I heard the following story from a friend this week, and it struck me as representative of a common frustration with lawyers (in this case outside counsel).
The client was billed over $2,000, and she hadn’t even asked her question yet! This is a solid mid-sized company, but one for whom $2,000 still means something.
And of course nobody wins here. The client has a legal document, but still has no idea whether the policy she got is necessary or applicable. The lawyers got to count some hours against their annual targets, but in the end the firm got no revenue from the exchange and frustrated a client.
I have no doubt the lawyers involved thought they were being “efficient.” They were “anticipating the client’s needs” and “being proactive.” And look what they have to show for it.
As I said in my Twitter thread, this is classic Legal Waste, specifically waste from Pre-Processing. I won’t reiterate here, but remember what happens when you assume:
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© 2014 John E. Grant.