Some law firm managing partners may be getting a gift in 2007: more legal work from their favorite GC.
According to the recently released Association of Corporate Counsel 2006 Chief Legal Officer survey, 25% of law departments plan to increase the use of outside counsel. The 2005 survey showed 16% of departments surveyed planned to use more outside services.
The survey itself is here.
Additionally, the survey showed the following mix of work as important to CLOs:
Chief legal officers and general counsel continue to spend the majority of their time on corporate transactional work (65% named it as one of their top three areas of focus), followed by compliance (50%) and board relations (29%). When asked to identify the next “big issue” they will face, respondents identified “international expansion/globalization issues” and “document/records management” as the two most important.
Tomorrow, I’ll dig a little deeper into the survey. But for now you can bet some firms may revise proposed rate increases.
Upward?
(Update : 12 Jan 07): Expect the follow-up early next week; too heavy a topic for a Friday.