The Association of Corporate Counsel (it will always be ACCA to me) has released its 2004 edition of the Chief Legal Officer Survey.
A few quick takes, more later:
1. Good news for outside counsel: 57% of GCs say their use of outside counsel will stay the same. Bad news: 20% say it will decrease.
2. Reality check for outside counsel: nearly 60% of GCs say they will “fire” at least one of their outside firms this year. Main reason–lack of responsiveness.
3. Most innovative practice from outside counsel: fee arrangements, such as success or contingency fees. The corporate bar is sounding more like the plaintiffs’ bar all the time.
A few simple questions for outside counsel:
— Have you called your friendly in-house counsel recently?
— Without waiting for prompting by a phone message slip?
— Without billing a 10th of an hour?
Stay tuned.