Canadian Lawyer InHouse

counsel combined is likely to grow in 2014 compared to 2013. The increase (59.7 per cent, up from 54.9 per cent last year) is largely attributed to the company being in growth mode, followed by a one-time project (37.6 per cent), or the company making an acquisition (17.1 per cent, also up from 2012). But survey respondents said they are more likely to hire additional staff (39 per cent) than send work out (14.9 per cent), even though it would take at least six months of solid improvement in the economy before they would take those steps to address the additional work. For the most part, the size of in-house counsel departments appears to be staying flat with 49.5 per cent saying there was no change in their legal team over last year, and if the department did grow, 30.6 per cent said it was because there was more work to be done. Similar to last year, 11.4 per cent said their departments decreased in size and 8.4 per cent said growth meant any positions left vacant were filled. "With increasing pressure around cost containment in most companies, most inhouse departments, along with their counterparts in finance, human resources, operations, etc., are being asked to tightly manage their budget," says Devonish. "For in-house counsel, this means bringing more work in-house where possible, but also managing external counsel spend when there is a need to retain external counsel." diversity The majority of in-house counsel who answered the survey still aren't asking the law firms they deal with to provide a diverse roster of lawyers to work with, whether it be women or minorities ó 74.3 per cent indicated they don't ask (up from 70.9 per cent last year) — they just want "the best person for the file" or said, "They already offer a diverse range; I want the best people." "It doesn't surprise me." says Devonish. "I think many people think that asking for a diverse roster of lawyers and getting 'the best lawyer for the file' are mutually exclusive. The proven fact is having a diverse roster of legal advice ensures you have the best thought, analysis, and advice. I would assert that if you are not Rank the most important things your law firms can do to improve your working relationship 1 2 3 4 5 6 Be more concerned with costs Be more concerned with results Be more proactive Understand our needs better from a client perspective Be more creative/ innovative overall Be more commercial/ practical working with a diverse roster, you are getting some, but not all, of the best lawyers on your files." "The person is more important than the platform, I think." Not feeliNg satisfied Total responses to the survey were 298 and came from a cross-section of departments with 9.1 per cent from legal departments with $10 million or more in legal spending in the last fiscal year, 25.3 per cent between $1 million and $3 million, 26.3 per cent between $101,000 and $500,000, and 12.5 per cent spent less than $100,000 in legal costs. More than half of the respondents were from small legal departments with fewer than five lawyers. Responses came from a variety of sectors: 21.9 per cent from financial services, 19.2 per cent from government, 14.8 per cent from industry and manufacturing, with the balance falling in under services (11.8 per cent), resources (10.8 per cent), technology (9.4 per cent), professional services (6.1 per cent), and non-profit (6.1 per cent). Litigation was the primary area of practice corporate counsel outsource at 82.4 per cent — a jump from 74.2 per cent in 2012. Employment law remained in second spot at 47.3 per cent — an increase of five per cent compared to last year. Intellectual property matters came in third at 33.5 per cent followed closely by regulatory matters at 32.6 per cent and tax at 30.1 per cent. IH Tracking how the in-house/external relationship is doing remains a low priority for law firms. Of the more than 200 respondents to this question, 80.4 per cent said their top law firm had not asked them to complete a written, phone, or in-person satisfaction survey in the last 12 months. However there has been some improvement in this area ó five years ago 92 per cent said they had not been asked to complete a satisfaction survey. Trumper says he has contact with relationship partners several times a year but end-of-project interviews are "quite rare." He points out: "I spent a long time in private practice and one of the things we tried to emphasize was once you finished a major project for a client call them, take them out for lunch, and find out how we did." When it comes to loyalty to firms, several respondents who indicated they had replaced one of their top outside legal service providers in the last two years did so based on partners leaving the firm to go elsewhere. "If there was someone who was a particularly valuable resource to me and they moved I would be happy to follow them to the new firm," says Trumper. www.ca na dia nl awy e r m a g . c o m / i n h o u s e by the Numbers december 2013/january 2014 • 37

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