It’s stated so often but never questioned: everywhere you turn, in-house lawyers pay tribute to the holy grail of ‘being commercial’. But, as I will argue, such an approach raises substantive and troubling questions regarding the influence on the ethical compass that is supposed to be an in-house lawyer’s most important tool.
Dissent: Platitudes and a missed debate – how GCs are pushed off their ethical course
Paul Gilbert argues that lazy thinking and perverse incentives are dulling the ethical and intellectual edge of in-house counsel
It’s stated so often but never questioned: everywhere you turn, in-house lawyers pay tribute to the holy grail of ‘being commercial’. But, as I will argue, such an approach raises substantive and troubling questions regarding the influence on the ethical compass that is supposed to be an in-house lawyer’s most important tool.
The GC Power List summer reception – Reaching out, reaching up
Legal Business for the first time extended its GC Power List into a summer reception. A distinguished list of panellists debated what it takes to get ahead for rising stars of the in-house world
Having for two years built up our annual GC Power List report and reception, Legal Business in June extended the venture into our first summer event as a means to further support the in-house community.
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Guest post: Stop being proactive, stop being commercial, stop being nice
I made a mistake. It was in 1989. I went in-house and found I was good at my job. It was the first time in my life I truly felt I was good at something. Until then I had found everything hard. Exam results were never adorned with flying colours and my CV, such as it was, looked more apologetic than full of promise.
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Guest post: ‘Stockholm syndrome’ in legal services – GCs are captured by their advisers
A caricature may reveal a truth…
‘Why, if there is all the talk of change, is change so slow?’
One might be forgiven for thinking that there is rather too much talk of change in the legal profession and perhaps rather less evidence of it happening. It is not easy to see the wood from the trees sometimes, but I would like to offer a perspective on why this may seem to be the case from both a law firm and a client point of view. Continue reading “Guest post: ‘Stockholm syndrome’ in legal services – GCs are captured by their advisers”
In-House: JPMorgan Chase & Co General Counsel sells $2.58 million-worth of shares
Despite not having made it into the latest top 100 salary-based compensation rankings of US general counsel (GCs), the earning power of GCs based on stocks has again come to the fore after JPMorgan Chase & Co’s GC Stephen Cutler sold off 43,997 shares priced at $58.74, making Cutler $2.58m.
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In-house: Lend Lease appoints Mark Packer to EMEA general counsel as Patrick Gloyens departs
Global property giant Lend Lease has promoted senior legal counsel Mark Packer as its general counsel (GC) for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions after the multinational’s longstanding EMEA legal chief Patrick Gloyens stepped down from the role. Continue reading “In-house: Lend Lease appoints Mark Packer to EMEA general counsel as Patrick Gloyens departs”
GE’s top lawyer holds on to first place in compensation rankings with new entries from Blackstone and Coca Cola
The latest US general counsel (GC) compensation rankings have seen General Electric’s (GE’s) top lawyer Brackett Denniston hold on to first place despite a significantly reduced salary of $5.8m compared to 2012, as new entrants to the latest top 10 include Blackstone Group’s John Finley and Coca Cola’s John Parker. Continue reading “GE’s top lawyer holds on to first place in compensation rankings with new entries from Blackstone and Coca Cola”
In-house: Threadneedle looks to fill GC spot after Philip Reed resigns; Weatherford brings in Dianne Ralston as GC
Leading City asset manager Threadneedle Investments is looking to fill its general counsel (GC) role following the resignation of high profile former Norton Rose litigation partner Philip Reed after seven years in the job. The move comes as Geneva-headquartered global oilfield products and services group Weatherford International, which was last year fined $253m by the US government for breaches of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and export control violations, brings in Dianne Ralston from Schlumberger as its new GC. Continue reading “In-house: Threadneedle looks to fill GC spot after Philip Reed resigns; Weatherford brings in Dianne Ralston as GC”
Numbers crunching – the rise of KPIs for the progressive client
Traditional methods of assessing external legal advisers’ performance are giving way to a more formalised approach. Legal Business examines the rise of the key performance indicator.
‘It goes back to the old business truism that you can only manage what you measure,’ says Eversheds head of international, Stephen Hopkins, who is responsible for the firm’s single-supplier client relationships, a number of which use a series of well-established key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure adviser performance.
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