By: Chuck Newton

Chuck Newton — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 16:23:36 +0000

Personally, what I have come to find out is that we, as solo practitioners and small firms, are not on the cutting edge of this type of practice. Corporate in-house operations appear to follow this model aggressively. Case in point, I received a call on an adversary proceeding I had filed from a large national creditor. I received the call from a lawyer of whom I was familiar in an attempt to settle the case. She was now with this major creditor's in-house legal department located in Connecticut. (I promised not to mention the company because she was sworn to secrecy, stating it was in her contract not to tell). The number she called from was a Connecticut area code; the fax number she gave me had a Connecticut area code; and, her email address was with the company. I remembered the lawyer being from Houston, Texas and asked when she moved to Connecticut. After a lot of quizzing on my part she finally informed me that she had not moved. She found a way to get an East Coast salary while living on a Houston, Texas budget, the insurance was good, and she had retirement. However, she was actually working from her home, less than 20 miles from where I live and work. She told me that the in-house office in Connecticut actually had about 3 people (one a lawyer), but the rest were outsourced across the country and worked out of their homes (or branch office cubicle if available). The phone number was handled through a VoIP pbx system and acted like an intercom with her staff and other attorneys. The fax number was an e-fax that somehow sent the fax to her computer and the home office (should it be needed). The company used some type of collocation server or thin technology system that only required each attorney or staff to plug into broadband be connected with the individual computer of their choosing. All files were centralized. The long and short of the matter, we settled the case and this attorney turned the matter over to her paralegal to complete the paperwork and get the settlement finalized. I was called by the paralegal and it turned out that she worked from her home just outside of St. Louis. So we have a Houston attorney, working for a Connecticut in-house counsel department of a major corporation, and her paralegal lived and worked in St. Louis. They operated like they were in the next office from each other in that they were in constant contact over the intercom phone system and email. The Connecticut based corporation got rid of most of its expensive office space, did not have to provide offices, desks, computers, broadband, printers, phone units or dedicated phone line for their in-house attorneys or staff. The attorneys and staff gain a great degree of freedom from commuting, wardrobe, and flexibility. Many attorneys that I know just cannot make themselves let go, discussing how it would or could affect their competitiveness. My point is that in-house counsel offices are becoming more competitiveness and are already on the bandwagon. We as solo practitioners and small firms need to compete with in-house counsel offices by taking these steps now.

Comments on: Working from a Home Office.

By: Chuck Newton