7 Steps to Eliminate the Risk of Receiving Costly, Impractical Legal Advice

Even sophisticated parties with years of experience working with lawyers can find themselves at risk of receiving expensive, impractical legal advice at the 11th hour. This can wreak havoc with budgets and business planning alike never mind the negative impact it can have on the lawyer-client relationship or internal organizational planning and relationships.

While many throw up their hands and say this is just how it is when working with lawyers, particularly when working with specialists on non-routine, transactional matters, it really doesn’t need to be this way.

Participants in this session will be introduced to seven simple steps that their organizations can adopt to ensure that legal matters of any sort get started on, and continue on, a path that supports business objectives, avoids expensive 11th hour surprises and supports a stronger relationship with legal counsel.

During the session each step in the process is reviewed along with some relevant tools and/or case studies that support the successful application of the seven step approach.

During this session participants will also be introduced to some of the benefits available as a result of introducing this project management based approach to managing legal matters. A simple process for identifying who within an organization should become familiar with these seven steps will also be discussed.

Those who participate will be provided with a checklist of the seven steps, together with a brief description, that can be circulated to those within their organization who would benefit from understanding and following the seven steps.

HR Professionals as well as anyone involved in instructing lawyers or or receiving legal services.

1. Best practices in managing legal counsel
2. A simple 7 step process for effectively managing any legal matter
3. Who in your organization needs to know the 7 steps
4. Accountability tools
5. Benefits of following the 7 steps

The 7 steps were initially developed following my participation on a panel entitled "Practical Tips for Hiring Foreign Counsel" at the CCCA World Summit in Montreal, Canada. The link to the corresponding article on the CCCA website is as follows: Click here

Atul's Gawande's book The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right served as inspiration for reducing the process of hiring counsel to 7 simple steps.

		Melissa LaFlair LaFlair Legal and Project Management Services View Profile