In a time of changing relationships between many in-house law departments and their outside counsel, there are legitimate motives for law firms to want to better understand how they can create value for their corporate clients.

A panel discussion held in New York City on Thursday by the Legal Marketing Association’s Metropolitan New York Chapter, titled “Value—The Key Differentiator,” brought together three prominent in-house lawyers to talk about outside counsel value.

All three attorneys on the panel, which was moderated by Aric Press, senior vice president and editor in chief of ALM, parent company ofCorporate Counsel, seemed to agree that responsiveness was high on the list of characteristics important for outside firms if they want to impress current and potential in-house clients.

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According to Pollack, an important part of understanding corporate business is being able to crunch numbers and prove quantitative worth. Once she hires a firm, it’s essential that they know how to track and analyze data—attorneys who can’t create an Excel pivot table need not apply.

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“I think for me, the key thing in keeping our business is managing our expectations,” she said. “And that’s both in terms of budget—it’s extraordinarily important—but also in terms of results.”

She explained that she has worked with some outside legal teams who are very aggressive about bringing litigation to trial, telling her that she had a winning case on her hands and their firm could win it for her. Once they obtained her business though, and the closer they got to the courthouse steps, the more they backed off.

Danias pointed out that if these firms cannot manage her expectations, it means she can’t manage her company’s expectations either. “I would rather be in a position where we were all under-promising and over-delivering than the opposite,” she said.

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