Strategic Solutions for Law Departments: Webinar Series

The CCCA has partnered with Richard Stock of Catalyst Consulting to offer the new webinar series: Strategic Solutions for Law Departments. 

In response to the pressing challenges around managing workload, risk and compliance highlighted in the CCCA-Mondaq 2024 Canadian In-House Counsel Report, this comprehensive series of three webinars delves into key challenges faced by in-house counsel in today's environment. Join us for a series of insightful discussions, offering strategies and innovative solutions to law departments, which have strategic impact, improve operations, and add value.

Register for each webinar individually or take advantage of bundle pricing for all three webinars. Better still, the webinars can be completed live or on-demand to suit your busy schedule. 

  • Full series: $225 for members; $325 for non-members
  • Individual session: $95 for members; $125 for non-members

We will post the accreditation information for the series as soon as it is confirmed.

Registration

Click on the bundle link below to register. If you wish to register for an individual session only, you can select it from the bundle registration page.

If you experience any trouble registering, please email CLE@ccca-cba.org for assistance.

STRATEGIC SOLUTIONS FOR LAW DEPARTMENTS: WEBINAR SERIES (bundle) June 6 – 20, 2024
Tackling the Workload Challenge in the Law Department June 6, 2024: 12pm – 1:30pm (ET) 

Making the Business Case for Another Lawyer in the Law Department

June 13, 2024: 12pm – 1:30pm (ET)
Working with External Counsel: Beyond the Basics June 20, 2024: 12pm – 1:30pm (ET)

Webinar Descriptions

Tackling the Workload Challenge in the Law Department
June 6, 2024 | 12 noon to 1:30 pm (ET)

In-house counsel have seen an increase of more than 10% in the length of their work week over the last three years. Law departments are taking specific measures and being more selective about the work they do and how it is managed. By improving productivity, the department can generate capacity to take on new roles and meet workload challenges. This session covers:

  • Managing client expectations and service levels – work intake and allocation
  • Forecasting the demand for legal services by category, complexity, and client
  • Steps to increase client self-sufficiency
  • Changing service delivery structures and processes
  • Using satisfaction surveys
  • Proficiency with new competencies for in-house counsel at all levels
  • Changing the law department business plan

Materials include the presentation, 2 articles and 2 templates.

Making the Business Case for Another Lawyer in the Law Department 
June 13, 2024 | 12 noon to 1:30 pm (ET)

Law departments have difficulty in communicating their value to the organization. They must be focused with clear priorities and deploy their resources differently if they are to leverage their unique position as professionals and as intellectual capital. This session looks at how the department can improve its effectiveness by

  • Changing the client’s expectations of the law department
  • Moving from managing risk to helping make business decisions quickly and intelligently
  • Moving from operational support to strategic business advisor
  • Why results are more important than process
  • The economics of insourcing
  • Prioritizing Innovation and Strategic Impact as KPIs
  • Communicating the value of the law department

Materials include the presentation and 4 articles. 

Working with External Counsel: Beyond the Basics 
June 20, 2024 | 12 noon to 1:30 pm (ET)

It is no longer a leading practice to source external counsel based only on relationships and bilateral discussions. There are recognized, straightforward, and effective ways to secure value from law firms which balance competence, coverage and cost. Three of the profitability variables for law firms are rates, leverage, and the number of hours billed. Clients need predictability in legal fees for individual matters as well as for annual budgets. This session examines

  • Strategic partnering with external counsel
  • Why data and preparation are essential
  • Matching staffing distributions with complexity and categories of work
  • When and how to use RFPs to retain external counsel
  • Why price is more important than rates
  • Legal project plans and budgets for individual matters
  • Measuring the results

Materials include the presentation and 7 articles.


About the Speaker

Richard Stock, M.A., FCG, CMC, is the Managing Partner of Catalyst Consulting. He has been working with lawyers for more than 35 years and is now in his 30th year as a legal services management consultant. Richard is a frequent speaker at conferences and publishes in both Canadian Lawyer In House and Legal Business World (Amsterdam). He has completed engagements for law departments in Canada, the US, Australia, the Middle East and Europe since 1994.

Catalyst Consulting has specialized in working with law departments around the world since 1994. The principal focus of its engagements is on business strategy and plans for law departments, demand forecasting, management of workloads and workflows, law department performance, cost management with external counsel, and the relationship of in-house counsel with their clients. Catalyst Consulting was the CCCA’s Preferred Provider for Law Department Consulting for 18 years. The firm has advised more than 350 law departments in the corporate and public sectors. Catalyst Consulting was the 2021 winner of the Buying Legal Council’s Legal Procurement Innovation Award.