Chief Legal Officers Poised to Increase Use of Outside Counsel

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 25 percent of in- house law department leaders indicated that they will increase their use of outside counsel in the coming year, according to the Association of Corporate Counsel's 2006 Chief Legal Officer Survey. This is a significant increase from 2005 when only 16 percent of respondents anticipated an increase in the use of outside counsel and it is the highest response since the 2001 survey. At the same time, in-house counsel are not averse to firing underperforming firms, with 32 percent of respondents indicating they had fired at least one of their law firms in the previous year. Of those who fired a firm, approximately half said that the fired firm represented a "significant relationship." The top three reasons for firing firms were similar to previous years, including cost management, mishandling of one or more critical matters, and lack of responsiveness.

"The current business environment underscores the need for in-house counsel to have effective outside counsel partners," said Fred Krebs, president of ACC. "While in-house counsel are prepared to spend the money to get the legal advice they need, they are equally prepared to hold their law firms accountable for their performance."

Chief legal officers and general counsel continue to spend the majority of their time on corporate transactional work (65% named it as one of their top three areas of focus), followed by compliance (50%) and board relations (29%). When asked to identify the next "big issue" they will face, respondents identified "international expansion/globalization issues" and "document/records management" as the two most important.

In-house counsel have seen numerous changes to their roles and responsibilities as a result of Sarbanes-Oxley and/or other governance reforms over the past few years. When asked to identify the most positive outcome of these reforms, respondents indicated primarily internal outcomes, such as "board members are more engaged" (36%) and "decision-makers are more informed" (14%). When questioned specifically about their relationship with outside auditors over the past few years, 34 percent of respondents indicated that it had become more difficult.

ACC has conducted the Chief Legal Officer Survey annually in conjunction with its Annual Meeting since 2000. ACC received responses from 848 in-house counsel, who serve as the top lawyers for their client companies. The survey was conducted with the assistance of Huron Consulting Group.

For the complete survey results, visit: http://www.acc.com/public/surveys/2006closurveyreport.pdf

For more information, please contact David Barre at barre@acc.com or 202.349.1509.

The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) is the in-house bar association, serving the professional needs of attorneys who practice in the legal departments of corporations and other private sector organizations worldwide. 2007 marks the 25th anniversary of ACC. The association promotes the common interests of its members, contributes to their continuing education, seeks to improve understanding of the role of in-house attorneys, and encourages advancements in standards of corporate legal practice. Since its founding in 1982, the association has grown to 21,000 members in more than 55 countries who represent over 8,000 corporations. ACC has 47 chapters and 14 committees serving the membership. Its members represent all of the Fortune 100 companies. Internationally, its members represent 42 of the Global 50 and 74 of the Global 100 companies. For more information, go to http://www.acc.com/.