The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50800
"I am interested at being the client at the upper echelon and not the client that treats its outside counsel as commodities." they also know the particularities of our business, so I don't need generic legal advice on those things, that is not what we are looking for, we already have that capability. "At that time, what I am looking for is value added. That is probably an over- used term, but very sophisticated, right- to-the-point advice and that means I don't want to rework and retrain." If he needs to go the outside counsel route, it's for specific matters. "What I have, is what I would say, is a very effec- tive internal legal team that handles the great majority of issues," says Rondeau. "I would say virtually all of the issues [stay] in-house, so when I go outside it is usually for validation of some more esoteric comments or it is overflow of really small stuff. "It is very particular top end or it is overflow on the bottom end, so techni- cally on the bottom end so to speak, yes that is a little bit more of a commoditi- zation." For Pratt & Whitney there are a stable of thoroughbred counsel Rondeau relies on, and those lawyers are hired for very specific reasons. Still costs come into the equation. "We have a preferred firm rationale and in order to be a preferred firm there has to be some cost cut- ting and efficiency measures and some standard rates that have to be agreed to, discounts. We try to pool our resources and our spend to preferred firms," he says. "If I choose a firm I have already agreed to those rates and discounts and I choose a firm because of the people in it, and once that happens I have already got that deal, I don't want to unduly burden somebody either. "So those lawyers — and there are only a handful of them throughout the world that fit into that category — they are not the kind of people that I am inter- ested in treating on a commodity basis." Rondeau agrees the ideal way to control legal department costs is a hybrid billing system. Agreed-upon rates and discounts for the lower-end work, and then agreed- upon rates for the more specialized work. Still, he says the best way to keep the legal spend down is by doing more in-house. There is another equation to in the mix, says Rondeau: the kind of work he is looking for in 30 minutes would take a lower-level lawyer two hours. While he didn't say it, it is an easy equation: 30 min- utes at $1,000 an hour is $500, two hours at $500 an hour is $1,000. Association of Corporate Counsel president Fred Krebs likes to invoke the N SMART PAPER CHOICES Making small changes in your organization can help take steps toward a greener tomorrow. Choose recycled or FSC approved paper for all your printing needs today. IMPROVED! D&D Juraplus Paper Recycled paper, 50% post consumer content. This 20lb. high quality multi-purpose paper is ideal for copiers, fax machines, laser and inkjet printers. 94 bright white. 500 sheets per package. Also available in a carton of 10 pkgs. 01001190 8-1/2" x 11" Visit dyedurham.ca for our March Special Promotion EPP United Kingdom's war-time prime min- ister Winston Churchill when describing the debate over the billable hour, "never has so little been accomplished, by so many, for so long." In February, The Lawyer Magazine in DD CL C 3rdA-07 OP Ppr ad 3/10/09 1:26 PM Page 1 the U.K. announced the firm Slaughter and May was bending to the will of in- house counsel in embracing alternative billing practices. The article quoted one of the firm's partners saying it mainly uses "value billing" based on agreed- upon estimates. A few weeks prior, an article in The New York Times trumpeted the headline, "Billable house were giving grounds at law firms" quoting Evan R. Rolland ENVIRO100 Copy Paper 20lb., 3.8 mil, 90 TAPPI bright paper is made from 100% post– consumer recycled materials. FSC certified. Acid-free. 500 sheets per package. Also available in a carton of 5 packages. 51992-00 8-1/2" x 11" What is FSC? – FSC certification of papers goes beyond recycled content issues to the greater issue of forest management and sustainability. Products that have been FSC certified have been made from trees harvested according to sound forest management policies by a company that has demonstrated environ- mental responsibility throughout the manufacturing cycle. Learn more atwww.fsc.org. Responsible Forest Management Cert no. SW-COC-002302 is an FSC certified company, making the commitment to responsible forestry. &DURH 1-888-393-3874 Fax: 1-800-263-2772 dyedurhambasics.ca www. C E PREFERRED SUPPLIER S A I NCE 19 9 mag.com APRIL 2009 31 M G D Y 8 W e R ' E r E V e E O a y C a P n Y P a p R d A i D I m a D n & D o a F n N R E L D