With big US businesses spending large chunks of legal budget on foreign law firms, the findings from a LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell survey will make crucial reading for European lawyers. The Americans told the researchers that they preferred international firms in Western Europe with strong IP practices, who have been recommended by other in-house lawyers, and who are known to ‘get the job done’.

Selection policies

The researchers were studying selection and retention policies in relation to law firms in Western Europe, with the survey asking business leaders in both North and Latin American corporations what they want from international law firms.
The report suggests that corporations will spend in the region of 20 to 30 per cent of their legal budgets on law firms outside of their domestic markets. The survey – carried out between January and February 2012 and taking in the views of 157 in-house counsel – revealed that about 15 per cent spend more than 30 per cent of their legal budget in western Europe, closely followed by Asia, with nearly 10 per cent spending more than 30 per cent there.

Asian growth

As more companies expand into Asia, their legal spend also looks set to grow, with 40 per cent planning to increase spend there, while 20 per cent plan to increase spend in western Europe.
The expertise that foreign firms have in their locality was given as the key reason for their selection, with 74 per cent rating it as ‘very important’. But the best way for a law firm to attract an American corporation is through a recommendation from other companies, with 87 per cent of in-house lawyers firstly approaching peers. Derek Benton, Martindale-Hubbell’s director of international operations, commented: ‘Websites, seminars, conferences, internet searches and legal directories were equally important in the selection process, with a third of those surveyed using them as sources in the initial selection of a lawyer or law firm in an unfamiliar jurisdiction.’

Full LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell report available here