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| Tuesday, 7 August 2012, 19:00 HKT | |
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Source: marcus evans Summits | |
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| David M. Howard, Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Litigation, Microsoft Corporation, a speaker at the marcus evans Chief Litigation Officer Summit Fall 2012, discusses litigation cost management. |
New York, NY, Aug 7, 2012 - (ACN Newswire) - Chief Litigation Officers (CLOs) must recognize that the cost of litigation needs to be proactively managed, says David M. Howard, Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Litigation, Microsoft Corporation. To minimize costs, Microsoft has taken a number of steps in recent years, including bringing electronic discovery (eDiscovery) in-house, reaching alternative fee arrangements with law firms and using competitive bids. "These have saved us a considerable amount of money," Howard adds.
Ahead of the marcus evans Chief Litigation Officer Summit Fall 2012, in Las Vegas, Nevada, September 13-15, Howard, a speaker at the event, shares strategies for litigation cost management.
- What are the costliest elements of litigation? How can CLOs minimize them?
The discovery process, including eDiscovery, is the costliest aspect of litigation. To minimize costs, we brought eDiscovery processes in-house and began requiring competitive bids in most of our cases, although we do not always give a case to the lowest bidder. Among the law firms we do business with, we have seen a huge disparity in their bids, so this process alone has saved us a lot of money. We are also big advocates of alternative fee agreements, and last year we used alternative fees in over 80 per cent of new cases.
- How can CLOs ensure that the alternative fee arrangement results in the best outcome for the organization? What structures work well?
We have used a number of different structures, such as flat fees, not to exceed fees, and some partial contingency arrangements offering the possibility of a bonus for handling a case efficiently or getting a great result. There is no limit to the creativity that can be brought into setting up the most appropriate fee arrangement.
The trick is to ensure that the interests of the organization and that of the law firm are aligned. The traditional hourly rate structure has not always effectively accomplished that result, and over the years, it has encouraged some inefficiency and occasionally bad feelings. We are big fans of AFAs, but the most important ingredient is trust. We make clear that if a case goes off on a tangent that no one could have anticipated at the time, we will revisit our fee arrangement. We hope this encourages our firms to enter into such arrangements with us.
We want our firms to make money. We want their best lawyers to want to work for us. We are not looking to get something for nothing. We just want an arrangement that makes sure that everyone's interests are aligned.
While cost management is important, we also strongly believe it should never be at the expense of the quality of the company's defense or prosecution of a major lawsuit.
- How could CLOs make better use of their resources?
We are trying to do a better job with our internal knowledge management, so that the different law firms we work with do not have to recreate the wheel every time they have a similar case with us.
About the Chief Litigation Officer Summit Fall 2012
This unique forum will take place at the Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa, Las Vegas, Nevada, September 13-15, 2012. Offering much more than any conference, exhibition or trade show, this exclusive meeting will bring together esteemed industry thought leaders and solution providers to a highly focused and interactive networking event. The Summit includes presentations on alternative fee arrangements, the latest trends in eDiscovery, the impact of social media on litigation and alternative dispute resolutions. For more information please send an email to info@marcusevanscy.com or visit the event website at www.chieflitigationofficersummit.com/DavidMHowardInterview.
marcus evans group - legal sector portal - http://tiny.cc/DHbg2b
The Legal Network - marcus evans Summits group delivers peer-to-peer information on strategic matters, professional trends and breakthrough innovations.
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Please note that the Summit is a closed business event and the number of participants strictly limited.
About marcus evans Summits
marcus evans Summits are high level business forums for the world's leading decision-makers to meet, learn and discuss strategies and solutions. Held at exclusive locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, think tanks, seminars and one-on-one business meetings. For more information, please visit www.marcusevans.com.
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/meSummitsGlobal
- YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/MarcusEvansGroup
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Contact:
Sarin Kouyoumdjian-Gurunlian
Press Manager, marcus evans, Summits Division
Tel: + 357 22 849 313
Email: press@marcusevanscy.com
Aug 7, 2012
Source: marcus evans Summits
Topic: Research / Industry Report
Sectors: Financial General, Business General
http://www.acnnewswire.com
From the Asia Corporate News Network
Copyright © 2013 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Asia Corporate News Network.
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