It was nearly a decade ago—late 2003. As we worked through the 2004 editorial calendar for Corporate Legal Times, my editor challenged the editorial team to come up with a story idea that would really stand out—resonate with our readership like no other story has. A story that would pack a punch in terms of value and insight to 100 percent of our readers while remaining concise and practical. We landed on the CLT10, our first-ever innovative legal department awards program, and it would run in September 2004.
With the exception of the name, which is now the IC10, the overall goal of the piece has remained the same: highlight 10 legal departments that have implemented innovative solutions to complex problems. The purpose of these stories is to demonstrate to our readers that, even when working in challenging environments of doing more with less, legal departments are rising to the challenge—even above the challenge—to implement best practices that create efficiency, cut costs and often improve internal morale.
