Legal Commentary

From the desk of GCs . . . .

By Patrick J. Lamb

The 2010 ACC/Serengeti Managing Outside Counsel Survey Report is out.  Westlaw Insider does a nice job of summarizing the critical findings of this survey of General Counsel:

Some of the key trends of the past 10 years:

* More work retained in house. There has been a noticeable shift of work from outside to in-house counsel as corporate law department budgets have stopped growing.
* A renewed focus on spending. Although compliance is still a key focus, controlling outside legal spending has returned to the top spot during the past two years, similar to the start of the decade.
* Record-low rate increases. Due to the weak economy and a greater willingness of in-house counsel to assert their bargaining power, we are witnessing the smallest increase in hourly rates in the past 10 years – and in-house counsel anticipate similar record-low increases for the coming year.
* New demands on outside counsel. The need to drive efficiency has also led to a notable rise in policies requiring project budgets, client consent for firm staffing, early case assessments, the use of alternative dispute resolution, client ownership of work product, and technology requirements.

Nothing terribly surprising here, but certainly there is no good news for those pining for the good old days.  And another year of record-low rate increases?  OMG, how are firms going to fund their insatiable thirst for higher PEP? 

The report contains other findings on the use of project management, the increasing importance of using experienced lawyers, and the rising importance of alternative fee arrangements.  All moving the profession to the New Normal.
 

Full post as published by In Search of Perfect Client Service on November 03, 2010 (boomark / email).