardball to produce positive results, according to Ben Lauritsen, who worked in the NBA for 13 years.

By Lyle Moran • March 24, 2023

How legal teams are tapping flexible talent amid tight budgets

Litigation and claims management professionals are in high demand on Consilio’s TalentConnect platform, as are contracting pros. 

By Lyle Moran • March 21, 2023

Class-action defense spending eclipses $3.6 billion

Labor and employment cases, as well as consumer fraud matters, generated the lion’s share of company expenditures, a Carlton Fields survey found.

By Lyle Moran • March 13, 2023

Sysco accuses litigation funder of trying to dictate legal strategy

Burford Capital in response calls the situation unique because the food distribution company breached the terms of the original contract.

By Robert Freedman • March 10, 2023

Severance ruling should be taken with ‘grain of salt,’ Baker McKenzie says

Attorneys at the global law firm suggested the NLRB’s recent decision does not have as sweeping implications for employers as some may think.

By Lyle Moran • March 8, 2023

Post-COVID litigation contributing to high outside counsel costs

It’s not just inflation and in-house digital transformation strategies that are driving higher law firm rates; litigation demand is up, too, say analysts. 

By Suman Bhattacharyya • Feb. 27, 2023

Law Firm Financial Index hits new low, Thomson Reuters reports

Demand for legal services was down nearly 4% compared to a year ago, and attorney productivity declined even further than that.

By Lyle Moran • Feb. 24, 2023

For the lawyers, the Super Bowl can be super fun

Given the chance to help shape the big event, attorneys donate hours of work to ensure the hotels are ready, the sponsors fulfill their pledges and the music doesn’t upset the licensing companies.

By Robert Freedman • Feb. 22, 2023

Many legal timekeepers didn’t see rates rise in 2022, report says

The statistics highlighted in a recent Wolters Kluwer analysis could provide legal departments with insights to challenge law firm rate increase requests rather than assume their inevitability. 

By Lyle Moran • Feb. 16, 2023

Labor and cyber disputes are top in-house litigation concerns

Legal departments are also bringing more litigation work in-house and a significant percentage plan to hire more litigators this year, a report found.

By Lyle Moran • Feb. 7, 2023

Structuring win-win alternative fee agreements

Although legal departments should always drive the conversation, law firms should proactively approach clients with innovative fee structures options.

By Kris Satkunas • Feb. 1, 2023

Legal talent platform launches law firm

Axiom Advice & Counsel will provide corporate legal services to a wide array of corporations while operating as an alternative business structure in Arizona.

By Lyle Moran • Jan. 23, 2023

Diversity of outside law firms not tracked by most GCs, survey finds

Meanwhile, those legal chiefs who do closely monitor the make-up of their external law firms said they have seen some DEI progress.

By Lyle Moran • Jan. 19, 2023

Law firm rates rose nearly 5% in 2022 even as demand slowed

Firms appear to be counting on rate increases to maintain profitability in 2023, but there are signs of client pushback, a report found.

By Lyle Moran • Jan. 13, 2023

2023 outlook: Slower economy will pressure GCs to cut spend, operate more efficiently

General counsel are expected to rely on legal operations specialists to help them increase in-house departments’ value to the broader organization.    

By Robert Freedman • Jan. 11, 2023

Former NFL attorney details his work on league’s sports betting deals

Doug Mishkin, a new partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, will bring his in-house experience handling the league’s sports gambling-related transactions to bear.

By Lyle Moran • Jan. 9, 2023

6 in-house legal trends to watch in 2023

Legal chiefs will be expected to do more with less even while operational costs rise and compliance risks grow.

By Robert Freedman and Lyle Moran • Jan. 6, 2023