Corporations are increasingly looking to their in-house legal departments to act not simply as lawyers but as business partners, providing an integrated, cost-efficient and value-added offering to the businesses they serve.

At H4 Partners, we very well understand the tension between giving robust legal advice (occasionally having to say ‘no’) and providing the practical, effective solutions the business demands. We are also acutely aware of the budgetary constraints under which most in-house legal departments operate and the constant need to demonstrate value to the business. Working closely with the General Counsel or Head of Legal, we offer practical, solutions-based advice, enabling your in-house team to take their rightful place as value enhancing members of the overall business.

Our services include:

Full reviews

These examine every aspect of the in-house legal team and provide organisational and strategic direction. Neither size nor complexity are issues. Our clients range from complex multi-jurisdictional departments of several hundred lawyers to very small domestic teams who need to expand or simply ensure they are providing a good service in the most efficient manner.

Strategy Days

One-off meetings with the General Counsel or Head of Legal who do not wish to undertake a full review, but would benefit from a facilitated ‘brainstorming session’ enabling them to begin developing their strategy or business plan in a structured, coherent manner.

Panel Reviews

One of the key responsibilities of a General Counsel or Head of Legal is to manage the outsourcing of work to external law firms, whether on an individual basis or through a panel. Regardless of relationships between individual law firm partners and senior company management (including the CEO and Chairman), it is the General Counsel who most often has the ultimate say in which law firm is instructed and who has budgetary responsibility for the firm's costs. We advise on the end-to-end process, from deciding how to balance your external legal panel and what type of firms you might need, through organising the tender process, to developing agreements with your external law firms. Throughout, the aim is arrive at a basis for a mutually beneficial, value-added service.

Cost spend management

Increasingly, managing the cost of outsourcing to external law firms and analysing how and where such costs occur takes up a considerable amount of time – particularly when dealing with significant numbers of law firms across many jurisdictions. Using sophisticated research and analysis tools, we can help the General Counsel to understand these costs and then put effective solutions in place for managing them..

Benchmarking

Understanding how your organisation fits into a global picture in terms of, for example, number of lawyers in your team, compensation and benefits or team location, is crucial to gaining competitive advantage and adhering to best practice. Our research team's range of tools keep our finger closely on the pulse of the market and give you information that is essential in both planning your strategy and maintaining your competitive edge.