The 2017 Legal Procurement Award winners have driven change, saved millions, and created new pathways for the rest of us. Read the interview with our 2017 Legal Procurement Award Honorable Mention Wendy Hufford (Boehringer Ingelheim).
In Part II [here link to Part I] of our Interviews with the 2017 Legal Procurement Award winners, we take a look at one of the most important aspects of making change happen: Teamwork.
2017 HONORABLE MENTION for TEAMWORK: BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM
All members of Boehringer’s selection committee collaborated and supported the Preferred Provider Project and actively drove change, innovation, and development to pick the right providers for the company. Selection committee members from different disciplines identified the best use of each departmental participant based on their skills and background.
The committee negotiated successfully with the law firms to obtain critical
value added services, compliance with Boehringer Ingelheim’s requirements and favorable rates over a two-year period. This saved the company in excess of $10 million in the first year of the program without a negative impact on the quality of the legal services received.
Where did the inspiration for the project come from?
We realized that previous contracts for services with our many outside counsel were
expiring at the end of the year and that we needed to decide quickly whether to
negotiate new contracts or decline to do so. We also realized that we needed refreshed
outside counsel guidelines in order to give our legal providers the business relationship
rules of the road. Finally, we believed that narrowing the number of providers and
providing clear guidelines would allow us to be more effective partners with our outside
counsel.
How did you come up with the solution?
I utilized my experiences at prior corporate employers, such as GE, Cardinal Health and
ITT, to develop a customized outside counsel process for Boehringer Ingelheim that helped us select a new network in just nine months.
How did you go about solving the issue?
First, to get broad buy-in for the project, our General Counsel, Desiree Ralls-Morrison,
communicated to the legal department that this project was going to be a critical initiative. Once the department was aware that this project was a priority, we were able to get volunteers for the Preferred Provider Project Selection Committee from each section of the legal department as well as other volunteers that were willing to play support/implementation roles. Once the Selection Committee was in place, it was a matter of strong and consistent project management -- identifying all the tasks that needed to be done, creating a timeline for each step and following up to ensure all critical tasks were prioritized and completed before the end of the year.
Who was involved?
Almost the entire department was involved in some capacity. For example, we had
administrative assistants schedule interviews and serve as time keepers and
questioners during the firm interviews. Paralegals and our billing coordinator helped by
evaluating the law firms and grading them on score cards used to assess the RFP
responses, helping us crunch the proposed fee data and tracking the negotiation
process. Lawyers not on the selection committee helped interview the short list of firms and the Selection Committee attorneys completed scorecards and went back to their respective groups to solicit feedback on each firm being considered from others who had worked with that firm in the past. In addition, Selection Committee attorneys negotiated with the law firms to get competitive rates for the legal services that we needed.
What were the main challenges you faced during the implementation?
The main challenge was fear of change by the lawyers in the department
because they initially were concerned that some of their favorite outside counsel might not make it into the network and that they would have to work with all new firms. This concern was addressed by each section of the legal department having representation on the Selection Committee and by also having an exception process that would permit the selection of a lawyer not in the network where there was a critical need to do so.
A second challenge we faced was bringing together lawyers from different parts of the department (business law, intellectual property, and litigation), some of which had never worked together before. This challenge was addressed by having the team first get aligned on the goals of the project and then breaking the project down a piece at a time with a timeframe so that discussion remained focused on each task and the deliverables needed. As a direct result of the project, the team developed close connections and we are a more agile legal team now than previously.
What do you wish you would have known before you started the project?
I wish we had known exactly what factors would be most critical to the participants
before we started the project so that we could have customized the RFP even more.
What would you do differently now?
Based on feedback from the participants, we would start the project a few months earlier to give the Selection Committee a little more time for each of the required steps.
Do you have recommendations for others facing a similar issue?
First, while this is a large and time consuming project, it is manageable if you have
legal department buy-in and break the project into smaller steps.
Second, when doing this type of project, it is important to first understand what you are purchasing. In particular, you should take the time to review your historic legal spend and understand what type of work you have been giving to each firm as well as the volume of such work to understand the relationship you have with each legal provider.
Third, you need to determine your company’s non-negotiable items and get them on the
table right up front. Boehringer Ingelheim wanted the firms in our network to agree to our outside counsel requirements, to establish their fees in a specific blended rate basis by level that was locked for the term of the engagements to enable us to compare pricing among the firms, and to provide us with a menu of value added services. As such, agreeing to these “must have” terms was set forth up front in our RFP and it was clear to the participants that firms that didn’t agree to these provisions would not be selected for our network.
Finally, you want to make sure the process is a win-win to make it attractive
for the law firms to participate. In our case, Boehringer Ingelheim went from over 50 firms to just 19 firms so each firm in our network has the opportunity to pick up more business than it previously had.
THERE ARE JUST A FEW SHORT WEEKS LEFT TO APPLY FOR THE 2018 LEGAL PROCUREMENT AWARD!
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 2018https://form.jotform.com/81206446283152
LEGAL ANALYTICS: INFORMED, DATA-DRIVEN DECISIONS
To better manage legal spend, focus on understanding what you are spending, weighted average billed rates and staffing leverages to obtain information about what you’re paying your vendors and how efficiently they are managing your matters. Also, consider metrics related to billing compliance that help provide additional information about what activities your vendors are billing you for.
In this brief video, Peter Eilhauer of Elevate Services explains how the Legal Spend Under Management framework can help you with your legal spend management strategy. You can download the Legal Spend Management Primer at www.buyinglegal.com/LSM
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