John P. Weil & Company -- Consulting Services for Corporate Legal and Patent Law Departments and Government Legal Offices

Evaluation of Techniques Used To Select and Manage Outside Counsel

We can provide a review of existing policies, including use of engagement letters, case management practices, reimbursable cost practices, performance evaluation of outside counsel and other related practices for controlling outside legal costs.

Organization and Administrative Structure

We offer assistance in the organization of new legal departments and a review of structure and reorganization of existing departments. This may include recommendations on organization, staffing and planning for the administration of legal and patent departments and internal organization of legal functions for specialization and service to client organizations.

Internal Case Management

We can provide evaluation of internal systems and procedures to assign and track internal projects, track outside counsel, manage critical dates and manage the internal resources of the department. We can also assist in the development of a total quality management program and direct its implementation.

Staff Utilization and Technology

We conduct studies of professional and clerical workloads and workflow, benchmarking training programs, structuring of nonlawyer support, utilization of office automation and technology, and all aspects of clerical support functions. Studies of the areas in which paralegal support can be effectively used and programs for development of paralegal capability are also undertaken.

Office Automation

Recommendations are provided for systems and equipment designed for functions such as patent or litigation docketing, information retrieval, word processing, case management and tracking outside counsel. Preparation of manuals of operation and determination of staffing requirements.

Filing and Information Retrieval

Recommendations are provided on systems for proper maintenance of corporate legal, patent, corporate secretary and government legal files. Such studies may include equipment recommendations, staffing, layout, retention schedules, use of optical disk technology, and evaluation and preparation of manuals of operation.

Office Space Utilization

We can provide an evaluation of proposed office design, recommendations on space requirements and preparation of layouts of legal department offices. Objectives in space planning include efficiency, aesthetics and the working relationships between lawyers, secretaries, other departments and the administrative function.

Salary and Performance Evaluation Plans For Lawyers

We are available to conduct reviews of existing compensation systems, comparisons with other employers and private firms, evaluation and ranking schemes, preparation of position descriptions and performance evaluation systems.

Litigation Cost Management

We can provide an assessment of the techniques used by corporate counsel to manage and control outside legal costs. Among other factors, we evaluate how outside counsel is selected, use of engagement letters, phase and task based budgeting and billing, use of databases, and other techniques that can be used by counsel to more effectively control litigation and legal costs.

Special Projects

General counsel may wish to address special problems such as the development of methods of evaluating the effectiveness of outside counsel, outside counsel costs, promotions and creation of new lawyer positions, individual career problems, the gathering of special economic data and assistance in budget development.

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