Room Shoes and Off Broadway Shoes,
headquartered in Charlotte, North
Carolina. He is a past president and a
founding board member of the Charlotte
Chapter of the Association of Corporate
Counsel (ACC).
ACC National Convention a few years
ago, I was very supportive of the concept
of bringing together high quality small to
mid-sized firms to help in-house counsel
like me find great lawyers for reasonable
fees throughout the country.
It is not uncommon for the in-house
bar to hire a very large national firm
with a well-known name to handle legal
matters, based on the theory that the
in-house attorney is doing everything he
or she can by "hiring the best." I believe
that the better approach is to find the
appropriate lawyer for the appropriate
case, not based on firm size or name
recognition, but based on ability. If, as
general counsel, I do that well, then I
significantly lower cost.
In my career, I have found smaller
firms to be a tremendous resource. A
decade ago, I was managing litigation
for what was a Fortune 500 retailer with
over 5,000 stores. I had success working
with small insurance defense firms
with excellent trial lawyers that were
significantly less expensive than large
firms. You just can't beat the expertise
that you get from trial attorneys in small
or mid-sized litigation firms.
We recently retained a Primerus at-
torney for a commercial lease dispute and
received an incredible value. Our Prim-
erus attorney represented us ably through
discovery, depositions and settlement. The
case settled on favorable terms and our
legal expenses were very low.
Primerus' continuing legal education
(CLE) offerings have been a tremendous
benefit to me. In fact, they are some of
the best CLEs I attend. Their CLEs are
never boring and are always informative
and include practical advice and clear
lessons. That's one way that I know
lawyers they can clearly present CLEs
in an entertaining manner.
In September, I attended the
Primerus Defense Institute Insurance
Coverage & Bad Faith Seminar in
Chicago. The Primerus lawyers presented
a mock trial on a commercial litigation
matter. It was wonderfully entertaining
and informative. Moreover, I took away
not only clear and convincing evidence
that these Primerus attorneys are very
good at what they do, but also important
information and advice that I will use in
working with my internal clients.
At the Primerus social events, I have
found the members to be stand-up people
who get along well with one another.
That good rapport among the Primerus
attorneys tells me I can be assured that
a Primerus attorney in one city will refer
me to someone they know well and trust
in another city. That rapport, along with
my experience with these attorneys, tells
me that I can rely upon the Primerus
network of law firms.