Chapter § 1.09 Managing from Inside

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Publication year: 2020

§ 1.09 Managing from Inside

[1] Litigation Manager Standards

“As in-house lawyers rise in the legal department, they become less of a lawyer and more of a manager, making sure that everything is consistently applied.”⁸¹ A good lawyer does not always make a good manager. Management is a competency. The good manager takes responsibility for developing people through coaching. Methods of overseeing litigation managers vary from a formalized system to open-office talks.

At some companies, lawyers who are in management positions are held to a very high standard of performance. They are expected to meet set metrics, including financial metrics and performance metrics.⁸² Employees often are surveyed to determine satisfaction with the management team. The metrics ensure intense engagement between the managers and their teams.

Instead of metrics, some companies encourage managers to keep a close watch on their teams. For example, a small in-house team may be required to oversee one another and be responsible for one another’s work, including overseeing the completion of tasks and reviewing completed items. “Generally, the lead lawyer will go to the executives after a case is over or while a case is ongoing to see how it is going.”⁸³ An informal atmosphere and a hands-on approach make executives and other employees comfortable with discussing any problems.

In contrast to a casual approach, some companies have adopted a more formalized system in which the presidents of the operating companies or divisions solicit feedback about company departments, including the legal department, from both up and down the chain. Each department, and sometimes members of the board, evaluate the departments. The evaluations incorporate a ranking system and create a score that decides bonuses for managers, including those in the legal department. The whole process is transparent so that managers know how departments ranked them.

With a centralized approach, a litigation team often meets with management to discern the level of satisfaction. Litigation teams using a centralized approach should make efforts “to reduce the amount of bureaucracy as much as possible.”⁸⁴ This requires a hands-off approach, trying not to micromanage, and an open-office policy. When an issue arises, the team sits down and talks about it, making sure everyone is on the same page.

[2] Recognition Challenges

When discussing management, some in-house lawyers report feeling a sense of dissatisfaction with in-house...