Introduction

A business is an organization involved in the provision of goods or services to customers. Obviously, a legal department is by definition always part of a business and not a business in itself.

I. Timmer (*)

Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Windroosplein 122, 1018ZW Amsterdam,

Netherlands

e-mail: i.timmer@hva.nl

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 341

K. Jacob et al. (eds.), Liquid Legal, Management for Professionals,

DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-45868-7_22 its service would be providing legal expertise and advice to one customer only: the organization of which it is part.

To most, “running legal as a business” will mean something like: applying principles and good practices of business management to legal departments. In short, we can call management of the work of legal professionals^[181] and of closely related processes legal management. Many legal professionals have mixed emotions when it comes to legal management. All will understand that it is necessary, but when it comes to their own work being managed there is often a tension. At the core of legal craftsmanship is the ability to appreciate differences between individual cases, while the word “management” is loaded with associations of Fordism and Taylorism, standardization and efficiency. These associations somehow intuitively conflict with the notion of legal craftsmanship. This may explain the, often tacit, resistance that legal professionals feel when it comes to legal management. Legal managers should be aware of this tension. They should respect professional judgment whenever possible. “Micromanaging” professionals is a bad idea. Legal professionals, on the other hand, have to under­stand that a legal department should operate as a team and make maximum use of available means. In a complex organization, this will always require coordination and prioritization. Therefore, it is an illusion that there can be a legal department without legal management. The only choice is between poor or better legal man­agement. Because the way in which the delivery of legal services is organized could greatly improve quality, efficacy, speed and cost efficiency, legal professionals should simply want good legal management.

The tension between management and professional craftsmanship is far from unique to the legal world. It can be observed in many other sectors, especially where professions have a similar knowledge intensive character, such as in the educational and medical professions. Law firm managers, court managers and general counsel therefore have a lot in common with medical directors and educational managers. Consequently, legal management could learn from health care management and educational management, and vice versa.

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