Speaking at a webinar run by Viewabill, Ms Brenton said: 'Inhouse is being run differently than it was a couple of years ago.' Pushed by the need to run legal departments 'like a business', she said that metrics are being run 'like crazy' in her department and that there was a 'larger ecosystem' (including newer players such as legal operations specialists) both in-house and outside. 

Best legal department

Legal work and performance is increasingly being measured by metrics such as 'time per matter', as well as cost. NetApp - the California-based, listed cloud and data storage company - has a goal to have the best legal department in the world and has set up a 'preferred partner program' with its law firm suppliers with whom it has quarterly business reviews.