Rees W Morrison

May 07, 2007 | Texas Lawyer

Even though it's become conventional wisdom that law departments commonly and increasingly fire their firms, that conventional wisdom could be off-base.

By Rees W. Morrison

10 minute read

December 11, 2001 | Law.com

Every in-house lawyer makes daily decisions: whether to call or write, research further or stop, caution a client or charge ahead. However, when making decisions, lawyers may unwittingly fall prey to misconceptions, false assumptions and faulty reasoning. Here are some of the most common decision traps that in-house counsel might encounter, along with a few techniques for sidestepping them.

By Rees W. Morrison

8 minute read

March 27, 2007 | National Law Journal

Remember all the publicity about law departments "firing" their law firms? It certainly made the headlines and caused a good deal of hand-wringing at anxious law firms. But the truth is not nearly so stark, writes consultant Rees W. Morrison. In fact, even though it's become conventional wisdom that law departments commonly and increasingly fire their firms, Morrison thinks that conventional wisdom is off-base.

By Rees W. Morrison

10 minute read

September 04, 2006 | Texas Lawyer

The next five years will see a profound deepening and broadening of knowledge about how best to manage in-house legal departments. As many such departments could do a better job in management, this leap is important.

By Rees w. Morrison

10 minute read

September 26, 2007 | Corporate Counsel

Dueling may be outlawed, but at the start of an engagement law departments and their law firms sometimes walk back 10 paces, turn and fire. In this country, law departments blast away with their outside counsel guidelines; law firms return fire with their retention letters. Neither document will disappear, but the two sides can take a shot at improving the exchange. Consultant Rees Morrison examines a bit of history on both documents and then considers both sides of the shootout.

By Rees W. Morrison

7 minute read

August 02, 2011 | New Jersey Law Journal

As general counsel will have to account, increasingly, for their spending and headcount, sophisticated benchmarks will come to their rescue.

By Rees W. Morrison

8 minute read

July 20, 2010 | New Jersey Law Journal

Efficiency is one reason to host a call-in. It is efficient for a legal department to handle as much of the information exchange questions and answers as it can at one time rather than by separate discussions during which there are possibly different answers.

By Rees W. Morrison

8 minute read

January 11, 2010 | National Law Journal

Once you look around for metrics in law departments, they are ubiquitous. They explain, promote and project people, workloads, spending and the interplay of all these management concerns.

By Rees W. Morrison

6 minute read

April 18, 2011 | Legaltech News

As an antidote to mythical thinking, Rees W. Morrison offers 10 statements that are true for legal departments that crave or care about innovation. The first five truths speak more to individual law departments; the final five speak more to innovation in the broader industry. The bottom line: Every member can borrow and experiment, and count and adjust and take risks.

By Rees W. Morrison

8 minute read

February 01, 2010 | Texas Lawyer

A general counsel's role as manager of the legal department often involves metrics. Management metrics are everywhere, and skillful use of them can contribute mightily to how well the department operates and presents itself. The more that leaders in law departments appreciate the pervasiveness of these key numbers and the more they appreciate how to glean the most from them, the better they will manage their legal functions. Aside from the financial figures that dominate companies, especially publicly traded companies, a range of numbers appear.

By Rees W. Morrison

6 minute read