Practice Areas
Law Department Management Services
The Consensus Group recognizes that companies and law department leaders are tasked with assessing the current legal management practices of the company and creating a management vision and strategic plan that will seamlessly integrate legal services into the business process while simultaneously ensuring economic efficiencies.
The Consensus Group works with corporate law departments to assist in the development of a concise plan that will identify, prioritize and integrate the company’s current and proposed legal management initiatives with the overall business plan. We can help your company assess its current legal management protocols, provide benchmarking research about similarly situated companies and identify and recommend improvement opportunities and business case alternatives.
The firm’s professionals have provided expertise and assistance in the following areas:
- Litigation Management: Organization, Operations, and Administration;
- Alternative Dispute Resolution Solutions;
- Early Case Assessment;
- Pre-Litigation Planning and Active Litigation Management;
- Other Legal Management Issues: Organization, Operations and Administration;
- Legal Technology Solutions;
- Non-litigation Matter Planning and Management;
- Outside Counsel Management;
- Legal Vendor Management Integration;
- Legal Department Training Programs;
- Legal Related Training Initiatives;
- Legal Records and Knowledge Management; and
- Electronic Data Risk Management.
Employee Disputes
The Consensus Group works with human resource professionals and law departments in the investigation, assessment and resolution of claims filed with state and federal equal employment opportunity agencies. Many employment claims can be investigated, assessed and resolved at the charge state, thereby reducing the possibility of litigation.
Our clients rely on The Consensus Group to provide a thorough and confidential investigation that accurately reflects the risk of the employment dispute and provides a strategy for overall claim management. We then draft a comprehensive statement of position on behalf of the Company, keeping key business partners as the “face” of the Company.
We also assist companies in responding to additional requests for information. Throughout this process, we work with clients to identify opportunities for early and appropriate resolution of matters.
Conflict Resolution Program Design, Implementation and Training
The Consensus Group regularly works with organizations to design and implement employment dispute resolution programs and other similar conflict management programs. More and more corporations are embracing ADR as a better way to resolve business, compliance and employment-related disputes for a number of reasons, including the increasing costs and decreasing satisfaction with current litigation processes. At The Consensus Group, we recognize that when ADR mechanisms are carefully integrated into the business and corporate culture, conflict is generally resolved in a manner that reduces the cost, delay, and unpredictability of the traditional court system, while simultaneously maintaining confidentiality between the parties and preserving important business relationships.
Neutral Services
The Consensus Group provides neutral services to parties seeking resolution of their disputes. The firm’s neutrals are composed of a diverse group of individuals trained and licensed in alternative dispute resolution under the statutes and/or regulations of their respective state.
Our neutrals represent a variety of different cultures and bring varied educational and business experiences to the resolution of conflict. Parties selecting a neutral from The Consensus Group can feel confident they are getting competent diverse professionals.
Consensus Training
From the outset, it is important to note that at The Consensus Group, our training philosophy is premised upon three important assumptions:
- The first assumption essentially recognizes and emphasizes that employees are part of the business and as such, managerial actions and decisions related to employment issues should be fully evaluated like any other business decision contemplated by the company. Thus, the interactive nature of our training enables managers and employees to creatively brainstorm solutions to progressively more difficult issues. As training evolves within a selected program, managers and employees are forced to re-evaluate their prior decisions as new or additional information emerges and moreover, utilize new skills and methodologies for approaching employment and business related concerns.
- The second assumption underlying The Consensus Group’s training philosophy is that ideas generate responsibility. Often, the biggest complaint managers and employees have about any training initiative is that it begins and ends in the same room, and the ideas and excitement generated by the training session or sessions are left behind, never serving as a catalyst for change. When training is properly facilitated, employees tend to feel less restricted and thus, can generate creative approaches to problem solving outside of the training environment. It is our belief that such creativity can lead to the development of teams to resolve issues, generate policies or clarify existing concerns within an organization.
- Finally, at The Consensus Group, we believe participation is the key to any training’s success. We believe that individuals learn best when provided appropriate information, time for incubation of new ideas/concepts, and interaction to practice newly learned skills. Individuals learn from experience and our training programs are designed to provide training participants with the opportunity to utilize the skills being taught throughout a program.
Consensus Training programs are highly interactive and reality driven. We work in partnership with our clients, learning their business and their unique corporate culture to ensure successful design and implementation of all training programs.
A sampling of programs available within the Consensus Tools’ portfolio includes:
- Consensus Tools for Managers
- Consensus Tools for Supervisors
- Consensus within the Workplace
- Effective Employee Communications
- Preventing Workplace Violence
- Creating Consensus: Teaming Skills
- Consensus Team Leadership Skills
- Focus on the Future: Developing a mission and a map
- Talk to Me: Business Communications that Produce Results