Best Legal Department 2011 Finalist: UPS - Law.com
The legal department has a relatively small in-house staff, with 38 lawyers based in the U.S. and 23 abroad. While the in-house attorneys focus on major business decisions and their legal ramifications, a core network of outside counsel handle both complex business litigation and routine matters such as suits over lost, damaged, or late parcels. One customer actually sued when a package arrived late during a recent blizzard. But in-house lawyers monitor the outside work so closely that any legal activity on behalf of UPS is considered in-house work.
Besides its small staff, the legal department embraces one driving principle: trust. Or, as founder James Casey said in 1957: "We have become known to all who deal with us as people of integrity, and that priceless asset is more valuable than anything else we possess." His quote sits atop the UPS Code of Business Conduct.
The legal department has a relatively small in-house staff, with 38 lawyers based in the U.S. and 23 abroad. While the in-house attorneys focus on major business decisions and their legal ramifications, a core network of outside counsel handle both complex business litigation and routine matters such as suits over lost, damaged, or late parcels. One customer actually sued when a package arrived late during a recent blizzard. But in-house lawyers monitor the outside work so closely that any legal activity on behalf of UPS is considered in-house work.
Besides its small staff, the legal department embraces one driving principle: trust. Or, as founder James Casey said in 1957: "We have become known to all who deal with us as people of integrity, and that priceless asset is more valuable than anything else we possess." His quote sits atop the UPS Code of Business Conduct.
