Fifth Annual IICJ Global In-house Counsel Survey Report 2013

Report in pdf format

This 30 page pdf report is based on a survey undertaken by the International In-house Counsel Journal during Sept & Oct 2012.

Find out how the international in house counsel community manage their external and internal legal requirements in a changed economic environment.

This 30 page pdf report is based on the fifth annual survey the International In-house Counsel Journal conducted with in-house counsel during September and October 2013.  

Each year the IICJ undertakes a survey of in-house counsel selected from its data base of over 100,000 in-house counsel worldwide. The respondents typically represent in-house legal teams from companies operating in over 70 countries.

The report provides valuable insights into how in-house teams will deliver legal services to their business over the next 12 months. Key indicators reveal the level of work to be retained in-house against work to be outsourced or passed into the hands of legal firms. The report is highly regarded by in-house counsel and private practice lawyers with a keen interest in how legal services will be delivered in the coming year and beyond.

A panel of 40 in-house counsel drawn from a cross section of business sectors and jurisdiction played a key part in forming the format of the survey. The survey posed 52 questions ranging in topics such as the size and structure of the in-house teams, how they purchase external legal services, how they manage their in-house functions and how they see their function evolving in 2013.

The collective profile of companies who responded represent:  

•  Combined annual revenues of over $10trn

•  Over 9000 in-house lawyers in over 70 countries worldwide

•  Combined legal spend annually estimated at over $20 billion

•  In-house legal teams ranging from 1-5 lawyers to up to 250+ lawyers

•  An estimated use in the region of over 4000 law firms worldwide

 The IICJ Report – Contents  

                     The Agenda for Action 2013                      

PART I         The In-House Counsel Universe and Sample - Who has been surveyed

PART II        Respondents analysed by size of legal team and external spend  

PART III       What legal services are respondents outsourcing?

PART IV       Pricing and service level expectations  

PART V        How law firms are selected  

PART VI       Decision makers in law firm selection

PART VII      Managing the external legal function  

PART VIII     In-house Counsel Remuneration and Training

PART IX       Summary  

PART X        Acknowledgements - About the International In-house Counsel Journal

Key Questions Posed include:

What percentage of your time is spent on:

• HR matters (reviews, compensation issues, hiring/firing, etc.)
• Board matters
• Administrative matters
• Legal / Regulatory/ Commercial matters
• Corporate outreach / participating in industry events / conferences
• Corporate
• Litigation
• Property
• M&A
• Regulatory Work
• Intellectual Property
• Employment
• Contracts
• Distribution Agreements
• Government Investigations (where various government agencies ask you to produce a lot of documentation)

Currently what percentage (by value) of your external legal work is undertaken in the following regions of the world?

Do you anticipate the percentage of internal versus external work to change in 2013?

Will the percentage of your external legal requirements change in 2013, if so how?

To what extent do in-house counsel use a legal network, e.g. TerraLex or FLI, for your cross-border work?

Typically what percentage of work do you use external firms for?

Have you ever retained a barrister directly without going through a law firm? (applies to those jurisdiction with a Bar)

Have you ever changed your legal advisors during the course of case?

What is the main reason for using external firms instead of undertaking the work in-house?

Do other staff retain/engage law firms within your organisation?

Allocation of time spent on specific Intellectual Property matters: What percentage of your time is spent on:

• Trademarks
• Patents
• Copyrights
• Maskworks
• Moral Rights
• Trade Secrets

Do you have a compliance team?

Does the head of compliance report into the General Counsel?

If the head of compliance does not report into the General Counsel, who does the head of compliance report to?

Which function does the General Counsel report into?

Do you or members of your legal team hold directorship positions in your organisation or outside?

Does your organisation hold a general annual convention with all lawyers of the group, if so how many attend?

Have you successfully made a business case in the past year to insource more legal work?

When externally recruiting a lawyer into my Department/Team I:

a)    use a Recruitment Agency from a formal Preferred Supplier List (PSL) put together by Head Office

b)    use a Recruitment Agency from a formal PSL put together specifically by my Legal Department

c)    use an informal PSL of selected specialist legal agencies

d)    have no formal or informal PSL and select the most appropriate agency at the time

Have you / are you intending to move work away from major city firms to regional/local firms?

Internships and personal development

• Are you training solicitors in your Legal Department. If so, how many?
• Does your Legal Department hire students/interns. If so, how many?

Which of the following factors do you consider most important when selecting a law firm for non litigation and litigation matters?

• Fees
• Reputation
• Quality
• Speed
• Commerciality of the advice
• Size of law firm
• Diversity of services offered
• Geographic reach (has offices predominantly where you need them)
• Geographic location
• Specialist/boutique firms
• Ranking in legal directory
• Sector knowledge
• Personal recommendation

Do you consider the ability of a firm to serve as a "one stop shop" when selecting counsel?   If so, which of the following

• Matter coordination across practice areas
• Matter coordination across geographies
• Single bill
• Single currency
• Single point of accountability

How do you make the initial selection of the candidates to tender the supply of legal services to your organisation?

On appointment of firms, how effective do you think "beauty parades" are?

What type of firms do you prefer using?

How do you deal with small matters in jurisdictions where you do not have a presence or expertise?

Who is involved in the decision to appoint an external law firm?

Please indicate whether you have a panel of law firms and whether panels are selected for different types of work, i.e do you have a panel for IP, litigation, employment law etc?

When did you last formally review your legal advisers?

When estimating the cost of certain types of legal work sourced externally, what would you anticipate to pay in $USD per hour?

When estimating the cost of certain types of legal work undertaken by your team internally, what would you budget for in $USD per hour?

What is the basis of your fee structure?

Does your organisation outsource legal work to providers which are not law firms (contract drafting and administration firms, for instance)?

Please indicate the approximate volume by value as a percentage of your total legal spend.

Remuneration: Indicate the approximate $USD salary you would expect the following to earn per annum.

Do you use collaborative tools such as intranet, sharepoint, etc. within your legal department?

In an ideal world, how would you like knowledge and updates to be delivered by your law firm?

Which vendors do you prefer to use to provide the following?

• Contract management system?
• Matter management system?
• Legal spend/e-billing system?
• Continued Legal Education / Continued Professional Development
• Legal research

Does your company use an integrated life cycle contract management software solution to administer contract requests, negotiations, internal approvals and management of your existing contracts?

What is your global training budget for your in-house counsel legal team in $USD?

What do in-house counsel look for and find useful in terms of “added value” from their law firms?

What is your attitude to law firms publicising various items relating to work they have done for your company?

Please indicate the most utilized channels to source information about or from law firms?

• BLOG
• Linkedin
• Podcasts/Video
• Google
• You Tube
• Twitter

When you use legal directories to identify law firms/individuals, which one/s do you use?

Ongoing training and professional development: How do you ensure that you and your team are kept up to date with the law in your jurisdiction?