What problems is globalization causing for in-house attorneys?
We need to be available at what may be inconvenient hours. One of my colleagues was working on a contract for an Australian deal, and he had a two- or three-hour conference call start at 12 a.m. The timing of things, that’s a function of globalization. How do you look for outside counsel? I get recommendations from other counsel whose judgment I value. If it’s a type of litigation, I’ll go on (legal research company) Westlaw’s site and research those types of cases to see what names come up, which side of the case they were on and what the results were. I’ll even look at briefs. You can get all this stuff online. I’ll do quite a bit of research into the work product and reputation and obviously, the cost. I work very, very closely with my outside counsel, and personality does play a role in that. There have been times when I’ve tried to work closely with outside counsel and their perspective is, “We don’t do that, we’ll keep you posted but we’re not going to run everything past you.” “
