Any business that has a law department that’s not performing.

And don’t be taken in by companies that offer you a tech-based “transformation” process: that’s just another version of “your mess for less”. If the law department is dysfunctional, its inability to use technology intelligently is a symptom, not a cause.

• Your law department is not pulling its weight. There is no strategic or systemic view of your business’ legal issues, and looks like there isn’t the will to address them.

• Every time you ask a legal question, you get an answer that is unclear, hedged (on the one hand, on the other hand), and not pragmatic.

• The law department has become the Sales Prevention Department. There’s too much friction, and sales volume is being impacted. 

• There’s a dangerous malaise starting to affect the business on the revenue side. Sales staff are starting to look for jobs somewhere else.

• Your spend on external lawyers is out of control. The money is going out, but you just don’t feel you are getting money’s worth in return.

• You have the uncomfortable feeling that your business’ legal issues are not being properly addressed and that, at some point in the future, this is going to come back and bite you.

The service usually comes in two parts, though sometimes it makes more sense to do it in one pass.

• Part 1 – Diagnostic. Review how the law department is currently performing, including talking to the lawyers involved and their internal clients. Create a short report on what’s working, what’s not working, where the real problems are, and what can be done to fix things. The report is designed so that its recommendations can be implemented by any competent lawyer, not just me.

• Part 2 - Fix. Implement the report, and fix the problem.

1. I’ve run legal departments, and I’ve been brought in to fix broken ones.

2. I know this sector and how it works. As a result, there’s no faffing about.

3. I’ve worked in law firms, but most of my working life has been in-house. That’s significant. In-house lawyers look at the world differently to law firm lawyers. They understand how the Law Dept has to interact with the rest of the business to make things work. 

4. I’ve got a process-mentality. I don’t believe in the “ride in at the last minute and save the day” approach. I think it’s smarter to arrange things so that the problem doesn’t happen in the first place.

Do Nothing. Not an option.

DIY. If you are talking to me about this then, either you doubt your ability to fix the problem, or what you’ve tried has already failed.

Use an external. There are not many people around that can provide this service. It only really works if the person involved has, like me, run legal departments.

Fixed price, based on scope and the work required.

Through the roof.