Collaboration, teamwork, cooperation — they’re not just buzz words if you want to succeed in today’s business arena. In an article published by the American Lawyer,¹ clients describe their world as volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, and thus require multidisciplinary collaboration from their legal team to solve their “thorniest problems.” Further, “they've learned that buying collaboration-informed advice is the best way to get efficient, high-quality, customized counsel on a host of less risky issues.”

Kilpatrick Townsend brings a long history of attorney collaboration. By promoting a more cooperative environment, our attorneys frequently engage in cross-practice conversations that inevitably inspire innovation and build trust, confidence, and professional chemistry. This, in turn, leads to a deeper understanding of client issues and business goals, creating more holistic and sophisticated advice and the ability to quickly assemble the right work teams. Further, encouraging more collaboration enhances client relationships through greater productivity, quality controls, consistencies, efficiencies, and often lower client costs.

In the spirit of collaboration, our Government Enforcement & Investigations Team recently referred one of its clients to the Government Contracts Group regarding a bid protest worth more than $25 million. Working together, the Government Contracts Group quickly developed a full rebuttal strategy that soon won the contract for the client. This collaborative effort not only received high client praise — especially since we delivered timely, on-budget guidance — but it also generated additional protest work, training requests, and regular calls for advice from the client’s in-house counsel.

^[1] Heidi Gardner, “When and Why Clients Want You to Collaborate,” American Lawyer, June 28, 2016