As the strength of US patents has waned over the past decade, more and more companies are seeking higher quality patents from their outside counsel. As downward budgetary pressures become ever more real, in-house counsel are using big-data metrics to measure the performance of their outside counsel to determine which firms should receive more, and less, work. Caught in the middle are outside counsel who continue to be asked to do more for less.

In December 2018, Benjamin Brown, Assistant General Counsel of IP for Analog Devices, Inc. joined us for a conversation about why it is difficult to measure outside counsel performance. Ben provided a framework for evaluating outside counsel performance, including discussion of best practices for outside counsel to improve their relationships with clients and grow their business.

On January 10, 2019, we will explore the same topic, but this time from the vantage point of the outside counsel who is tasked with providing work for a high-tech corporation. Joining us for this conversation will be Bart Eppenauer, Managing Partner of the Seattle office of Shook, Hardy & Bacon. Bart is uniquely qualified to provide insights into the relationship between inside and outside counsel, having spent a decade as Chief Patent Counsel for Microsoft.

In addition to answering as many questions as possible from the audience, we will discuss:

• Effective ways to attract and keep good corporate clients.
• The pressures outside counsel face to deliver more within the often-decreasing budgets of corporate clients.
• Handling issues that can cause friction in the relationship between inside and outside counsel.

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