Has your company discussed a “Legal Business Plan”? If you don’t have one, get one, quick! The legal business plan should be an integral subset of any company’s business plan, since it is vital to the management of risk and reputation, can play an important role in adding value and driving innovation, and at a minimum can affect an expensive piece of overhead that must be managed efficiently and effectively. It should address the concrete (“hard”) issues facing the company and specify how all of the legal support required will be delivered. A well-rounded legal business plan should also address “softer” issues such as the quality of legal work and client focus.
Here are 10 basic questions the CEO should ask the GC each year about the legal business plan:
