Verbatim: What Clients Say
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"Rx" from Pfizer's General Counsel
The January issue of The American Lawyer reports that in 2010 the legal team of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer developed a ranking system for matters handled by its outside law firms. Pfizer's legal staff grades their law firms "on performance issues ranging from substantive knowledge to responsiveness to willingness to collaborate."
According to the story, General Counsel Amy Schulman has created an alliance of 19 law firms that get a disproportionate share of her half-billion-dollar budget. She insisted that the lawyers find new ways of assessing the value of the work they did, plus save 15 percent off the top. So far, the plan has been successful.
"But more important," Schulman says, "is the progress that the alliance has made toward being a relationship-driven operation." Pfizer and the law firms are investing in each other, in guaranteeing work, in setting priorities, and holding each other accountable.
"Twice a year, Pfizer gives each firm a report card - and then grades them on how well they take the feedback," Schulman adds. "We learned a lot about firms," she says, "by whether they welcomed the feedback or responded by saying, 'You got it wrong.'"
Pfizer is not the only corporation that is consolidating and grading their law firms. It's to your advantage to find out proactively what your clients think about your firm before they tell you what you don't know yet.
"Asking clients about what you're doing is an incredibly valuable tool to implement," said the chief IP counsel of a global health care company, in a Strategic Client Interview. At the time, his legal department was also in the process of evaluating their outside law firms.
Strategic Client Interviews will give you a head start on what you need to know to earn high marks from your clients.
For more information on Strategic Client Interviews, contact Joyce K. Smiley at 561-775-9755, or jsmiley@jkscompany.com. On the web at jkscompany.com.
Verbatim: What Clients Say is published electronically by JKS & Company LLC/Strategic Client Interviews. Copyright 2011 JKS & Company LLC. All rights reserved.
email: jsmiley@jkscompany.com
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