The potential gains to a group of law departments that team up on an initiative can be significant. When several of them agree to do something jointly, the consortium can out-achieve what any of the individual departments could. Collective action, referring to the range of such joint efforts, can’t be called a trend but, as discussed herein, there are many examples that are publicly known. Even more of them could get under way if there were wider recognition of their benefits.
To start, I will take a look at the wide range of activities in which several law departments have agreed to do something together. These collaborations have supported such varied objectives as software development, budget control, talent development and professional improvement. Next, after acknowledging the challenges inherent in collective action, I will offer some thoughts on ramifications of them for the legal industry, including some plausible future developments.
