Senior in-housers raise concerns over value for money from law firms

Law firms represent worse value for money for clients than they did five years ago, according to a recent survey of senior in-house counsel.

Almost two thirds (62%) of respondents to the survey - conducted by US law firm Winston & Strawn at this autumn's Legal Week Corporate Counsel forum - felt that their external law firms were offering less value for money than five years ago.

However, in-house teams are optimistic that this could change as alternative billing arrangements replace the hourly rate as the dominant method of charging for legal services.

Some 40% of respondents predicted that, five years from now, hourly billing will only be used in exceptional situations (with a further 40% anticipating that hourly rates will become limited to specialist work). The findings suggest that clients' patience with the charging model widely associated with spiralling legal fees is wearing thin.

The event was attended by around 80 leading in-house lawyers, including former UBS chairman Peter Kurer (pictured) and BAE Systems general counsel Philip Bramwell.

Belgian Post general counsel and company secretary Dirk Tirez commented: "In the past excellent work was expected from outside counsel, nothing less. And excellence continues to be required. But in the current economic crisis, efficiency has also become the new paradigm in delivering excellent legal services".

Meanwhile, levels of communication and responsiveness among advisers are up. Seventy-one percent of in-house lawyers surveyed agreed that communication, turnaround time and responsiveness have improved - a result that may be related to the proliferation of the BlackBerry and other mobile email devices among lawyers.

Reputation and regulatory issues are the two areas most likely to keep in-house lawyers awake at night, with a respective 27% and 24% of respondents putting these areas top of their worry lists.

Winston London corporate head Zoe Ashcroft said: "The importance of reputation management is exacerbated by the speed with which information is now spread online. Anyone with access to the internet can share their opinions, comments and condemnations immediately, and to a global audience."

The survey also found that respondents were generally optimistic about the economy, with 56% suggesting that the tentative signs of recovery seen during the last few months are genuine green shoots.

For more information on the Legal Week Intelligence Client Satisfaction Report, contact Paul Birk on 0207 316 9864 or email paul.birk@incisivemedia.com.

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