Outside Counsel Guidelines

OCGs are more complicated than ever, but also more important than ever. What are the best ways to organize your responses, ensure compliance, and keep the client informed? What are the best operational mechanisms for complying with OCGs, billing and collections? Who should handle requests for exceptions, variances, or alternate methods for compliance?

Our panel will share their collective wisdom about best practices, processes, productivity goals, efficiency and technology today.

The Promise of AI: Opportunities and Challenges

Firms are eager to reap the benefits of AI. Firms are realizing that tantalizing advances with ChatGPT and other AI platforms are possible now.

What are the next steps? Firms are experimenting and testing AI use cases. Firms need to set expectations and understand client needs for AI solutions in order to collaborate with them. Legal and ethical risks are considerable but surmountable. OCGs may be one of the first areas where law firms implement AI solutions successfully. Cost of AI solutions and budgeting for a robust period of experimentation is on firm leaders’ minds.

The Current Reality: Complexities Across the Client Base

Outside counsel guidelines continue to be a major hurdle for firms to get paid in full. Law firms now have to provide accurate and timely information to hundreds of clients who do not have uniform systems, or standard practices and have varied policies on so many components of billing. Clients face management pressure to ensure compliance with their requirements.

Experienced & Knowledgeable Faculty Includes:

Carmita Alonso, Partner, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP, New York

Michael Barton, Chief Financial Officer, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, New York

Michael Bosworth, Partner, Deputy General Counsel, Goldman Sachs, New York

Michael R. Caplan, Chief Operating Officer, Lowenstein Sandler LLP, New York

Craig Fields, Global Director of Finance, Debevoise & Plimpton, New York

Avi Gesser, Co-Chair of the firm's Data Strategy & Security Group, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, New York

Alena Loretta, Chief Financial Officer, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, New York

Elizabeth G. McCabe, Deputy General Counsel, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, New York

Sean McNamara, Chief Financial Officer, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, New York

Joe McSpadden, Executive Vice President, Global Legal Services, Williams Lea, Chicago

Matthew A. Schwartz, Partner, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, New York

Raman Sharma, Vice President, Outside Counsel Management, Deutsche Bank, New York

Madhav Srinivasan, Chief Financial Officer, Proskauer Rose LLP, New York

Thomas G. Trujillo, Chief Innovation & AI Officer, SVP/Director MWAccel, McGuireWoods LLP, Charlotte, NC

Topics for Discussion: 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. EDT

1. The Client View of Outside Counsel Guidelines: negotiating rates, risks and compliance. Special issues related to regulatory requirements. Diversity requirements, measurements; anti-corruption and anti-bribery, cybersecurity, surveys. Rates and alternate fee arrangements. Building relationships with law firms, staff and business partners.

Outside Counsel Guidelines

Law firm views and perspectives in light of current economic trends. How are OCGs broadening in scope?
How do firms review and comply with hundreds of different outside counsel guidelines?
How to handle “blocked time”?
- RFPs: client, directives and requirements. Requests for exceptions.
- Compliance with hundreds of different requirements, standards, metrics.
- New and expanded areas of required information in guidelines: AI, cybersecurity, diversity, ESG, anti-money laundering, anti-bribery, sanctions and other subjects
Dealing with various types of fee arrangements including discounting, alternative fees, success fees
How to handle updates to guidelines
Pricing increases, rate structures, variable rate models
Staying on top of OCGs: including when clients change the rules without fully informing you

Special Feature: Experimenting and Deploying AI Solutions

Goals and objectives:
- Reducing the time required to enter information
- Reducing partner views in the review process
- Getting to “yes”. Facilitating clients’ need to have more accurate description of work done
Change management techniques to facilitate adoption of AI technology
AI and analytics including measurement, monitoring and metrics
Interpreting time entries: special problem of “blocked” time
Time management: will the enhanced accuracy of AI lead to less blocked time or more?
What is the role of “human in the loop?”

Operational Issues

Staffing and outsourcing
- Staffing roles—director of client relations, director of risk management, office of general counsel, billing department, etc.
- Reporting and governance
- Challenges for mid-size or regional firms
Working with third party vendors
Managing compliance
Implementing process refinements, reengineering, technology
Investments in technology and AI.
External review and audits

Negotiation, Risk Management

Cloud computing
Requirements by clients--more data, subjects, policies, AI
- Reporting, security and compliance (including alternative methods). Does e-billing help to strengthen the process?
Keeping clients informed
- Handling exceptions, variances
- Optimizing client satisfaction: using third party resources and AI
- Best practices
- E-billing accuracy
Partner cooperation regarding timeliness, specificity, firm guidelines, penalties
Meeting client demands for billing enforcement, disputes

CLE credit has been applied for.

About the Organizer:

Sandpiper Partners is dedicated to helping law firms, companies and non-profits achieve greater success in their endeavors including expanding existing activities and entering new lines of business. For 17 years Sandpiper has led the way in innovative business management solutions and education in the postgraduate legal field including running as many as 40 events a year for clients on various aspects of the business of law and substantive law topics. Its clients are located throughout the United States and Europe, and it has completed projects in more than a dozen U.S. cities, London, and continental Europe.

www.sandpiperpartners.com

About the Premier Sponsor:

Williams Lea is the global provider of skilled business-critical support services to financial, legal and professional services firms. We connect people, processes and technology to manage documents and streamline key operational functions. From our humble beginnings as a financial printer in London, to our position today as a global outsourcing leader, our business is built on a strong heritage, great relationships and a talented team. Our 6,000 worldwide employees work onsite at clients and onshore/offshore at Williams Lea operations providing unrivalled support and helping clients transform their support operations.

With revenues of over €400 million, Williams Lea is backed by Advent International, one of the largest global private equity investors.

www.williamslea.com