There are a few simple tricks you can try to improve the pace, accuracy and consistency of your document review team.

1. Batch by Thread

If you aren’t reviewing only the most inclusive email (the longest email in the conversation that includes all other emails in the conversation), then batching by thread complete is essential to fast and consistent review.  Most processing and review tools can identify a thread group and this should be used to batch all conversations in a thread to a single reviewer.  Email is a conversation and in order to make a good in/out decision on any email in a conversation, the email thread should be viewed and coded in full context. Not reviewing all emails in a thread in a single batch causes a lot of re-reading of single emails (wasted time) and could cause inconsistent coding (high risk). Continue Reading

Given the profound changes roiling the market for corporate legal services, it can be tough to tell just what makes today’s in-house law department tick. The agenda for CLOC’s Annual Corporate Legal Operations Institute, dissected in this infographic from Corporate Counsel Business Journal, isn’t a bad place to start. Continue Reading

Today’s headlines point to why it is critical to review and strengthen company harassment programs.

In the current climate of #MeToo and the Time’s Up movement, many employers are scrambling to answer a variety of questions relating to harassment in the workplace. Chief among these are what’s changed, and what changes do we need to make now?

The answer to the first question is that nothing has changed, at least in terms of the laws prohibiting discrimination, which include sexual harassment. Continue Reading

CCBJ: Your career followed an interesting and varied path to the Gates Foundation. Can you tell us about that?

Keith Matthews: Professionally, my first job out of college was as a credit analyst and later a middle-market loan officer at what is now JPMorgan Chase. With that background – and with a finance degree from college – I knew early on in my career that I wanted to focus on transactional work. After law school, I was a corporate lawyer at Morgan Lewis & Bockius, based in Philadelphia and Singapore. I then went into management consulting with Deloitte Consulting, and after a few years I returned to practice law, working on private equity and venture capital in New York and San Francisco in a law firm that eventually merged with O’Melveny & Myers. Continue Reading

Connie Collingsworth is chief business operations officer with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Her remarks have been edited for length and style.

CCBJ: What led you to pursue a career in law?

Connie Collingsworth: I was somewhat strong-willed, always standing up for what was right, and I wanted to be an independent professional. Standing in line at my high school graduation, I remember telling a friend’s father that I planned to be a lawyer. It was 1976. He thought it was a funny thing for a young girl to say. It’s a very distinct memory. That’s when I knew my goal was to become a lawyer. Continue Reading

When you think of enterprise legal management (ELM) systems, you probably think about the ways they can make spend and matter management more efficient. But ELM systems are quickly evolving, becoming more comprehensive all the time, and today they can help optimize contract management, NDA creation and distribution, legal holds, legal service requests and much more. Continue Reading

CCBJ: Akin Gump has been recognized by the Financial Times for its work in compliance and technology. What led to that recognition?

Thomas McCarthy: Beginning over a decade ago, there was an upswing in enforcement trends by the U.S. government in areas that affected our clients – particularly export controls, sanctions and anticorruption. Continue Reading

Legal technology, information management, cost control and convergence move into the spotlight.

To celebrate our 25th anniversary, we are digging into the MCC archives for insights into the evolution and accomplishments of corporate counsel. Last issue, we focused on our inaugural edition. This issue we examine our first five years – 1994-98 – a period when corporate counsel were focused on building closer relationships with outside counsel, exemplified by the DuPont partner program. Our next four issues will tackle five years of MCC at a clip. Enjoy the trip. Continue Reading

Jonah Paransky of Wolters Kluwer’s ELM Solutions explains how law departments will deliver value with operational rigor. His remarks have been edited for length and style.

CCBJ: How has the corporate legal department’s role expanded beyond its traditional responsibilities?

Jonah Paransky: There are several key items worthy of notice. The first is there’s been a sea change in expectations for how corporate legal departments will operate. Continue Reading

Late last year, CLOC, the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium, released the results of its first annual State of the Industry Survey, looking at such metrics as legal spend; legal department and legal ops headcounts; commonly used e-billing vendors, contract management systems and alternative service providers; and law firm evaluation priorities.

The respondents represented 156 companies in 32 industries, spanning 30 U.S. states and 11 countries. With a median company revenue of $7 billion, they claimed an average external spend of $60 million per company. Continue Reading