Since 2000, our friends at Altman Weil have conducted an annual survey of general counsel about the state of in-house legal departments. This year, the survey drilled down on what they’re doing to improve efficiency and control costs. 280 in-house counsel participated in this year’s survey.
Here are a few highlights:
- 37% of legal departments have a law department operation manager. This a relatively new position not unlike your firm’s COO or Executive Director. Check out Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC), their newly formed association.
- 58% of legal officers say that technology (including artificial intelligence) is the primary pathway to improve the efficiency of the in-house legal department. Check out this year’s Futures Conference presented by College of Law Practice Management that focused its agenda on artificial intelligence (“AI” for short) and its impact on the legal profession.
- 64% say that extracting price reductions from outside law firms is the most frequently used tactic to control costs. In our view, this presents opportunities for smaller and mid-size firms that can typically provide a much better value proposition than BigLaw.
- Almost all survey participants say they receive discounts, averaging about 10%, on standard hourly rates.
- 80% of in-house law departments provide billing guidelines to outside counsel, only sixty percent (60%) say they actually enforce them.
The pressure on corporate in-house legal department to reign in the overall spend and provide predictability on the overall spend for legal services is intense. And it’s growing.
At MPF, we believe that these trends present exciting opportunities for smaller and mid-size firms willing to look forward and adapt to the marketplace. It’s up to you to go seize the day!