Inter-office rivalries and poor communication are hampering the ability of global law firms to provide a good standard of service, in-house lawyers report. Of 102 senior in-house lawyers surveyed by Legal Week Intelligence, 77% complained of poor communication between teams and 62% said relationships were blocked to preserve the income of particular partners.

Protectionist

Instead of cooperating with their international offices, the report noted a “protectionist” approach to work prevailed in some individual offices. Half of the GC’s surveyed said that as global law firms have grown to become large corporate entities, they have become “increasingly bogged down by internal operational pressures, to the detriment of client service.”

Big Law

The report said: “The Big Law approach has seen large corporate entities sell GCs the promise of quality and consistency in global legal services. However, closer examination reveals the shortcomings in their international footprint.”