GCRC Channel 1

The general public consensus following the recession was that the greed and recklessness of bankers, which ultimately caused the recession in the eyes of many, was an unethical stain on capitalism as an ideology and as the basis of our society.

That inequality persists in the law - and in businesses in general - is a well known and often documented opinion. That hourly billing contributes to the distrust of the legal profession from clients and civilians is also well documented. But Marlisse Silver Sweeney’s article (The Female Lawyer Exodus) in The Daily Beast was a particularly interesting read because it discussed both in conjunction with each other, as she mused that hourly billing is in fact a reason for the persistent inequality in the legal profession.

Risk. I wrote about the importance of risk management to the in-house role earlier this week and noted how lawyers should be less obstructive and better managers in terms of managing risk - risks have to be taken in order for companies to make profits, but not all risks will make profits. And of course, reckless lending by the banks is now bemoaned as one of the causes of the ongoing recession.

Previously, anti-bribery legislation in the UK had prevented many small and medium-sized markets from exporting to various emerging markets because of the over-complexity in the legislation. Companies and their GCs will therefore be pleased with the potential relaxation of the legislation which could be announced next month.

GCRC’s latest interview is with Ram Vasudevan the CEO at QuisLex. QuisLex are one of the premier global legal services companies in the world with offices based in New York, Chicago and Hyderabad and their clients including many Fortune 500 companies and US and international law firms.

e-Discovery has long been dished out by in-house lawyers to external service providers specializing in it. However, much is being written saying that in-house counsel need not immediately reach for the phone when it comes to e-Discovery. With corporations increasingly looking to reduce legal spend, they are looking to in-house lawyers to take up more responsibility in respect to e-Discovery.