Proven Leading Practices for Legal Operations
Legal Best Practices Guide
Learn MoreCentralize the Company's Insurance Coverage Information to Improve Time Management
Best Practice (Good)
Know your company's insurance coverage and providers to quickly determine whether a notice of a suit must be sent and to which insurer it must be sent to. Maintain a simple list detailing all of the company's policies, coverage details, insurance provider contacts and the address to which a litigation notice must be sent to effectively reduce the time spent shuffling through files and tracking down the correct information when a litigation notice is sent.
Typical Practice (Bad)
After a litigation notice has been received, determine if a notice of suit needs to be sent and to which insurance company the notice should be sent.
Benefits:
Knowing the company's insurance coverages and ensuring that such information is kept in a central location will not only cut back on time spent digging through files, and tracking down contact information, but it will also ensure that the insurance company will be contacted in a timely manner.
Understand Business Unit Policies and Foster Relationships With Their Leadership to Improve Litigation Reaction
Best Practice (Good)
Preemptively acquire (and document) an in-depth understanding of the company's business units, their policies, key employees, organizational structure (i.e., who leads the group, who reports to who, how many employees are in each group, etc.) and departmental relationships. Have printed versions of business unit policies and organization charts on hand for review by the Legal Department and bolster good working relationships with key employees and subject matter experts in all departments to ensure that they can be called upon in the event of a suit that touches their business unit or subject matter expertise.
Typical Practice (Bad)
Contact affected business unit leadership and subject matter experts, in the event of a suit, to gather information and gain an understanding of their policies, organizational structure and responsibilities. Use phone conferences and physical meetings to ensure that the information is not only gathered quickly, but is as accurate as possible.
Benefits:
Knowing the company's business units (leadership, structure, policies, responsibilities, customers, etc.) and fostering ongoing working relationships with key subject matter experts and leadership within those units leads to increased cooperation and understanding in the event of a suit that may affect or be tied various organizational areas within the company. As a result reaction times to suits are cut back drastically.
Establish a Target Budget and Reward System to Improve Outside Counsel Performance
Best Practice (Good)
Establish and communicate a target budget amount for each phase of the outside counsel engagement. Align outside counsel fees with the reserve amount/budget by placing a percentage of fees into an "at-risk" pool, which is to be paid only upon success. Implement a reward system for outside counsel payment (bonuses for speedy resolution of case, resolutions that occurred under budget, etc.).
Typical Practice (Bad)
Create a budget for outside counsel fees and pay fees in installments before, during and at the conclusion of a case. This not only ensures that the outside counsel will do its best to conclude the case, but it also provides the company with a measure of oversight they wouldn't have if they paid everything up front (e.g., it allows the company to fire the outside counsel if need be).
Benefits:
Establishing a target budget allows for detailed project monitoring and control. Implementing a reward systems incentivizes outside counsel to successfully resolve the litigation case in as short a time as possible.
Develop Preemptive, Standard Strategies to Handle Activist Investor Issues to Standardize Company Responses
Best Practice (Good)
Continuously monitor and document "hot button" activist investor topics through the news and other public channels. Through the lens of an activist investor, perform periodic reviews of both company operations and strategy to preempt potential investor activism. Proactively identify and document areas where the organization is susceptible to activism, and consider the company's position on these topics. Prepare responses and detailed call scripts to prepare executives and board members for replying to calls from activist investors. Furthermore, develop a dedicated response team to constantly preempt and reply to activist activity. Attempt to build long-term relationships with key shareholders to get out in front of potential issues before they hit the press, if at all possible.
Typical Practice (Bad)
Reply to issues of shareholder activism as they come up, developing and applying the appropriate strategy as each issue arises. Through board meetings and discussions with company leadership within areas targeted by activists, develop and tailor responses specifically to the situation. Assign executive teams to deal with activist investor issues based specifically on the area of focus (e.g., if activists are targeting the company's Human Resources practices, allow HR executives to develop a strategy and reply to the issue as they see fit). The company's responses to activism issues are generally reactive, rather than proactive or preemptive.
