Meaningful evaluations of outside counsel need not be a chore. Rees Morrison offers advice on how to streamline the process and get lawyers to rate performance accurately
Law departments often struggle to evaluate outside counsel, but not with their formal assessments, which are diligently completed and compiled. And the lawyers who instruct external counsel and review their bills certainly rate them because they work closely with them. They know who they like and who they do not. However, the subjective, now-and-then grading of partners and firms often falls far short of the potential of department-wide systems that yield solid, objective feedback.
