Which cases must you report on?
When you talk to a muckety-muck, what cases will muckety be most interested in hearing updates on?
The first category is obvious: Big-ticket cases.
If the plaintiffs are suing us for a billion or two, then the folks in the C-suite care. Report on those cases regularly.
But things other than money matter.
If the case poses possible risk to the corporation’s reputation, then the folks in the C-suite care. Report on those cases regularly.
If the case involves a government regulator, the folks in the C-suite probably care. Add those cases to the list.
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But that’s all obvious.
What other categories of cases does muckety care about?
Cases in which muckety is personally involved.
Perhaps the CEO’s deposition was for some reason taken in a relatively small-stakes case. The stakes are no longer material, but the CEO will likely remain interested in hearing about developments as they occur.
Suppose somebody in the C-suite was named personally as a defendant in a case, was blocked at an international border because of some false report to the police, or otherwise has a personal interest in the case. Instantly, those cases move up the ladder. Report regularly (to the involved person) even though the stakes are relatively low.
What’s the next category of cases about which muckety cares? Cases in which muckety has a personal relationship with counsel.
Suppose you’re looking for counsel in Panama. You don’t have regular counsel there. The CFO was college roommates with a very impressive person who’s now a lawyer in Panama. You check out the recommendation, and you end up hiring the recommended lawyer.
The stakes were never necessarily material. There’s no personal involvement in the case. But the case becomes a matter of interest because the CFO has a personal relationship with counsel. The C-suite generally won’t care about this case; the CEO, though curious about the case in which she was personally involved, doesn’t care about this other case; but the CFO, who has a personal relationship with counsel, cares. Give regular reports about this case to the CFO.
None of this is difficult stuff; it’s all self-evident when you think about it.
But many in-house lawyers take years — or forever — to start thinking about these things.
Think about whether your audience will care about the case. Vary your reporting depending on the level of personal interest.
Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and is now deputy general counsel at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at [email protected].