Welcome back…… and don’t forget to check out Dilbert from last week.

The American Bar Association has waded into the debate over legal outsourcing with an ethics opinion blessing the outsourcing trend as “a salutary one for our globalized economy.” Companies operating in India — the most popular destination for legal outsourcing because it has a common-law system and English is widely spoken — were quick to hail the advisory by the ABA’s ethics committee as a major step forward for their nascent industry.

Law.com - ABA Gives Thumbs Up to Legal Outsourcing

The legal profession has come a long way when it comes to in-house counsel blowing the whistle, says attorney C. Evan Stewart. Not only have we loosened our ethical obligations to clients, we have created the means by which we now can sue clients for discharge, using privileged communications against them. This, in Stewart’s view, is a slippery slide away from the ideals of zealous client representation, based upon the principle of clients’ absolute confidence in their attorneys’ duty of confidentiality.

In-House Counsel as Whistleblower: A Rat Without a Remedy?

When there are fireworks at a Capitol Hill hearing, the lawyers sit next to their clients and, at each pause, whisper something that we can only guess is a variant of “shut up.” But the witnesses at a recent Senate hearing were the lawyers: the top in-house attorneys for Microsoft Corp., Google Inc., and Yahoo Inc. And they put on a show they might have advised their clients to shun. At times the legal chiefs treated the room as though it were the OK Corral.

In-House Attorneys for Yahoo, Google and Microsoft Take Shots at Each Other

Here are some featured in-house counsel jobs - many more are available at our Job Board (jobs.inhouseblog.com). If you are looking for patent or IP jobs, you should also check out Patently-O’s Job Board.

• General Counsel to the President - CIRM, San Francisco, CA
• Corporate Counsel (International Co.) - Robert Half Legal, Coral Gables, Florida
• Chemical Patent Counsel - Acushnet Company, Fairhaven, MA
• General Counsel - Senior Manager - Lockheed Martin, Bethesda, MD
• General Counsel - CMRW, New York, NY
• Legal Counsel - International - Dunkin’ Brands, Inc., Canton, MA
• Counsel - Confidential, Northern Virginia, VA

Is your law department in cost-cutting mode? Los Angeles lawyer Gerald Knapton has been there and done that. He’s an expert in fee disputes and cost containment, and in this economic climate, attorneys with his skills are in high demand:

“I’m busier now than I have ever been,” Knapton told the Daily Journal (sub. req.). Knapton says the reason is the inefficient law firm billing model that charges clients for inexperienced associates. But several others interviewed by the Daily Journal pointed to the economy and said it is leading to an increase in billing disputes.

GCs Give More Scrutiny to Legal Bills, Spurring More Fee Disputes | ABA Journal - Law News Now

By canvassing some current and former GCs, Michael C. Ross has collected some pet peeves shared by general counsel about outside lawyers involving quality, service, cost and relationship issues. In-house attorneys may recognize these complaints, such as lack of responsiveness or “arrogant” attitudes. And outside counsel may learn some key tips. For one, don’t treat your client like Rodney Dangerfield.

GCs’ Pet Peeves

Attorney Michael P. Maslanka offers some reading suggestions for general counsel to cap off the summer or gird for the fall. And for those who lament that they have no time to read books that don’t produce immediate results, Maslanka says the value of a book, like that of a blind date, isn’t because it’s predictable but because it’s random. Who knows what idea will strike you, taking you off in who knows what direction?

The Best End-of-Summer Books for GCs