August 26, 2020

elevatenext practice of law business-as-usual work next normal nicole auerbach

As expected, one of the casualties we are seeing as companies are forced to tighten their economic belts is a reduction in law department headcount. Many may think that along with a reduction in staff comes a reduction in the amount of work as well, but in many cases it is quite the opposite. Many of our customers tell us that the Business As Usual, day-to-day work is multiplying exponentially. Having to “do more with less” is taking on a decidedly new meaning.

In the face of shrinking in-house lawyer count, now is the time to re-evaluate the priorities of the law department staff; asking in particular whether doing ‘X’ is the highest and best use. The routine, day-to-day work is often the most time consuming, and the easiest to outsource at a reasonable price, yet companies often consider the routine work as too small to address. Things like responding to subpoenas/ law enforcement requests or routine government inquiries; sending and responding to cease and desist letters; forming companies and the attendant issues that come with it; handling pre-litigation overtures or notice of disputes that might be prerequisites to arbitration claims, are all areas that can be handled more efficiently elsewhere in order to free up valuable in-house time.