Take the ACC Value Challenge.

• Author: Hackett, Susan
• Position: Association of Corporate Counsel

Quick question: Where does your firm "sit" on the lists of various law firm rankings in terms of size, reputation, client list, etc.? Next question: Where does your firm sit in terms of client satisfaction and loyalty?

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The ACC Value Challenge intends to make your response to the first question increasingly irrelevant and your answer to the second question the method by which your firm's success (and sustainable profitability) will be judged in the future.

The ACC Value Challenge is an initiative of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), designed to address the disconnect between cost and value and the misalignment of firms' business model and clients' desire for predictable, outcome-based legal services. There is clearly enough "blame" to go around in assessing the root causes of this disconnect and misalignment, so the ACC Value Challenge focuses not on pointing fingers. Rather, it encourages collaborative solutions for both firms and legal departments that will help create the momentum and necessary practical tools that lawyers need to get the job done.

ACC started this project almost two years ago, well before the economic downturn brought so many people to the table because of financial pressures. It is important to note that the project is focused on the kind of institutional and long-term change that will not be addressed with a temporary discount or a short-term moratorium on fee hikes. The paradigm has shifted, so this is not about law firms thinking they can try to hold on for a few years until things get better and go back to business as usual. The ACC is in this to fundamentally re-shape the basis of the relationship between in-house and outside counsel.

Here's the top of the list of what we are currently focused on (You can read more about the projects described here and others online at www.acc.com/valuechallenge):

* Dialogue (through regional discussion sessions, often hosted by ACC chapters) that identifies problems and discusses solutions in a non-threatening environment. In these sessions, small groups of executive leadership from firms and departments talk candidly about how they can do better and what they need to affect change.

* The development of the ACC Value Index, which will allow corporate counsel to share the reviews of their firms and their value proposition. Firms will be scored from 1 to 5 stars. We will be opening the ACC Value Index to the membership online later this summer, and...