Recently in Outside Counsel Category

The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) and Serengeti Law released their 8th Annual "Managing Outside Counsel" survey last month, revealing some interesting trends in the inside-outside counsel relationship. 

According to their findings, over the past 8 years in-house counsel have been more demanding of their outside counsel.  The study suggests that in-house has taken on the role of manager to outside counsel to heart and has opted for a variety of measures to ensure competitive productivity.  It shows that while the median spending in-house is at one of the highest levels in eight years, median spending on outside counsel is at its lowest level.  

How in-house counsel is expecting more from outside counsel:

The popular law firm cheer, 'When I say "billable" you say "hour"' is being phased out for something a little more low key.  According to the Wall Street Journal, major companies such as Pfizer are doing away with the concept of paying law firms based on billable hours and opting instead for flat-fee agreements. 

In a tough economy, law firms are willing to work with general counsel of major companies to ensure steady workflow.  Likewise, in-house legal departments are willing to offer non-monetized incentives to attract quality outside counsel. 

Legal departments look to un-divide divisions of labor with outside firms.

Economic indicators may be looking up these days, but that doesn't make the idea of corporate counsel convergence any more appetizing to law firms.  Convergence is the consolidation of the number of outside firms an in-house legal department utilizes.  Instead of approaching various different firms specializing in different practice areas to meet a company's multi-faceted legal needs, the economic slowdown has led to the corporate legal department trend of retaining a few firms to handle it all. 

Corporate counsel are mad, and they're not taking it anymore.  And that includes all this discussion of a new legal model, according to a report in the ABA Journal.

About 75 percent of CLOs gave law firms low marks when asked how serious law firms are about changing their legal service model to deliver greater value to clients, according to a survey by legal consulting firm Altman Weil. At the same time, in-house lawyers are taking steps to tighten their own belts by laying off lawyers and cutting back on outside legal work, the survey showed.

The CLOs were asked to give firms a score ranging from a low of 0 to a high of 10 to indicate how serious they think they are about changing their legal models, according to an Altman Weil press release summarizing the June survey findings. Only 5 percent gave firms a score between 8 and 10, indicating the CLOs believe the firms are serious about change. Twenty percent gave firms middle scores of 5, 6 or 7. Another 75 percent gave law firms a rating between zero and 4, indicating the CLOs believe the firms have little or no interest in change.

So, while corporate counsel are generally unhappy with the way law firms are running things, they're also cynical about the chances for change.    Maybe the recent changes in the lockstep associate compensation model will give them a little faith.

Either way, it's shaping up to be an interesting year for the business of law.

General Counsel Pressuring Firms Amid Recession

The following article was written by Brett Tarr, general counsel for eMag Solutions, based in Atlanta, GA:

Times are tough for everyone. The economy continues to falter, and both corporate legal departments and outside counsel are facing unprecedented pressures. Law firms are downsizing and corporate legal department budgets are being slashed. In the midst of this economic crunch,   general counsel have increased pressure on their outside law firms, demanding lower fees, predictable bills and improved service. At the same time, general counsel are wondering what law firm cost-cutting measures will mean to corporate clients in terms of quality of service and how much in the way of cost savings will be passed on to them.

Of the numerous budget issues facing general counsel, the spiraling cost of outside counsel fees and their lack of predictability are the two biggest worries. According to a survey that Altman Weil conducted in November 2008 amongst 115 general counsel, almost three-quarters of those polled reported that they are implementing 2009 budget cuts ranging anywhere from 6 percent up to 35 percent.  How, then, do law departments manage growing legal and e-discovery issues with a shrinking budget and uncertain outside legal costs? 

Date: Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Time: 1:00 PM (EDT)/10:00 AM (PDT)

Description:
Given the marked increase in economic and business risk anxiety, it's no surprise that in-house counsel are scrutinizing litigation costs and, in many cases, seizing control of much of the discovery process. This webinar will explore the changing relationships and roles of in-house and outside counsel around what often is the single largest cost in a legal proceeding - electronic discovery. In this webinar you will learn about:

Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Time: 1:00 PM (EDT)/10:00 AM (PDT)

Listen to the Am Law 100 results before they come out! Only this time, bring some tissues and a couple Xanax.

Please join Aric Press, the editor in chief of The American Lawyer, for our annual Am Law 100 web cast. He'll review the results, discuss the trends, and whet your appetite for the print and digital editions that appear the next day.

We all know that it was a difficult year. But the pain wasn't spread evenly and even in the wake of a very grim autumn there were firms and regions that made progress. Please join us for a lively 20-minute review of what happened and why, and a brief look ahead at some of the challenges of 2009.

Register Here