Document your Findings

Matter Scoping - Post-Scoping Call Documentation

At this point, you have had a scoping dialogue with the client and it is now time to document your findings to confirm your understanding of the matter with the client and communicate information to your team.

Matter Overview

• Client
• Matter type
• Key Stakeholders
• Lead Firm
• Jurisdictions 

Business Objectives        

• Client’s measure of success for matter and “endgame” (e.g. integration and realization of synergy effects, regulatory compliance/approval, settlement/enforcement of claims, reputation.)
• Definition of success with respect to legal advice.
• Implications of the legal advice in terms of financial/share performance, operations, customers, employees, etc.
• Implications of the problem not being adequately addressed or the goal not being achieved.
  Implications of the legal advice in terms of financial/share performance, operations, customers, employees etc.
• Implications of the problem not being adequately addressed or the goal not being achieved.
• Cost to the company not to address this.    

Key Matter Risks        

• Going over budget.
• Going out of scope.
• Member firm does work outside the scope without asking or alerting anyone.
• The client asks for significant follow-up advice or additional drafts after receiving the advice.
• Inconsistent advice from one firm to the next (one firm does a deep dive while another skims the surface.)
• Lack of communication or poor communication which compromises the quality of the project.
• Interjurisdictional dependencies, e.g. sequencing of regulatory notifications, staging of negotiations with different parties, etc.
• Jurisdictions lacking strong local counsel.
• Areas where we lack precedents for what we are likely to be confronting.
• Team capacity to handle workload.        

Service Delivery

• Approach
• How does the client want to work with the lead law firm and local counsel?
• Communication.
• Costs, Budgets, and Billing.
• Deadlines.
• What deadlines and milestones are part of the critical path for a positive business outcome?