Client Development Martindale-Hubbell How in-house counsel in CEE select and retain their external counsel By Jeffrey Forbes, Executive Director, Forbes Institute Presentation at CIS Local Counsel Forum Kiev,

Client Development Martindale-Hubbell Download a free copy of this survey at: (upper right hand corner of the page) Continue this discussion online at:

Client Development Martindale-Hubbell What this presentation will cover Demographics Selecting external counsel Retaining external counsel Removing external counsel Client service Summary Action steps

A Client Development Solution Martindale-Hubbell CEE countries that participated in this survey (Table 1)

A Client Development Solution Martindale-Hubbell Industry sectors represented in this survey (Table 2)

A Client Development Solution Martindale-Hubbell Where companies operate geographically (Table 3)

A Client Development Solution Martindale-Hubbell Number of employees (Table 5)

A Client Development Solution Martindale-Hubbell Size of legal departments - full-time employees (Table 7)

A Client Development Solution Martindale-Hubbell Number of law firms employed (Table 10)

A Client Development Solution Martindale-Hubbell External law firms’ share of the wallet (Table 11)

A Client Development Solution Martindale-Hubbell Preferred billing terms (Table 16) “ The trend is away from the billable hour. Our CFO need to know the total cost. So we try for a fixed rate and if this is not possible then we negotiate a cap. This is common even for litigation. ”

A Client Development Solution Martindale-Hubbell Working with foreign or local law firms (Table 17)

A Client Development Solution Martindale-Hubbell Hiring foreign instead of local law firms (Table 19)

A Client Development Solution Martindale-Hubbell Hiring local instead of foreign law firms (Table 20)

A Client Development Solution Martindale-Hubbell Law firm panels (Table 21)

A Client Development Solution Martindale-Hubbell Criteria for selecting external counsel (Table 22) “ A legal technician reviews a contract and says if it ok from a legal point of view. But a trusted advisor knows how to protect our company regarding its strategy and business interests. ”

A Client Development Solution Martindale-Hubbell Key factors for retaining external counsel (Table 24) “ I don’t like external counsel who are too cautious and don’t want to take any risk by just confirming an opinion created by my internal team. ”

A Client Development Solution Martindale-Hubbell Removing a law firm from a preferred provider list (Table 25) “ Legal mistakes are made and you deal with that. But non-legal mistakes such as missing deadlines or not communicating properly, I don’t really need this. ”

A Client Development Solution Martindale-Hubbell Uncovering client needs (Table 27) “ Lawyers do not approach their practice as a business. When they act like they are in an ivory tower they lose out. I would welcome them to come up with new ideas for cooperation. ”

A Client Development Solution Martindale-Hubbell Conducting client satisfaction surveys (Table 28) “ You are the first person (speaking to the author of this survey) that has actually come to my office to talk to me about these matters. ”

A Client Development Solution Martindale-Hubbell Participating in client satisfaction surveys (Table 29) “ It would be great for our law firm to have someone talk to me about our relationship but no one has done that yet. This is strange because we consider customer information vital to our business. ”

A Client Development Solution Martindale-Hubbell Internal satisfaction surveys regarding external counsel (Table 26) “ On an annual basis our headquarters asks us if we are satisfied with our external counsel. And even small warnings can build up over time and the firm gets removed from our list. ”

Client Development Martindale-Hubbell Summary CEE legal market like USA 20 years ago Clients are saying: “Where is the ‘service’ from legal service providers? Very little ‘best practice’ in terms of client service In-house counsel more business-minded Opportunities for law firms willing to take action Challenges for law firms unwilling to change

Client Development Martindale-Hubbell Actions that will give you a competitive advantage Measure client satisfaction (set up formal program) Review strategy and plans based on feedback Provide training/coaching for service/bd skills

Client Development Martindale-Hubbell Download a free copy of this survey at: (upper right hand corner of the page) Continue this discussion online at: Information about Jeffrey Forbes’ services:

Client Development Martindale-Hubbell Thank you for your attention. CIS Local Counsel Forum Kiev,