Inside information: Even law firms see the need for general counsel
Kansas City Business Journal-June 20, 2008
With numerous attorneys offering a range of legal expertise, it may seem like a law firm would have little need for a general counsel.
But most law firms of varying size in Kansas City employ one lawyer to act in the capacity of general counsel, a position more commonly thought of as the top in-house lawyer in large corporations and businesses.
"It's sort of a centralized point of knowledge, point of information and hopefully having an overview you can bring to bear that might not be possessed otherwise," said Gene Voights, general counsel for Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP.
When employment, personnel and other legal questions arise, Voights said he seeks input from lawyers who practice in those areas of law.
Voights, a lawyer at Shook Hardy since 1973, evolved into his role of general counsel at the firm by the mid-1990s, when firm leadership decided that the firm should become Voights' main client.
To that end, Voights handles matters at the firm similar to how a general counsel would manage a large corporation.
"You deal with all sorts of representation and practice issues; you deal with personnel matters; you deal with all of the looking for the right lease terms; right now administration issues; licensing issues in various states," Voights said.
Occasionally, Shook Hardy lawyers will represent the firm in lawsuits against the firm itself.
In one instance, a pair of Shook Hardy lawyers handled a lawsuit brought against it in 2000 by an employee suing on an Employment Retirement Income Security Act complaint.
More serious lawsuits are handled by an outside firm, much like a company would look for outside help in the event it runs into legal trouble.
Shook Hardy relied on a team of Washington attorneys to represent the firm when it was sued alongside several tobacco firms and tobacco companies by various unions accusing them of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act in 2000. Shook Hardy was dismissed as a defendant in the case.
Voights said that there's no fine line that separates cases requiring outside help and those that can be handled internally but that generally the bigger cases will draw upon the assistance of objective lawyers from other firms.
"It's purely a judgment made in each individual instance," Voights said. "There's no rough rule of thumb."
Michael Saunders, managing partner of Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP, said a firm wouldn't want to be in a position of representing itself in significant litigation or the threat of significant litigation.
"The advice judges give us is that you don't want to represent yourself because if you do, you have a fool for a client," Saunders said. "So any time a firm is involved in some kind of litigation or threatened litigation, you would want to go for outside counsel."
Spencer Fane has its general counsel in Michael Delaney, who is also the practice group leader for the firm's labor and employment law group.
"It's basically to give us advice and kind of provide updates on things and generally keep us out of trouble," Saunders said.
A firm's general counsel at times comes to the front and center of the firm in cases of firm crisis. Such was the case last year at Lathrop & Gage LC when that firm's general counsel, Jim Fitter, became the interim CEO when former top boss Tom Stewart left the firm suddenly.
Fitter ran the firm for a short time and handled all media inquiries, which were many at the time.
But Fitter can't talk specifically about that case -- attorney-client privilege.
Fitter points out an expanded role that a law firm general counsel often fills, which is advising lawyers who have questions about practicing under the bar's legal codes.
"Lawyers practice under strict ethical rules, which often present questions that an individual may need to consult with someone who deals with it on a regular basis," Fitter said. "If we were manufacturing widgets, we wouldn't have that issue."
Smaller firms tend not to have a general counsel position.
Charley German, partner at 13-lawyer Rouse Hendricks German May PC, said smaller firms simply don't happen upon many of the issues that larger corporate firms delve into.
"They also have more of a need for governance and types of corporate issues that the smaller firms don't have," German said.
The closest thing his firm has to a general counsel is Larry Rouse, who handles insurance and business matters for the firm.
"He's really counsel to the firm, and that's his client, and we don't have the need for a full-time general counsel," German said. "For day-to-day questions about our insurance and the business of the law firm, we're all relying on Larry Rouse. We make him do it because he's the oldest."
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Mo. law firms make leading litigation list
St. Louis Business Journal St. -October 15, 2007
More than a dozen Missouri law firms were recognized as leading litigation firms in the 2008 debut edition of "Benchmark: Litigation" published by Institutional Investor and Legal Media Group Euromone.
The following litigation firms in Missouri were rated "highly recommended leading litigation firms": Armstrong Teasdale; Berkowitz Oliver Williams Shaw & Eisenbrandt; Blackwell Sanders; Bryan Cave; Lathrop & Gage; Rouse Hendricks German May; Shook Hardy & Bacon; Shughart Thomson & Kilroy; Stinson Morrison Hecker; and Thompson Coburn.
Those firms rated as recommended are: Deacy & Deacy; Husch & Eppenberger; Kohn Shands Elbert Gianoulakis & Giljum; Lewis Rice & Fingersh; Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus; Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal; and Wyrsch Hobbs & Mirakian.
The firms were evaluated by evidence of outstanding case results over the past three years, feedback from clients and peers, as well as face-to-face and telephone interviews with the nation's leading private practice lawyers and in-house counsel.
German will lead metropolitan bar association-Kansas City Business Journal
Kansas City Business Journal- January 5, 2007
Charles German has been elected president of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, one of the largest professional organizations in the area.
German is a shareholder of Kansas City-based Rouse Hendricks German May PC, the bar association said in a news release Thursday. He practices exclusively in the area of litigation, with clients involved in civil and criminal matters, including such areas as financial transactions, corporate governance, capital markets and professional liability.
