ACC allows law firms access to controversial client reviews

Outside counsel can now see what their in-house clients think of their job performance, according to the Association of Corporate Counsel's (ACC's) new law firm rating system.

The ACC launched its 'value index' in October as part of its Value Challenge, which aims to help in-house counsel better align the value and cost of legal services. Since then, in-house lawyers from more than 30 countries have submitted over 1,800 evaluations of more than 600 law firms.

Until this month, only ACC members could view the evaluations, but now law firms that have been evaluated by in-house counsel can also see their ratings online, the ACC announced last week.

Firms can decide who can see their results, but they cannot see each other's rankings, said ACC general counsel Susan Hackett (pictured above).

"It's something we've been working on for a couple of months," she said. "We always planned to find some way to share some of these results."

In the survey, in-house counsel rate law firms on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) based on:

• understanding objectives/expectations;
• legal expertise;
• efficiency/process management;
• responsiveness/communication;
• predictable cost/budgeting skills; and
• results delivered/execution.

So far, the average overall ranking stands at 4.3 out of a maximum rating of 5.0, although Hackett predicted the average rating will drop as more evaluations come in.

"Evaluators aren't coming to trash people," she said. "They are telling us who they like, and that's the whole point of all this."

Peter Zeughauser, a former ACC national chairman, said that law firms had expressed concern because the survey's evaluators are anonymous, and outside counsel could not see what they said.

"This is a step in the right direction," Zeughauser said. "Now the index has the potential to be a useful tool. But I still think it can be improved."

Zeughauser added that he believes the survey's evaluation categories are still too ambiguous and unclear. For example, in-house counsel rate matters based on a law firm's individual offices and practice areas in the survey. But the evaluation form overlooks the fact that firms staff matters with lawyers from several practice areas and offices.

"The ACC has gotten over the main hump," he said. "Now the ACC should focus on improving the tool."

This article first appeared on Corporate Counsel, Legal Week's US sister title.