Another quick post, this time a couple of quick observations about what GCs want from outside counsel. First up is a recent article about law firm rates, but buried in the discussion is another suggestion by a GC - provide a short, concise answer to the question.

Lees: First and foremost, I think they should be familiar with the way communications are done at companies now. The long memo may be great to stick in your file, because you might need the information at some point, but if I send my CEO a paragraph on something, it’s a lot.

This second blog post from Law2050 goes back a couple of months. It's a summary of a panel discussion with inhouse counsel. The message, in truncated form, is the same:

I don't want a memo, I want an answer

Thinking this through, our current fast-paced interactions and busy schedules now compress interactions so much that there's not much time to consider longer-form content - like a memo. Whether this is good or bad I'll leave to another day. These two comments attributed to GCs are at least an anecdotal indication that less is more.

I think I'm going to start cataloging comments of the nature that answers trump memos in some respects.