Burning Issue: Collaboration Necessary for a Lasting Partnership

Laying the groundwork for collaboration—including knowing who and who not to bring in the room, and giving business context to outside counsel—can be the difference-maker between success and failure for general counsel involved in business initiatives. Traditionally, law firms deliver their services in a very assignment-based way; take the assignment as defined, close it, bill it, and move on. Once they have achieved their to-do list the job is complete. Today's outside counsel need to gain insights from how successful General Counsel operate, and recognize that clients want to feel assured that their lawyers are actively collaborating to understand them and to have their backs.