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The Law Department of the 21 st Century 1I. The New LandscapeThe legal world is changing rapidly, and nowhere is that more true than in the legaldepartments of corporations in America and around the world. In-house legaldepartments will have to change, and possibly restructure, to meet the dynamicchanges affecting the business world and the legal needs of their companies. Thesechanges will affect the relationships between the legal departments and their clients, thecorporations which they serve. These changes will also affect the relationshipsbetween in-house counsel and their outside counsel. I have outlined below some of thechanges coming to legal departments and the evolving issues they will face. Thesechanges, while significant, should not be a cause for alarm or fear. Rather, thesechanges and evolving issues, when properly addressed, can assist counsel in betterserving and building stronger relationships with their clients as these changes occur.The changes and evolving issues dealing with “The Law Department of the 21 stCentury” which our panel will address are:A. Becoming More EfficientAll companies, indeed all clients, have long been interested in obtaining high qualitylegal services at a reasonable cost. This can only be achieved when the lawyers andlaw firms rendering the legal services appropriately staff the matter and are efficient in1 Materials prepared by Darryl M. Bloodworth of the ALFA International firm of Dean Mead, Orlando,Florida2