Outside Counsel Guidelines (OCGS) are commonly used these days, but comprehensive and clear guidelines are hardly universal. In this piece from Corporate Counsel Business Journal, Brenda Hansen, a senior consultant with Epiq who has drafted many OCGs, offers useful advice for developing effective guidelines.

Continue Reading The Care & Feeding of OCGs

In this interview with Corporate Counsel Business Journal, Mark Nastasi, founder and VP of contract management company CobbleStone Software, discusses the evolution of cost-effective and user-friendly contract and procurement management software applications and continuous innovation in Contract Lifecycle Management.

Continue Reading Technology Solutions for Corporate Law Departments

In this piece from Corporate Counsel Business Journal, Todd Purdy, VP of Epiq, discusses “myth-busting” data points derived from his experience with e-discovery review teams in the U.S. and India. “When you approach a vendor for managed review of documents for litigation or an investigation, every single one will tell you they have the best people,” Purdy says. “But if everyone has the best people, how do you know what sets service providers apart for you, your firm or company, and your specific need?” From there he trots out four myth busters to use in evaluating a landscape populated by what are, by and large, temp workers: 
 

  • Career Growth. “A Managed Review vendor who is sensitive to the needs of the rank-and-file reviewers will have a program in place for training reviewers for higher level tasks and management skills. More importantly, it will have ongoing
  • Continue Reading The Humanity of the Managed Review Temp

    In this piece from Corporate Counsel Business Journal, Herman Raspé, a partner at Patterson Bellknap and chair of the World Services Group Board of Directors, discusses a wide range of topics, including the “technologization” of the legal profession. One hurdle he sees is money. “When I look at how law firm budgets have evolved over time, budgets tend to be based on: What did we do in the past? How did we cover our expenses, fixed, variable, etc.? While technology was certainly increasingly a large line item, I think it will need to be a much more significant line item,” Raspé says. The second challenge I have observed—within my firm, within WSG and in my personal life – is the more we get used to technology, the less patience we have it. It has to work immediately. It has to work all the time.” There is, however, a path forward: “Embrace it! Technologization of the profession is a wonderful thing,” he continues. “Daunting at times, but wonderful. I have enjoyed looking and experiencing and experimenting with new, technology-enhanced ways of building relationships with clients, building relationships within the WSG network, with other lawyers, and with other firms. Legal communication does

    Continue Reading Embrace Technologization