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OF RESPONDENTS DO NOT HAVE A WRITTEN RETAINER AGREEMENT IN PLACE WITH OUTSIDE LEGAL COUNSEL. Distribution within departments of lawyers by specialization (where each spends most of their time) Other 8% Corporate 12% Intellectual Property 1% Environment 3% M & A 2% Litigation 9% Real Estate/Construction 8% Regulatory 9% Public/Administrative Law 5% Labour and Employment 5% Banking/Finance/Capital Markets 11% Contract/Commercial 28% fi rms can distinguish their lawyers and services as top-notch. Th e survey showed in-house legal department want their ad- visers to better understand the needs of the company, from a client perspective. Firms should also focus on being more commercial and practical in terms of the work they do for their corporate counsel. Other ways respondents say law fi rms can improve relationships is better com- munication and a heightened level of in- volvement between the parties. Th e majority of corporate law depart- ments say they're expecting the volume of legal work (combined for both the department and external fi rms) to grow in 2009. And while much of that work will be absorbed into the company's own department, almost a third of the com- panies foresee passing along the extra volume to their law fi rms. Lawyers frequently move from private practice into in-house counsel positions, bringing that experience to the board- room table, so to speak. While the survey didn't ask for details of previous experi- ence, it did show many corporate coun- sel have been in their positions for some A Tradition of Business Partnership. Results. Success. Eldon Bennett 46 NO VEMBER / DECEMBER 2008 www. mag.com