Controlling Corporate Legal Costs

Managers in all types of organizations and at all levels of supervision have the responsibility to investigate using negotiation and ADR to determine how they can reduce the harmful impact of litigation. The book deals with recognizing and understanding the problems, costs and reasons behind excessive litigation. The author describes the strong relationship that occurs between improving one's negotiation skills and making use of formal ADR techniques designed to resolve disputes. This book is for managers at the higher levels of supervision and in both private and public organizations, in-house attorneys and attorneys from outside legal firms that service corporate accounts.

The author first addresses the issue of the history and reasons behind the proliferation and expense of lawsuits in the business world. A risk-return framework is presented to help managers assess the costs, both direct and indirect, of alternative actions they can take. The impact of wrongful-dismissal suits is given an in-depth discussion. After addressing the traditional client-lawyer model, the author offers tools such as the legal-dispute audit, the manager's dispute resolution decision tree, and detours to lawsuits. A thorough analysis of both negotiations and ADR techniques follows. The book concludes with chapters on arbitration, mediation, mini-trials, and private judging. A list of where to find service providers, professional societies, and research organizations is also included.

KENNETH J. THYGERSON is Professor of Finance, California State University, San Bernardino. Previously, he was CEO and President of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. and several other public companies, Chief Economist of a national trade association and member of President Reagan's Commission on Housing. He is the author of Financial Markets and Institutions: A Managerial Approach (1993).