The report, from legal publisher Sweet & Maxwell, found that aggressive fines – rather than increased business – were the key catalyst for the increase in legal spending in FTSE 100 companies.
Legal liabilities
The study also found that legal liabilities in the sector, which made up almost 30 per cent of the annual total, jumped from £991m in 2011 to £6.3bn last year.
Sweet & Maxwell managing director Teri Hawksworth said: ‘When the credit crunch started there was the expectation that legal liabilities would rise as commercial pressure led to more litigation between companies.What was not so widely forecast was that the biggest source of this pain would be from regulatory bodies.’
Rising costs
Ms Hawksworth also suggested that the role of in-house counsel will be broadened in response to the rising costs. She said: ‘In-house counsel is moving from a role of just managing the costs of external law firms to clear up after a problem to taking a bigger role in ensuring that legal problems do not arise in the first place.’
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