June 19, 2019
Partner Mitchell Auslander has co-authored with Lucy Fato, Executive Vice President and General Counsel at AIG, a chapter called "Law Department Management," in the newly released edition of Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel, the critically acclaimed treatise on understanding and improving the relationship dynamic between in-house and outside corporate counsel.
A joint project between Thomson Reuters and the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), this six-volume set is an in-depth guide to building successful working relationships between in-house and outside corporate counsel. The treatise, designed to maximize the value and improve the quality of legal services for corporate clients, was written by a team of in-house and outside practitioners. Chapters include practical strategic guidance, as well as discussion of substantive law. Practical tools include best practices, analysis, advice, models, examples, and detailed checklists, as well as hundreds of useful forms for efficient drafting.
In “Law Department Management,” Mr. Auslander and Ms. Fato discuss the challenges and elements of operating a law department including navigating the relationship between the department and the client (the corporation), the structure of the department, defining culture, and close cooperation with outside counsel. As the authors note in the chapter, “The ultimate goal of the law department should be to achieve favorable outcomes at a cost and quality level that meets the reasonable expectations of management. The law department’s structure should provide the framework that enables the company’s in-house legal staff, working cooperatively with outside legal advisors, to provide counsel that optimizes business results in a manner that enables management to best manage the risks inherent in its business operations.”
Selected portions of Chapter 17, “Law Department Management,” by Lucy Fato and Mitchell Auslander, from Thomson Reuters & ACC’s Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel, (Robert L. Haig editor-in-chief), can be viewed here.
