Last year Accenture Ltd. was in the midst of important negotiations with a potential client. A heavyweight in the financial services industry, the client wanted to retain the consulting firm for a high-profile outsourcing assignment. But the talks were making in-house lawyer Michael Cammarota nervous.
The client was asking Accenture to charge less and take on more liability than the firm typically allows. Cammarota turned to the 1370 Scorecard, a new piece of software developed by Accenture’s legal group. The scorecard assesses the risks associated with outsourcing contracts, such as any indemnities the customer is requesting, and whether Accenture has already done due diligence on the matter. Lawyers rate each factor on a scale of one to five, and the software averages those numbers and flags the particular factors that are pushing up the score.
