US companies increase reliance on in-house counsel

A recent survey shows that US companies increased their in-house legal budgets by 6 per cent in 2010, up from 1 percent in 2009, while decreasing the amount spent on outside lawyers by 3 per cent. The survey of in-house law departments, conducted by Chicago-based HBR Consulting, looked at 219 participants, 70 per cent of whom have revenues above the Fortune 500 level. Survey editor Lauren Chung said: “Law departments are recognizing that they can do more with less by building up their in-house capabilities,” adding: "This finding serves as one of the important considerations in building a business case for adding more in-house counsel to handle increasing workloads.”

US companies increase reliance on in-house counsel abajournal.com Wed, Oct 12, 2011