Law Firms Now Able to Access Input from Client Satisfaction ToolAssociation of Corporate Counsel Offers Law Firms Value Index Data from MembersPosted: Feb 3, 2010 Washington, D.C. (February 3, 2010) – The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) is now offering law firms in the ACC Value Index (AVI) the opportunity to gain access to client satisfaction information that ACC members have entered about each firm. The ACC Value Index is part of the larger ACC Value Challenge initiative that seeks to reconnect the cost of legal services to the value provided.
“The ACC Value Index facilitates what ACC members have always done: share and discuss insights about law firms to better meet their client’s needs. In line with the ACC Value Challenge initiative, we have now carried this concept a step further by enabling law firms to see their cumulative scores by criterion, office location and matter type,” said ACC President Frederick J. Krebs. “We hope this transparency will bring clients and outside counsel closer together to yield relationships more closely aligned with value.” ACC Senior Vice President and General Counsel Susan Hackett explains, “The AVI is not a ranking system but rather contains subjective assessments of law firm performance from clients around the world. The release of this information to the law firms that have been evaluated will benefit both sides, particularly in understanding a firm’s strengths and weaknesses. As the number of evaluations continues to grow, we believe it will foster substantive exchanges about expectations not just among in-house counsel, but also between clients and firms.” Law Firm Access: 1) Law firms will designate a representative who will obtain a password to access the data and will become the “administrator” for that firm. ACC will verify and approve administrator access. 2) Each firm will have online access to evaluation results pertaining to that firm, along with overall AVI averages for benchmarking. Firms will be able to see their average scores by criterion, matter type and office location. 3) In addition, firms will be able to see comments by in-house counsel who have opted to share individual details with firms without attribution. ACC Value Index Scoring: ACC members score their outside counsel using a 5-point scale (1=Poor, 5=Excellent) on: - Understands Objectives/Expectations - Responsiveness/Communication - Legal Expertise - Predictable Cost/Budgeting Skills - Efficiency/Process Management - Results Delivered/Execution In addition to these categories, ACC members also answer the critical question: would you use this firm again? Clients can also elaborate on their opinions of a firm’s work by adding comments to their evaluations. Members can search the AVI to view evaluation results based on firm name, matter type, location and/or minimum scores; Perhaps most importantly, ACC members can benefit from the ACC network by contacting a reviewer for more information or to discuss the firm evaluated in more personal detail. About the ACC Value Index: • ACC Value Index Law Firm Information • In-house ACCess blog post by ACC President Fred Krebs on law firm access to the AVI • ACC Value Index General Information About the ACC Value Challenge: • ACC Value Challenge General Information • ACC Value Challenge Meet.Talk.Act. About ACC: The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) is the world’s largest organization serving the professional and business interests of attorneys who practice in the legal departments of corporations, associations and other private-sector organizations around the globe. ACC promotes the common interests of its members, provides resources to help save time, money and effort, contributes to their continuing education and provides a voice on issues of global importance. With more than 25,000 members in over 70 countries, employed by over 10,000 organizations, ACC's community connects its members to the people and resources necessary for both personal and professional growth. By in-house counsel, for in-house counsel.® |
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