Special Services Offered

The Jernberg Law Group (“JLG”) is not structured like a traditional law firm, nor is it limited to providing legal services in the manner typically provided by law firms serving as “outside” counsel.  We are senior attorneys and operate in a low overhead environment.  There are no high-rent offices to pay for, or expensive young associate attorneys to be trained.  Years of experience and low cost gives us the flexibility to offer the five special legal services, not offered by traditional law firms, as well as handling specific legal work in areas where we bring long and broad experience.

Special Legal Services

·         Outside General Counsel:  For small or emerging companies, we offer a breadth of legal experience and capabilities that such companies need, but usually cannot afford.  We work onsite with senior management, providing proactive counsel to avoid legal problems and handle the company’s basic legal needs quickly and efficiently.  We also strive to become management’s trusted advisor, as well as legal counsel, by offering our analytical skills to assist management work through a range of tactical, strategic and basic business issues.  We assist clients on developing business plans in order to raise capital.  We bring to our clients hands-on business as well as purely legal experience.

·         Adjunct In-House Counsel:  For small or large law departments, we have the experience to hit the ground running.  JLG can help you on a long or short term basis.  Filling in for absent staff, helping with unexpected projects that need current attention, counseling a growing sales staff, taking legal responsibility for a branch office or region, or creating a training program.  We have the flexibility and experience to step in and handle a broad range of matters, providing an attractive economic alternative to either adding full time staff counsel or using traditional law firms.  We can work onsite with our clients so that we can interface with other members of the legal staff and management, as necessary.  Alternatively, we can be available by telephone to provide legal counsel to a sales force or a corporate division. The needs of the client and efficiency drive how the adjunct in-house counsel service is delivered.

·         Litigation Management:  We help clients manage specific litigation, a portfolio of litigation or implement our judgment focused litigation management process.  We bring clients a valuable blend of credibility from decades of litigation experience, an in-house perspective and a track record of effective litigation management.  We approach litigation management from the perspective of strengthening the relationship between outside and in-house counsel.  Major causes of strain in this relationship are often real or perceived inefficiency resulting in higher costs and poor communications.  Our system provides concrete steps to help outside counsel maintain a focus on efficiency and cost control while giving in-house counsel the tools to monitor outside counsel’s efforts in this regard.  Expectations are understood, surprises are avoided, and the relationship with outside counsel is strengthened as costs are limited to the extent reasonably possible.  We also focus on dispute avoidance and can assist in product safety programs.  .

·         Litigation Mentoring:  This unique program is true partnering with clients.  We serve as lead counsel in case with a staff attorney serving hands-on with us in the litigation.  This provides in-house counsel with real litigation experience while we mentor them in litigation management.  Our rate structure combined with using staff counsel rather than a high-priced associate result in significant immediate cost savings, while the improved litigation management skills will provide the company long term cost savings.

o        What the Staff Attorney Will Do

§         Basic tasks that a junior attorney on a litigation team at a law firm would perform:  research, draft and argue motions, prepare and respond to discovery requests, take depositions, interview witnesses.

§         Prepare preliminary and revised budgets and case strategies with the guidance of the senior attorney.

§         ” Bill time” so the budget can be tested and the cost of options analyzed.

o        What the Firm Will Do

§         Take direct responsibility for the overall litigation.

§         Tasks appropriate in the case for an experienced, senior attorney:  expert and key depositions, key witness interviews, complex or critical motion, first-chair a trial.

§         Supervise and mentor the staff attorney:  review drafts, guide deposition preparation, guide preparation of the budget and case strategy.

§         Backup the staff attorney if there are time constraints.

§         Upon conclusion, review with staff attorney (and others if desired) case handling and lessons learned for future case management and litigation avoidance programs.

·         Whistleblower Follow Up:  Companies must, under both Sarbanes Oxley and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, offer anonymous employee whistle blowing.  The anonymous tip is legally important because it constitutes notice of a potential problem, perhaps a serious one.  The ability to get clarification or additional information from the anonymous whistleblower can be critical to the ability to make the right decision on how to respond.  Not making the right decision can be costly.  

With basic hotlines, follow up with the anonymous whistleblower is dependent, first, on the individual calling back.  Two-thirds of anonymous reporters do not call back.  Second, the quality of the follow up is dependent upon the ability of the operator to elicit critical information, potentially on a complex issue.  

JLG provides a solution that both avoids making follow up dependent upon the unlikely event of an anonymous whistleblower calling back and provides professional vetting by highly experienced lawyers so that decision makers can be confident that they have the critical information.  Follow up with anonymous whistleblowers will not always be necessary, but when it is, you need to be in control and have a truly professional interview conducted.    

JLG provides a low cost, effective solution to the conundrum of how to assure effective follow up with an anonymous whistleblower.