In Search of Perfect Client Service

My friend Paul Lippe at Legal On Ramp brought an important survey for in-house counsel to my attention, and I thought it prudent to post the information.  (Here's the link.)  The survey is the effort of my friends at American Lawyer and fellow blogger (and friend) Rees Morrison.  Here's the introduction to the survey from Aric Press at American Lawyer:

Friends,

We write to ask for a little help on a research project that we think will interest you. Bur first, who are we, then why are we bothering you. Rees
Morrison is a leading consultant to legal departments; Aric Press is the editor in chief of The American Lawyer.

For months we¹ve heard a great deal of conversation about the prospect of change in law firms, in-house departments, and in their relationships. For
all the enthusiasm and dire warnings, it has been difficult to separate the noise from the action. To help move the discussion along‹and to try to learn something, we¹ve composed a brief survey. We are inviting participants from Legal On Ramp to respond.  

Our plan is to report on the results in a variety of venues including The American Lawyer and Law.com. We will hold individual answers in confidence.

Please take a few minutes to review and complete the questionnaire. We plan to close the survey on September 25.

We want to start with some baseline information about your legal department, and then ask you where you expect to see major changes between now and 2013.

Thanks very much for your help.

If you have questions please contact us at:
Aric.Press@incisivemedia.com and Rees@Reesmorrison.com
--
Aric Press
Editor in Chief
The American Lawyer
120 Broadway
Fifth Floor
New York, NY 10271

Anyone can see the survey questions on the link   (but can't answer unless you're inhouse), but here's the one that should get a few law firms' attention:

In general, how do your law firms compare in quality, value and service to the quality, value and service your company delivers to your customers?

Here's the one I am looking forward to seeing the responses to:

We will increasingly choose non-AmLaw 200 firms (i.e. local or regional small to medium size law firms, including "new model" firms) for general commercial and/or routine work (including most litigation matters).

If you work as an inhouse lawyer, please take just a few minutes to complete the survey.  I'm sure I'll be writing about the results!