Benefits:
Developing preemptive, standard strategies to deal with activist shareholder/investor issues can keep the company out in front of potential bad publicity and ensure that relationships with key shareholders do not suffer. Furthermore, assigning a specific response team to deal with activist issues can help to ensure consistent responses and overall messaging to shareholders. Lack of standardization and standard protocols in regards to activism can lead to bad publicity, discontent among shareholders, and in extreme cases, shake-ups within key executive and board positions (e.g., executives or board members being forced to step down or take on another role within the organization).
Use Standardized Checklists to Track Content and File Timely Copyright Submissions
Best Practice (Good)
Use formal and standardized checklists to track content and physical items created by the Marketing and Product Development departments. Ensure that employees within those departments are educated on the benefits of early copyright submission so as to increase communication concerning the created content. Monitor product launch schedules to ensure timely copyright submission. Copyrights should be filed within 90 days (or preferably well before) of first publication in order to allow for pursuit of statutory damages in the case of infringement.
Typical Practice (Bad)
Ensure that managers within the Marketing and Product Development departments periodically contact the Intellectual Property Group with information concerning all created content and physical items. It is the responsibility of the Marketing and Product Development departments to keep the Intellectual Property Group informed about created content to ensure that copyright submissions are performed on or before first publication.
Benefits:
The use of formal and standardized checklists not only allows the Intellectual Property Group to stay on top of the content being created by the company, but by coupling its use with strict monitoring of product launch schedules, standardized checklists ensure timely filing of copyright submissions. Copyrights should be filed within 90 days (or preferably well before) of first publication in order to allow for pursuit of statutory damages in the case of infringement. "Copyright-able" items are considered to include literary works, computer programs, databases, musical works, pantomimes and choreographic works, information compilations, reference materials (i.e., collections), artwork, sculptures, motion pictures and architectural works. Furthermore, ensuring that employees within the Marketing and Product Development departments are educated on the benefits of early copyright submission, increases communication between those departments and the Intellectual Property Group concerning all content that is or will be created.
Perform Periodic Audits of the IP Portfolio to Keep Current IPs Up-to-Date
Best Practice (Good)
Perform periodic audits of the company's Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio in order to determine if any changes to current IPs and their management practices are necessary. Use the results of these IP audits to formulate an efficient and timely plan to prepare the company for future challenges by predicting IP relevance (include current and future IP developments) based on the IP portfolio of competitors and the avoidance strategies put in place to protect against legal disputes (e.g., employee training concerning company IP policies, NDA agreements, etc.).
Typical Practice (Bad)
Perform audits of the company's Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio only when a current or potential issue is discovered (e.g., if it has been discovered that someone is infringing upon the company's IP, if the IP needs to be reregistered, if someone has filed a complaint or suit against the company for IP infringement, etc.) in order to make any changes deemed necessary (includes changes to the IP itself or the management practices surrounding it) without increasing overhead costs. All company employees should be trained on IP policies upon being hired to reduce the risk of infringing upon the IP of another company.
Benefits:
Intellectual Property (IP) is often considered to be a company's most valuable asset and thus requires vigilance to protect. Periodic audits of the company's IP portfolio, as a result, allows the company to keep on top of any new requirements deemed necessary for the IP (e.g., if the IP needs to be reregistered, etc.) or for the management practices that surround it (e.g., how the company locates or prevents infringements). These periodic audits, furthermore, also ensures that any formulated plans take into consideration predictions concerning IP relevance, the IP portfolio of the company's competitors and all avoidance strategies put in place to protect against legal disputes in order to reduce the most amount of risk related to IP loss and infringement as possible. To this end, it is not just enough to just stay vigilant against potential IP infringements from outside sources (e.g., competitors, the general public, etc.). Companies need to also ensure that internal employees undergo periodic training concerning IP policies to keep them up-to-date on any IP changes (e.g., changes to the IP itself or changes to the company's IP policy) and efficiently reduce the risk of accidental IP infringements that can lead to costly litigation.