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In 2015 BTI Consulting estimated that 60 percent of legal decision-makers had replaced their primary firms in the prior 18 months and the number-one reason for doing so was that they believed they would get better service elsewhere. It goes without saying that changing outside counsel is frustrating, time consuming and costly. This article provides four keys to creating a successful relationship with outside counsel so that you can be part of the fortunate 40 percent.

Key Number One: Help outside counsel understand your business. One of the biggest complaints from in-house counsel is that outside counsel does not understand their business. In some ways, it is easy to see how this might happen. Outside counsel is often brought in to address a particular problem or to defend a particular lawsuit. Counsel may mistakenly think that he or she is doing the company a favor and saving fees by staying laser focused only on the issue directly in front of them. But really, this approach often proves shortsighted and may backfire.

Both in-house counsel and outside counsel benefit tremendously when outside counsel learns and understands the client's business, how it generally operates within its larger industry, and the hierarchy within the company. Of course there is some learning curve to this, but there are ways to expedite the process. For example, invite counsel to spend a day on site. There are few things that can replace an actual visit to the client's premises, whether it be a large corporate campus or a working facility. Seeing firsthand the business that the client is engaged in and observing the people working in that business is incredibly meaningful. It not only humanizes the company, it connects outside counsel in a way he or she may not be able to otherwise achieve.

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Key Number Two: Make sure that outside counsel understands the role of the legal department in the grand scheme of things. One of the most important things you can do is make sure that outside counsel understands that the legal department of a company is a profit drain, not a profit generator. If you have outside counsel that has never worked inside a corporate legal department, make certain they understand this. This will put outside counsel in a position to help you as you interact with your business people.

Key Number Three: Communicate your expectations. This may seem obvious, but clearly it is not given the statistic cited above. A number of years ago one of the authors of this article was in the audience when a panel of in-house and outside counsel presented on this topic. One of the in-house lawyers commented that she did not like receiving emails from outside counsel over the weekend. She commented that she thought the younger lawyers were trying to impress her with their weekend work, and that the weekend disruptions were unwelcome and annoying.  The only thing surprising about the comment was that it was clear she was venting to the audience and had never made this known to outside counsel.

In an ideal world, outside counsel should be asking certain questions at the outset of a relationship, but often this gets overlooked. For example, consider telling outside counsel exactly how you like to receive communications: by email or by phone, or does it depend on the situation? If you like receiving emails, do you have preferences? One of the authors once had a client that liked receiving no more than one email per day unless it was an emergency. You may also want to tell counsel your preferred response time. For nonemergency matters, do you require a response in one day, two days or some other timeframe?

If your work with outside counsel involves reviewing drafts of briefs, advise counsel how far in advance of any deadline you need to receive a draft. If outside counsel has not asked you these questions, tell them your preferences up front. So much of the frustration and miscommunication that develops later in a relationship can be avoided by establishing some relationship parameters in the beginning.

Key Number Four: Make a habit of providing feedback to your outside counsel. Again, it is ideal if outside counsel is soliciting feedback from you. After all, counsel should want to make sure they are doing the best job possible and providing the level of service you expect. That said, if counsel is not doing this, consider being proactive. At the end of a project provide positive feedback and identify any areas of concern or places where there is room for improvement. Another great way to do this is to schedule a meeting at the end of the year to evaluate the work that has been performed, again pointing out positives and places where counsel can improve.

Like any relationship, the relationship between in-house and outside counsel needs to be tended to and developed. If left to its own devices, you may well find yourself in that 60 percent looking for new counsel.

Amy B. Alderfer is a partner at Cozen O'Connor where she focuses her practice in the areas of commercial litigation and products liability.

Melinda Lackey is senior legal counsel at Cell Medica in Houston, Texas. This article was prepared by Melinda Lackey in her personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not reflect the views of Cell Medica Limited.