Looking to save money on its $500 million-plus annual legal bills, Pfizer's top in-house lawyer, Amy Schulman, is changing the way the drugmaker pays the numerous law firms that handle patent, product liability and other litigation. Schulman, who joined Pfizer from DLA Piper in mid-2008 (see here), initiated a flat fee instead of billable hours and, so far, 19 firms have met the new standards. By the end of 2010, she wants three-fourths of her legal spending to be handled within the network and slash domestic legal spending by 15 percent to 20 percent.
Beyond cost cutting, Schulman wants to build better long-term relationships with her outside counsel. By liberating them from the billable hour, she believes the law firms can focus on the real value of their work for the drugmaker. Ultimately, Schulman says, she wants her outside lawyers to be more than legal troubleshooters. They can become "consiglieri," working as business partners with Pfizer—and each other. "I'm trying to project us into a world that doesn't yet exist," she tells Corporate Counsel.
6 Comments
The GodPharma!
Big Pharma as "well-orgainized crime"!
Hey Amy- Here is a thought- Why don't you just focus on stopping medicaid fraud within Pfizer. That could save you 2.3 billion a year you dummy.
Shulman said: . . .They can become “consiglieri,” working as business partners with Pfizer. . . .
When your General Counsel borrows metaphors -- to describe her outside legal advisers -- from Scarface, I'd say Jack Friday has it spot on.
I'd also say that this is far more "organized" than the actual Gambino family business version.
It was an unfortunate choice of pharase, given the DoJ $2.3 billion criminal settlement -- but the irony is plain: she didn't realize how much more she's said, in that one sentence.
She's essentially admitting to the RICO-style of doing business.
Great quote, and headline, Ed!
Namaste
When you're in as much legal trouble as Pfizer, you need fee-for-service attorneys on speed dial for emergencies, which are always cropping up. This is more about the lack of business for lawyers than anything else. It would be cheaper yet to bring all these lawyers in house and pay them a salary. Then they could be worked to death for modest wages.
What's the difference between this and a Chief Counsel with a few more "Indians" in the office--or nearby?
Tom Hagen was a "consiglieri" tom the Corleone Family. Good choice of terms.