My Day at the White House

Posted on March 25, 2010 by Fred Krebs, President

Yesterday, I attended a legal affairs briefing at the White House for a small group of associations in the legal field. Several senior White House and Department of Justice officials discussed the administration priorities for law related issues. It was exciting to be at the White House. No matter how many times I visit or in which administration, I always feel the sense of history.

Some points from our briefing of potential interest to the in-house legal community:

1. Our best foreign policy tool is the example we set at home. For example, our civil rights initiatives and “capacity for self-correction” are powerful tools for foreign policy.
2. The Domestic Policy Counsel seeks to implement the President’s priorities.
3. Equal pay for women has become a priority civil rights issue because the pay gap for women in the US is much larger than other countries.
4. They are seeking to increase funding for civil rights agencies so they have necessary resources for enforcement and dialog.
5. Because of his background, issues involving law and justice are of particular importance to the President.
6. The White House is focusing on judicial nominations because one of the most important legacies for any President is the people he leaves on the bench.
7. The Administration wishes to restore the Department of Justice to its “traditional” role in anti-trust, environment, civil rights and white-collar crime enforcement. The Civil Rights Division “is back in business” but they noted that the role of enforcement has changed and they will address voting rights, census and LGBT issues.
8. DOJ seeks to remove politics from hiring.
9. First Lady Michelle Obama also has great interest in these issues because of her background as a lawyer.
10. The Administration considers diversity to be especially important in judicial nominations. It also views diversity in a wider and deeper context than previous Administrations with both demographic and experiential diversity being important. The Administration seeks nominees with real world experience beyond government and academia, including specific references to in-house practice.

The briefing was an excellent opportunity for ACC and the other associations to hear from the administration. The officials indicated a strong desire to reach out to and receive feedback from the association legal community.

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ACC Value Challenge Event: DC

Posted on April 21, 2009 by LexBlog

The situation:

•    The economy is in recession
•    Businesses of every size are being impacted
•    Internal staff is being asked to do more with less
•    Layoffs are a matter of fact.

It should be no surprise that this slump is impacting the legal industry. Many blog sites, including the Wall Street Journal and Above the Law, have daily posts on staff cuts and other changes in the marketplace. Numerous surveys indicate a gap between in-house counsel and outside counsel. Where is value and how does it relate to annual spend?

On April 13, 2009, I had an opportunity to attend my second ACC Value Challenge event. Unlike nearly everyone else in the room, I’m not an attorney. My background in the legal industry and understanding of law firms gives me an interesting perspective of the two somewhat differing worlds. In attendance were a number of law firm partners and in-house counsel, including a number of general counsel from local corporations.

My twitter stream (@time2simplify) had a few gems:

One attendee recognized that the ACC Value Challenge event is being held at the Ritz-Carlton... many lols. "best place at best price"

Both law firms and in-house departments share a similar problem: Desire to impact the bottom line is shared by both managing partners & CFOs

Take-away items from the event include:

  • One definition of value: Good work – and perhaps value - is not over-lawyering (defined as anything that is not needed and appropriate)
  • How are attorneys using technology? Extranets, e-billing, and knowledge management were a few examples.
  • If the golden gate bridge can be built on a contract, couldn’t a large legal matter?

So legal community, what’s your point of view?

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