German was the KCMBA Legal Advisor from 1997-1999 and joined the board in 1999. As president, he said he'll work to further refine the association's governance and operations structure, working especially to ensure that opportunities are available for all those who wish to be involved, he said in the release. He also intends to be a spokesman on behalf of lawyers and the profession. He succeeds Pat McLarney of Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP.
German was elected during the association's annual meeting, held Dec. 7. His term began Dec. 8.
The KCMBA serves approximately 5,000 members in the nine-county Kansas City metro area: Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas, and Cass, Clay, Jackson, Johnson, Lafayette, Platte and Ray counties in Missouri. The association's mission is to serve its members and the community by promoting justice, professional excellence and respect for the law.
German will advocate for judiciary as president of KCMBA
Kansas City Business Journal-January 26, 2007
Charles German takes the reins of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association at a particularly challenging time for the judiciary.
German, a shareholder of Kansas City-based Rouse Hendricks German May PC and the 2007 president of the KCMBA, said that during his leadership, the 5,000-member association will continue to be an active advocate for the judiciary at the federal level and on both sides of the state line.
German said the KCMBA and its immediate past president, Pat McLarney of Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP, were active in placing a constitutional amendment on the November election ballot in Missouri intended to reinvigorate the then-moribund Citizens Commission on Compensation of Public Office, making it more difficult for the General Assembly to veto pay raises it recommends.
Voters approved the measure.
"Now, the citizens commission's recommendations go into effect unless vetoed by two-thirds of both the Missouri House and Senate," German said. The deadline for a veto is Feb. 1.
German said McLarney and other KCMBA members have been meeting with Missouri lawmakers to head off any attempt to veto the citizen group's recommendations, which included increased compensation for Missouri judges.
"Some legislators do have an interest in seeing the initiative vetoed, and we'll continue to oppose them," German said. "The courts have been far too long without raises in Missouri."
The Missouri Bar Association also has taken a leading role in heading off a veto attempt.
"It's our position that if we want to continue to get the most qualified people seeking positions on the bench, we have to provide fair and adequate compensation," said Charlie Harris of Berkowitz Oliver Williams Shaw & Eisenbrandt LLP, who is president-elect of the Missouri Bar Association. "It's shameful how long it's been since judges have gotten any increased compensation."
The KCMBA also has taken a keen interest in legislative initiatives in Kansas. Opponents of a Kansas Supreme Court decision that required the Legislature to spend more on schools are pondering legislative efforts to require judges, including Supreme Court judges, to stand for election.
"This is one example of legislators attempting to retaliate against courts for actions taken by those courts," German said. "We want the judiciary to continue to operate independently without fear of retaliation. The effort to require judges to stand for election and raise funds and give speeches on the campaign trail is almost an attempt to curtail the court's jurisdiction. That's absolutely wrong, and it undermines the rule of law."
There is ample evidence, German said, that the court system is working, thus rendering "knee-jerk, radical" efforts to rein in the authority of courts unnecessary.
For example, death penalty supporters were deeply critical after the Kansas Supreme Court suspended capital punishment in the state, when it ruled that instructions given to capital jurors were constitutionally flawed.
When the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the Kansas high court's ruling on appeal, "that was a wonderful example of the court system doing what it's supposed to do," German said.
He said the KCMBA also would oppose efforts at the federal level to rein in the authority of the judiciary.
"There is an effort under way to create a Federal Inspector General's office to investigate the decision-making process of the courts. We perceive that as a challenge to the independence of the judiciary, and we're against it," he said.
Public advocacy is only one part of the KCMBA's mission.
The organization will continue to offer programs to the membership and to the public. German said he intended, with the assistance of the board of directors and the membership, to systematically evaluate existing programs to make sure they're still "relevant and cutting-edge."
"And I'll be open to any ideas for new programs that members bring to my attention, and I might submit a few ideas myself," German said.
Phil LaCerte | LaCerte is a freelance writer in the Kansas City area.
Two sets of lawsuits over alleged price-fixing consolidated; Court to decide if PU chemicals cases should be class actions-Rubber & Plastic News
Rubber & Plastic News-February 13, 2006
Two sets of civil lawsuits involving allegations of polyurethane chemicals price-fixing have been consolidated in Kansas City federal district court for pretrial motions, according to attorneys involved in the actions.
The two sets of cases-which are in Kansas City to begin consideration of whether they should be certified as class actions-are referred to generally as the "polyester polyol" and "polyether polyol" cases, according to Charles German of the Kansas City firm of Rouse Hendricks German May. The chemicals are components used to produce polyurethanes.
German is acting as local counsel in Kansas City for a Washington law firm defending Lyondell Chemical Co. in the polyether-polyol cases. Rouse Hendricks German May is one of several Kansas City law firms involved in the court actions, on both the plaintiffs' and defendants' sides.
There were about a dozen cases involving polyether polyol set to begin, though that number may be lower now, German said. The "Kansas City Business Journal" said there were more than 20 lawsuits consolidated in the Kansas City court altogether.
Price-fixing lawsuits involving rubber and polyurethane chemicals, carbon black and EPDM rubber burgeoned in the wake of U.S. and European Union government investigations that began in late 2002. Executives of Crompton Corp. and Bayer A.G. pleaded guilty to conspiracy, and lawsuits against these and other companies numbered...
Byline: Miles Moore
