The question of how many attorneys is the right number is not only age-old in corporate counsel circles but has proven to be a hot topic of debate. Too few and in-house counsel becomes heavily dependent on outside counsel for big and small matters. Too many attorneys on a legal team and it may compromise efficiencies for the company’s bottom line and create the issue of too many cooks in the kitchen. In a time when economic factors have drained company coffers and strained legal departments to do more with less, re-assessing a company’s needs can prove to be vital. And can yield surprising results.
So, how should General Counsel and corporate executives evaluate their legal needs and determine a “Goldilocks” strategy for tailoring a legal department that’s just the right size? Here are a few tips compiled from podcasts, articles, blog posts, and online media (as listed in the “Related Resources”):
Building a strong in-house team can help prepare the company for addressing foreseeable legal needs, and for being able to effectively respond to the unforeseeable. Choose the right number with the right combination of skills and experience…and Goldilocks will have nothing on you.
Related Resources:
- “Right-Sizing” the In-House Legal
- Department (LegalNetwork)Another clue toward the number of lawyers practicing in-house in
- the United States (Law Department Management)Minimum department size recommended by book is two (Law
- Department Management)Many US companies with less than $100 million in revenue have an
- in-house lawyer (Law Department Management)Corporate Counsel Facing Budget Cuts and Need to Address Outside
- Law Firm Costs (FindLaw’s In House)The Yin and Yang of Corporate Counsel Convergence (FindLaw’s
- In House)
You Don’t Have To Solve This on Your Own – Get a Lawyer’s Help
Civil Rights
Block on Trump’s Asylum Ban Upheld by Supreme Court
Criminal
Judges Can Release Secret Grand Jury Records
Politicians Can’t Block Voters on Facebook, Court Rules
