Twenty five general counsel are spearheading an initiative to benchmark law firms. Led by general counsel from Panasonic, Mastercard, Avaya, Pernod Ricard, PayPal, Flex, Keurig Green Mountain, Petco, Molson Coors, Becton Dickinson, Peabody Energy, TriMas, Rockwell Automation, DXC and Sony Electronics, the group are working with a general counsel led organisation, AdvanceLaw, to work on data from the companies. In an open letter, the group said: 'Our shared ambition has always been to enhance the value and quality of advice received by clients, while rewarding law firms that understand and embrace powerful client service. After twenty years, some changes have come but the improvements they were meant to deliver have remained elusive. Relationships between in-house clients and law firms could, on balance, provide greater value to both groups.'

Innovations

The letter goes on to say that one of the reasons the industry has struggled to innovate is that they do not know which in-house and law firm management approaches work best. 'For instance, many of us have created preferred provider panels – but do they achieve the results we’re seeking? And what makes panels thrive? We all seem to be moving toward value billing – but does a flat fee arrangement impact service quality or the level of talent assigned to the work? Related, do firms that charge the most deliver better service and expertise? What about the in-house practice of sharing performance evaluations with firms – does it yield meaningful benefits? And does the law firm trend toward legal project management deliver better efficiency and results?'

Results

The group will work to analyse which in-house practices and law firm attributes provide the strongest results through sharing information and outcoes with each other.