PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND THE IN-HOUSE LEGAL FUNCTION
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS

Within the legal function

Run the Lawyers in Business workshop - Managing and Developing Yourself
This will prepare the way for a step change in performance of individuals

Capture all the costs of the in-house function - treating part of your time as an overhead - and calculate the annual / monthly / hourly cost of an in-house lawyer

In discussion with your colleagues, work out how users are currently consuming resource (fractions of lawyer-years)

Run the Lawyers in Business workshop - Managing Legal Risk
This will provide a blueprint for assessing priorities

With your colleagues, adapt the Legal Risk modules for your business

Outline your strategy for legal services and invite your team(s) to recommend how the strategy should be implemented

Draft your objectives for the forthcoming year and share them with immediate colleagues

Review individual objectives and development needs in the light of your strategy and the planned implementation

Develop best practice standards

With business colleagues

Understand their strategy and business plans

Use the legal risk modules to persuade business colleagues that they, you and external advisers have to work together to manage legal risk

Discuss with senior business managers and any heavy users of the in-house service what you are trying to achieve and the level of resource they are consuming

Agree with business areas the priorities for the in-house function

Present the strategy and objectives to, and secure the approval of, the person to whom you report

With external advisers

• Review performance
• Weed out wrong firms
• Reinforce relationships with selected external advisers

The sequence of these actions has to be carefully planned. If you gear up the legal department to higher performance in one area, but the business has other priorities, you and your colleagues will be demotivated. If you raise business expectations of enhanced performance and the function is not geared to deliver, you will be in difficulty. You need to move on both fronts. Never underestimate the need for planning and execution.

Don't forget that having support from Lawyers in Business can make all the difference!

© 2001 Mark Prebble