Peer to Peer Magazine

89 WWW.ILTANET.ORG other hand, advise and counsel the business units; for litigation, in-house counsel manage outside counsel working on company maers. You could characterize in-house aorneys as legal project managers. Different, Yet the Same Whether in-house or in a firm, the mission of those in the legal arena remains the same: to protect, defend and serve clients. I learned a lot in my work at the firm and enjoy the experience of the in-house department, knowing that whatever the culture or business model and whether or not the aorneys are chasing the billable hour, I will continue to be honored to contribute to this mission on a daily basis. P2P recall my initial meeting with the GC and assistant GC. I was now at a major corporation and expected the management style and tone of the workplace to be different. Still, I would be speaking with aorneys, and that I knew how to do. I learned early on that litigators prefer a simple, direct approach, so I did not beat around the bush. As I started with, "Good morning. I have never worked in a corporate legal department before," the faces around me frowned. When I added, "but I have worked at a large law firm and understand what aorneys need to do their job," those faces smiled. Open to Change? Beyond that, I have found that the cultures in law firms and corporations are different. This stems from corporate ecosystems evolving quickly to meet their customers' needs and changes in the marketplace. Many large law firms have been around since the infancy of the city in which the firm was founded; law firms supported the visionaries who built cities like Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles. Not surprising, firms tend to be more resistant to change. It is also common to hear ILTA colleagues from other legal departments remark that their law firms only implement change when driven to do so by their clients. Technologies and Processes With these differences in cultures and business models, there are still amazing similarities between these two kinds of organizations. We use similar technologies (Office 365, mobile devices, human resource systems, litigation support tools, etc.) and processes. Many firms are creating centers of excellence and project management offices (PMOs) to increase efficiencies –– umbrella teams that were once solely the domain of progressive corporations. However, one of the biggest differences between working in a law firm versus a legal department is in dealing with time. If you ask an aorney in a legal department about billing hours to maers, you will probably hear something like, "That's why I went in-house." Law firm aorneys experience the pressure of the billable hour every day as they manage clients and maers. Aorneys in a legal department, on the Culture, Technology and the Billable Hour: What I Learned Moving from the Law Firm to the Legal Department LESSONS LEARNED ERIC LIEBER Eric Lieber oversees e-discovery efforts and technology projects for the legal and corporate responsibility department of Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. He consults with legal teams on matter-specific electronically stored information (ESI) collections and on processing and production efforts. Eric also works with service providers on refining methodologies to ensure a high-level of quality and efficiency. Prior to joining Toyota, Eric was responsible for application development and system implementations at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He has worked with legal technologies since 1993. Contact Eric at eric.lieber@toyota.com. Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the author's employer. Names and events may have been changed to protect the innocent and enhance readability. Are We Really That Different? • Attention to detail • Fast-paced • Technologies • Serving our clients • Client matters vs. matters • Managing clients and matters vs. managing outside counsel • Tone at the workplace • Planning and processes • Billable hours SAME/SIMILAR DIFFERENT

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