Corporate & Securities Law

Managing Outside Counsel Survey

By John Wallbillich

The Association of Corporate Counsel and Serengeti Law are using the occasion of ACC’s annual meeting to roll out the results from their 2008 “Managing Outside Counsel Survey.” The press release is here.

A few highlights today, and a couple of comments later this week.

Survey items that caught my eye:

1. 40% of outside counsel report terminating a law firm relationship.

2. Convergence appears to be slowing down.

3. Clients seem to prefer hourly rate discounts to alternative billing schemes.

4. Hourly rates are still increasing (bad news), but less work is going to outside counsel (reality check).

5. In-house counsel are using more purpose-built technology to monitor outside spending, but this is still in its early stages.

All these items are of interest; but I think one is more intriguing than the others. Guess which and see if you’re right on Thursday.

The American Lawyer has its own take here.

This had to be a discussion item at many of the receptions going on in Seattle nightspots this week. I wonder if any sponsoring firms have a sense of humor and are only serving light beer?

Full post as published by The Wired GC on October 21, 2008 (boomark / email).