FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
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For over 25 years, in-house lawyers have been using maer
management systems (MMSs) to store maer-related information,
track critical financial and performance data, automate invoice
processing, and report project progress/status. An MMS is typically
employed to relieve in-house counsel of some of the administrative
tasks associated with managing outside counsel. These tools
have been enhanced over the years to incorporate a broad range
of features and functions, many primarily focused on vendor
management, to where they are now oen referred to as enterprise
legal management solutions.
Law departments have tried to use MMSs to support vendor
collaboration and build trust between in-house lawyers and
outside counsel, but this has not turned out to be effective because
this is not the purpose of an MMS. What general counsel are
seeking is behavioral change, not just efficiency gain and spend
control; thus, in-house counsel and outside lawyers should turn to
legal project management to achieve greater client satisfaction.
The Limitations of an MMS-Only Approach
MMSs are based around the core concepts that outside counsel
management should involve front-end budget development, key
maer data capture and auditing for compliance with outside
counsel guidelines. This approach has several limitations:
ยป It assumes that outside counsel can budget effectively, which
may or may not be the case, and that outside counsel is not
delegating the task to an associate or paralegal who lacks the
skill and knowledge to itemize the maer's time and resources.
by David Rueff of Baker Donelson and Sco Rosenberg of LegalShi
Enhancing Legal Operations by
Integrating LPM Techniques
with Matter Management,
E-Billing and Financial Analytics
Enhancing Legal Operations by Integrating LPM Techniques with Maer Management, E-Billing and Financial Analytics