As many of you may know, the State Bar’s Representative Assembly met in September and is recommending amendments to the Michigan Court Rules and Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct that would increase clarity and encourage the practice of limited scope representation or “unbundling.” The next step is approval by the Michigan Supreme Court. So what does that mean for you, and what exactly are the discreet legal “tasks” that can be part of a limited scope agreement? Unbundling is definitely practice-area specific. Let’s look at family law and business/corporate law in other jurisdictions where this is already under way.
Family Law
The Minnesota Bar Association developed a limited scope representation booklet for family law attorneys that includes a list of possible tasks that attorneys may offer:
- Draft documents to start a divorce
- File and serve papers
- Draft motions
- Analyze case and advise of legal rights
- Formulate strategy
- Review pleadings
- Appear in court
- Take depositions
- Draft court orders
- Analyze settlement proposal
- Prepare for trial
Unbundling expert Forrest Mosten suggests additional services to offer, such as “letter writing services to tone down . . . harmful comments,” “negotiation coaching sessions to help prepare your client for a sit-down meeting with their spouse,” or organization services for their paperwork, so they can be effective in a court hearing.
Business Law
As more and more companies are hiring in-house attorneys as a way to cut legal costs, unbundling in the corporate world may be a good way to offer clients a compromise. Capitalizing on those tasks and unique services you or your law firm can do well and inexpensively is one way to approach unbundling to compete with in-house counsel. Likewise, business and corporate lawyers should look at the menu of legal tasks and services they traditionally offer to see whether there are lower-cost options for the client—if so, those are the tasks that should not be part of limited scope representation. One expert directs that “[e]ach component of a legal case or a transaction should be assigned to a provider whose business model and capabilities are best suited to that specific task.” Cisco’s general counsel, Mark Chandler, sorts legal activities by whether they will pose a high risk to the company if performed poorly and whether they contribute to a competitive advantage. At the end of the day if they are not tied to a competitive advantage but are high-risk issues (high-stakes litigation, reputation, compliance, human resources policy), those are the areas where outside counsel are the most valuable.
No matter what area of law you practice in, the time is now to start identifying specific tasks that require your knowledge, skill, and judgment.