A Bill for Voice Mail? In-House Counsel Tell of Law Firm Gaffes
Law firms, take note. In-house counsel don’t like it when one of your lawyers is glued to a BlackBerry during a meeting. Or when one of your lawyers submits a bill for a voice mail. Or when your firm offers a poorly drafted motion to dismiss under a flat fee billing arrangement.
Those were among the law firm gaffes mentioned by in-house counsel at an event on Thursday sponsored by the Legal Marketing Association. Corporate Counsel covered the program.
Budgeting missteps and late bills also came in for criticism, the story says. “Budget surprises will drive us insane,” said panelist Vincent Castiglione, general counsel of Coby Electronics Corp.
Panelists said law firms should be willing to partner with the in-house legal department, and should respect even lower-level corporate lawyers. “At some point, a lot of these people are going to go up the chain,” advised Sheila Murphy, associate general counsel at MetLife.
