In-House Counsel

Analysis of writing style on this blog. The most recent 17 pages of posts on this blog amounted to 7,686 words in 332 sentences. Passives were used ? sorry, I wrote passive constructions in five percent of the sentences. The Flesch Reading Ease was 46.1 while the Flesch-Kincaide Grade Level was 10.8. A Flesch Reading Ease Score in the range of 40?50 indicates a relatively complex document that might score a 12 Grade Level. The Flesch Reading Ease Score uses the following equation: 206.835 - (1.015 × Average Sentence Sentence Length) - 84.6 × Average Syllables per Word. I love it!

Funding secured by contingent fees. ViaLegal Funding provides attorneys with loans and advances using the value of contingency cases as collateral. http://www.vialegalfunding.com/ This is another example of third-party financing of litigation (See my post of May 21, 2009: lawsuit financing by groups with 8 references.).

More than your individual attributes, your industry and company shape your role as general counsel. Peter Kurer, the former chairman of UBS and before that its general counsel, spoke at the Legal Week Corporate Counsel Forum. He believes that systemic drivers and value influence general counsel more than their individual traits. For example, those serving in regulated industries tend to have more of an important role than those in non-regulated industries. Similarly, lawyers are relatively more important if their industry tends to cartelize.

Termination rates compared to turnover rates. Not hair-splitting, but not profoundly significant, talent mgt. magazine, Sept. 2009 at 32, teaches us that ?Termination rates usually refer to the number of employees who have separated from the organization, while turnover rates can refer to separation or to the number of incumbents who cycle through a position due to termination, promotion or transfer.? Benchmark surveys need to define these terms precisely. Termination figures go up one when a person leaves both the legal department and the company; turnover goes up one if that happens or if someone is promoted within the department or moves to a position elsewhere in the department or company. Rotation programs would drive up turnover, not termination (See my post of Aug. 28, 2008: rotations for lawyers with 7 references.).