In my expertise, few moments really feel as disorienting as receiving a hefty regulation agency bill that reads like a puzzle and realizing nobody’s out there to clarify it. That’s not luxurious, that’s simply costly confusion.
If that sounds acquainted, you’ll need to hear extra from Brent Dyer, director of authorized operations at Pattern Micro. In our full dialog, Brent breaks down what outdoors counsel ought to actually be delivering, and the way in-house groups can elevate their expectations. Test it out right here:
Redefining What We’re Paying For
Brent’s core message is obvious: simply because one thing prices quite a bit doesn’t imply it delivers worth. Many regulation corporations pitch themselves as luxurious suppliers, however the in-house expertise tells a distinct story. What’s being bought as high-touch service typically interprets into poor communication, delayed billing, and inflexible engagement fashions that ignore what the shopper really wants.
This isn’t simply philosophical. Brent’s insights give in-house legal professionals a sensible framework to guage corporations and take management of the connection.
3 Issues To Anticipate — And Demand
In the event you’re managing outdoors counsel, listed below are three areas the place you’ll be able to and will set greater expectations:
- Billing that saves you time, not creates extra work. Push for itemized, well timed, and clear billing. In case your agency takes months to ship an bill or in the event you’re doing the cleanup they need to have completed, communicate up. Brent suggests making well timed, clear billing a non-negotiable a part of your engagement.
- A transparent understanding of your authorized and enterprise targets. Don’t let outdoors counsel assume what you need. Construct in a 30- to 45-minute alignment name earlier than every matter kicks off. Have them repeat again your targets in writing. Brent has seen this one step flip an engagement from reactive to results-driven.
- A dependable channel for suggestions and escalation. In the event you’ve ever flagged a priority that goes nowhere — or worse, triggers defensiveness — you’re not alone. Brent recommends asking upfront who you’ll be able to speak to if one thing goes unsuitable. Deal with this like vendor administration, not a favor you’re asking.
For Authorized Operators: Construct Higher Expectations Into The System
In the event you’re in authorized ops, take this additional by institutionalizing these expectations. Add billing accuracy metrics to your agency scorecards. Embody matter kickoff questions that seize enterprise targets in plain language. Create a easy suggestions kind purchasers can use post-matter.
And if a agency refuses to align on these fundamentals? You already know what to do.
The Actual Luxurious: Being Heard And Understood
Brent’s remaining takeaway? “Discover your internal assertiveness and luxuriate in it. Don’t really feel responsible about it.” When a agency treats you such as you’re too small to matter, remind them that each large shopper as soon as began small. Respect just isn’t a reward, it’s a requirement.
As in-house legal professionals, we’re not simply value facilities or inboxes to be managed. We’re the shopper. And meaning we get to outline what good service seems like.
Your Flip
How are you setting expectations with outdoors counsel? What practices have labored finest for you — or utterly backfired? Share your ideas, tales, and even your favourite consumption varieties. Let’s hold constructing a wiser method to associate with the corporations we depend on.
Olga V. Mack is a Fellow at CodeX, The Stanford Middle for Authorized Informatics, and a Generative AI Editor at regulation.MIT. Olga embraces authorized innovation and had devoted her profession to enhancing and shaping the way forward for regulation. She is satisfied that the authorized career will emerge even stronger, extra resilient, and extra inclusive than earlier than by embracing know-how. Olga can be an award-winning common counsel, operations skilled, startup advisor, public speaker, adjunct professor, and entrepreneur. She authored Get on Board: Earning Your Ticket to a Corporate Board Seat, Fundamentals of Smart Contract Security, and Blockchain Value: Transforming Business Models, Society, and Communities. She is engaged on three books: Visible IQ for Attorneys (ABA 2024), The Rise of Product Attorneys: An Analytical Framework to Systematically Advise Your Purchasers All through the Product Lifecycle (Globe Regulation and Enterprise 2024), and Authorized Operations within the Age of AI and Knowledge (Globe Regulation and Enterprise 2024). You’ll be able to comply with Olga on LinkedIn and Twitter @olgavmack.
