Law departments are flexing their muscles in outside counsel guidelines, and many law firms and their consultants don’t like it one bit. Is this a sign of the times in a hyper-competitive legal market or are law departments simply filling gaps that more lax State rules are not filling? Could law departments be overreaching in their outside counsel guidelines?
“Corporate clients are increasingly making broad demands in outside counsel guidelines that restrict the type of work law firms can do for other clients, observers say. The American Lawyer spoke with consultants and lawyers who represent law firms about the more restrictive guidelines….“Some of the demands clients are making of their outside counsel are so overbroad that they are objectively outrageous,” Davis said. ”I talk to general counsel of large and midsized firms all the time, and they are repeatedly being confronted with demands that are so extreme that they are or ought to be unpalatable.””
Read: Some corporate clients are making ‘unpalatable’ demands in outside counsel guidelines, partner says at ABA Journal – Daily News