Service Providers
The law firms, legal suppliers and other organizations supporting this unique resource as “Service Providers” are sensitive to today’s “law department reality” and the common objectives of corporate in-house counsel to (1) provide timely high-quality business-savvy and practical legal advice to your internal clients; (2) improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your law departmental operations; (3) better manage and gain more predictability and value for your outside legal spend; (4) stay abreast of industry knowledge and best practices; and (5) contribute meaningfully to reaching your company's goals.
Where the InfoNet Fits In
In this context, the seasoned lawyers offering to serve on InfoNet panels recognize that corporate counsel are often tasked with being “legal generalists,” with the challenge of making business decisions quickly involving areas of the law about which they have little knowledge or experience.
In these situations, corporate lawyers have the options of doing their own research on the issues at hand, seeking the advice of their own law department colleagues, consulting with in-house counsel at other companies whom they know, utilizing a variety of corporate counsel listservs to gain relevant feedback; and/or turning to their outside counsel for pertinent information, directions or advice. Each of these options has pros and cons in terms of time invested, responsiveness, cost and the quality of information acquired.
The In-house Counsel InfoNet is designed to complement these options by providing a unique alternative resource from which registered users of this service can gain needed valuable information quickly and at no cost from panels of seasoned lawyers with expertise in diverse legal subject areas.
Everyone Wins
When you think about what the InfoNet offers, you quickly realize how powerful and valuable a resource this can be for in-house counsel and the marked advantages the service provides to the expert panelists and their respective law firms or organizations.
The benefit to the in-house lawyer is evident. We all know that even “top-of-the-head” information from an expert in a given field can save hours of time and effort when confronted with making a decision in an area the expert deals with day-in and day-out. Moreover, the InfoNet offers opportunity to dialogue with and gain feedback from a panel of experts on the issue at hand. The responses you receive are enriched by the collective knowledge and comments from the individual panelists.
Similarly, the expert panelists gain by every question you ask. They have the opportunity to learn from the discourse with you and the replies from fellow panelists. The InfoNet provides a means for panel members to stay in touch with the hot issues confronting in-house counsel in their respective fields of practice. Also, the InfoNet encourages responses to questions that demonstrate the panelists’ knowledge and ability to offer practical suggestions for addressing and resolving everyday business problems. In this way, for their small contribution of time as panelists, the InfoNet provides an unmatched vehicle for lawyers with expertise in given areas to become better known by corporate counsel nationwide.
Moreover, InfoNet participants are rewarded for Adding Value. In other words, everyone wins.