Frequently Asked Questions for Corporate Legal Departments
How does it work?
What are your rates?
How do you work collaboratively with outside counsel?
Describe the attorney who works with Counsel On Call.
How do you find your attorneys?
Do you work only in markets with Counsel On Call offices?
How do you manage attorneys working from home?
How do you ensure that your attorneys are going to stay on for the entire assignment?
Do you provide the space and computers (for e-discovery assignments)?
Do you partner with technology companies on e-discovery?
Do you carry professional liability (malpractice) insurance for your attorneys?
How does it work?
All it takes is one phone call. We can have a detailed discussion about your specific need, how you can reduce legal costs, or how we work collaboratively with your outside counsel. If you have an immediate need, we will immediately begin discussing our experienced attorneys; many of our clients like to interview our attorneys personally before the work begins, which we are pleased to coordinate. For e-discovery matters, we assign a Project Manager to every client who becomes your point of contact as new cases and matters arise.
What are your rates?
It depends on the specific need and level of experience required, but typically our clients achieve cost savings in excess of 75% or more on an hourly rate basis. We also work with our clients on alternative billing solutions, including unit pricing on e-discovery matters, that simplify and bring additional consistency to the budgeting process.
How do you work collaboratively with outside counsel?
Well-planned and genuine collaboration with outside counsel saves significant dollars and produces a better work product, it's that simple. We have proprietary processes that we have carefully developed the last decade that facilitate a cohesive approach to any matter our attorneys are working on.
Our experienced attorneys – the majority of whom come from distinguished backgrounds with top law firms – make collaboration a reality because they understand the dynamics in play and their role in the matter. We also dedicate significant resources to project management and have collaboration-focused workflows and protocols that have proved successful hundreds of times over.
Describe the attorney who works with Counsel On Call.
Talented. Experienced. Passionate. We don't throw these words around lightly. Our attorneys have a minimum of three years of big firm or corporate legal experience and most of our attorneys graduated in the top third of an excellent law school. Our placement coordinators and executive directors are all former practicing attorneys themselves and put a candidate through a rigorous selection process before he or she becomes a Counsel On Call Attorney.
There are always exceptions to the standards we hold, such as an attorney who might not have graduated from a top 50 law school but has several years of great experience. That's why those meeting with the candidate and checking references are experienced attorneys themselves: they get to know the candidate and determine if he/she is qualified to work with our clients.
Our attorneys also must posses a love of practicing law. They have come to Counsel On Call for a variety of reasons, but one common element is that they enjoy intellectual stimulation and the law.
How do you find your attorneys?
Mainly via referrals from clients and our attorneys, as it seems many of us know a talented attorney who wants more control over their schedule. But we are also all former practicing attorneys and know many attorneys in our cities. We are also very active in our respective communities and members of our respective bar associations and feel, as attorneys, it's important to give our time and abilities to pro bono, continuing legal education and other volunteer efforts. We meet a lot of attorneys in this manner.
Do you work only in markets with Counsel On Call offices?
We currently have attorneys working across the country, not just in one of our markets. Many of our clients have offices in other cities and our attorneys work wherever the need exists. We have networks of highly qualified attorneys in every region of the country. Many Counsel On Call attorneys are licensed to practiced in multiple states.
Our model is based on flexibility and the ability to work independent of location. The bottom line is that good lawyers want to work with good lawyers, and in this day and age geography is not a limitation.
How do you manage attorneys working from home?
On some assignments, remote work is a great option. It saves the client overhead expenses and provides the work situation many attorneys are looking for. Not every attorney is cut out for working from home, however, so we identify good candidates during the interview process and in observing work habits while on assignments.
Once an assignment begins, we utilize our detailed remote work protocols and communicate extensively with all of our attorneys working in that manner. They are held to the same standards as our other attorneys, and their work is similarly tracked and reported. On e-discovery assignments, it is the Project Manager and/or Team Leader's responsibility to keep the team fully integrated and monitor the work being completed.
How do you ensure that your attorneys are going to stay on for the entire assignment?
No one likes turnover during a case. Although there are no guarantees, we give a lot of thought to pairing the right attorney to the assignment. Our attorneys choose to work in this manner – they are not between jobs or interviewing for the next offer – and understand the importance of commitment and a good reputation. Our attrition rate is incredibly low, and we're always happy to share this information with a client or prospective client.
Do you provide the space and computers (for e-discovery assignments)?
Yes, we can (and often do) provide workspace, computers and IT support, and we can manage attorneys working from home as well. We have several facilities we utilize for large assignments at no additional cost to the client.
Do you partner with technology companies on e-discovery?
Although there are ample opportunities to do so, we purposely do not have formal partnerships or agreements with hosting or software companies. This allows Counsel On Call to remain objective when a client seeks consultation on which platform or tool to use, and we always want to make sure we are acting in a client's best interest.
That does not prevent Counsel On Call from offering full, end-to-end solutions for e-discovery matters, from document retention policies to the production of documents. Our Project Managers and attorneys possess a thorough understanding of all the services and features of multiple platforms and tools, and we dedicate significant resources to this effort and design detailed protocols for every platform we utilize.
Do you carry professional liability (malpractice) insurance for your attorneys?
Counsel On Call is a lawyer-to-lawyer business and our attorneys work under the direction and supervision of our client's hiring attorney. We have insurance that covers the work done by our attorneys under the direction and supervision of the hiring attorney.
On e-discovery assignments, we also identify at least one of our attorneys serve as Team Leader to provide a simpler chain of communication. In most cases, the Team Leader reports daily to the attorney(s) trying the case.