The legal category of spend is often the final frontier in terms of procurement engagement. We hear that it is too complex, too nuanced and isn’t understood by anyone from outside the legal space. When we do get involved, it is often to help manage low value and commoditized services. So how do we crack the code and become a trusted partner to the legal team.
There is arguably no-one in the world more qualified to answer that question than today’s guest, Silvia Hodges Silverstein. Silvia is the Executive Director of Buying Legal Council, a Lecturer in Law at Columbia Law School, and is a widely published author, having co-written two case studies on the business of law for Harvard Business Review. Hear Silvia share the tips and tricks to becoming a trusted partner of the legal team.
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“Lawyers are trained to argue and find fault. So if you come with this suggestion or that suggestion, what I think works better is to come up with different options or scenarios. By showing them these different scenarios they can reason among themselves about what’s the most fitting solution.”
In this episode, you will learn:
- Why the role of procurement in buying legal services is increasing.
- How you can sell the procurement value proposition to a General Counsel to increase engagement.
- What objectives will a Lawyer and General Counsel typically have when it comes to engaging legal services providers?
- If there are any “off-limit” areas for legal spend for procurement.
- How procurement should position itself in negotiations with legal service providers.
- Considerations when building an RFP for legal services
- Why the use of alternative fee arrangements as a key commercial term for legal services is increasing.
- What are the main considerations to look for when comparing legal firm RFP responses, particularly when the scope is open ended.
- How can you measure the performance of a law firm once the contract has been awarded?
- What is the one thing that procurement can do to increase its relevancy to the legal team.
Episode Transcript (PDF):
- Click here to download a copy of today’s episode transcript (PDF).
Links and Resources:
- Subscribe to The Art of Procurement
- Silvia Hodges Silverstein on LinkedIn and Twitter
- SilviaHodges.com
- Buying Legal Council homepage.
- GlaxoSmithKline: Sourcing Complex Professional Services (Harvard Business Review Case Study) (for purchase).
Thanks for Listening!
