As a litigator, I’m in constant communication with in-house counsel concerning the status of a given case—as most litigators are or should be. Even if nothing material is going on, I make it a point to simply communicate “there are no material issues to discuss at the moment.” I do this for several reasons.
First, knowing that the case is under control allows in-house counsel to free up resources and focus on more pressing matters.
Second, it forges a stronger relationship between attorney and client. This always results in better communication down the road.
Third, it allows in-house counsel to better manage expectations. This includes details such as budgets, duration of litigation and settlement value.
I mention this because there’s a great post over at the In-House Access blog by John DeGroote and Alan Dabdoub. The post, 5 Ways to Better Manage Internal Expectations in High Stakes Litigation, does an excellent job in covering the basics.
While the post was written for in-house counsel, it provides outside counsel with insight into making in-house counsel’s job a lot easier. The post covers the following 5 areas:
- Avoid Fire Drills
- Get Rid of Bad Problems Quickly
- Help Me Do More with Less
- Help Me Pitch Your Value
- Explain the Settlement Value
You can read the entire post at the In-House Counsel blog.
What do you think?
-Santiago