HeadCounsel Launches First Online Lawyer-to-Lawyer Exchange

Business Wire, March 1, 2001

Business Editors/Legal Writers

DANVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 1, 2001

HeadCounsel (www.headcounsel.com), the first company to offer an online service that allows law firms and general counsel to supplement their legal teams using flexible, nonpermanent engagements with top-tier private practitioners and alternative-career track attorneys, announced the launch of its full services today.

According to HeadCounsel's CEO, Greg Allio, HeadCounsel was created in response to the difficulties law firms face in finding and retaining the legal talent they need to meet client demands and grow specialized practice areas. HeadCounsel allows law firms to take advantage of the increased efficiencies of technology, just-in-time staffing, and access to available top-tier lawyers without incurring full-time salary and overhead expenses. For the first time ever, law firms can take advantage of this unique flexible staffing solution to meet fluctuating practice demands. It also gives general counsel the ability to cost effectively supplement their internal legal departments with specialists.

HeadCounsel is an attorneys-only service that offers a Web site where buyers and providers of corporate legal services are networked in a secure, collaborative environment. Law firms and general counsel looking to retain additional lawyers can define practice specialization, seniority, timing and other requirements for short, medium or long-term engagements. Available, qualified attorneys are alerted via email, linked to the Web-based project description and respond with highly personalized bids. Only attorneys whose credentials have been verified by HeadCounsel may bid on projects. The hiring attorney can compare bids (by specialization, seniority, price, quality, etc.), select the individual or team of attorneys and then engage their service. HeadCounsel provides a simplified engagement process, secure communication tools (document management and message boards), efficient administration (invoicing and collection) and dynamic quality control process.

Before starting HeadCounsel, Allio practiced securities law for 13 years and served as lead counsel on billions of dollars worth of transactions. He was a merger and acquisitions specialist at Skadden, Arps and went on to be a partner at Shartsis, Friese & Ginsburg and Farella, Braun & Martel in San Francisco. He also founded and led another technology start-up prior to HeadCounsel.

HeadCounsel creates a unique intersection of visibility and control for providers and an efficient access point for law firms and general counsel. Top private practitioners and attorneys on alternative-career tracks can monitor and secure premium work, wages, flexible schedules and market personal skills. Once a firm or general counsel selects a provider, HeadCounsel handles the administrative issues of invoicing formats, collection and payment cycles and quality control allowing providers to concentrate on practicing law.

To insure quality, HeadCounsel begins by verifying the identity and bar status of each member attorney. Attorneys who meet certain criteria can elect a higher level of verification, called credentialed service provider (CSP). HeadCounsel verifies the credentialed service provider's education, detailed work experience, and client references in the specialty areas selected. All working providers are then rated for timeliness, quality of work and teamwork by hiring attorneys, creating a dynamic quality ranking.

HeadCounsel invited over 150 attorneys to pilot their services during the completion of the development process and expansion of its range of online case management tools. Rick Walker, a partner at the law firm of Telles, Walker & Kochenderfer in Walnut Creek, used HeadCounsel to find an attorney who could handle a specialized area of bankruptcy law for a project on a tight deadline. Walker indicated that in the past he might have referred this type of work to another law firm, but HeadCounsel provided a preferable alternative. With the client's approval, Walker, a former Bronson, Bronson & McKinnon partner, posted the project on HeadCounsel. Walker was impressed with the quality and caliber of the response. Said Walker: "Clients are concerned with results. Whether some components of the work are resourced out is of less concern to them than quality and appropriate cost of the legal product. HeadCounsel helped me meet my client's needs very effectively."

Kevin Harr, a solo practitioner focusing on Internet and intellectual property law, obtained a litigation project for a California company through HeadCounsel. Harr, who was a civil litigator for ten years at O'Melveny & Meyers' Los Angeles office before opening his own practice six months ago said: "HeadCounsel pays a lot of personal attention to their accounts on both sides of the transaction. I received an email alert about a potential project of interest to me. I was able to respond quickly and obtained the project."

HeadCounsel membership and listing projects on the Web site are free of charge. HeadCounsel generates its revenues by including a commission between the bid price and the asking price, similar to the way securities are traded. All parties are aware of this structure. HeadCounsel is a privately held company based in Danville, Calif.