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31 October 2019 / Dan Reed
Issue: 7862 / Categories: Features , Profession , Legal services , Technology
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Beyond outsourcing

Dan Reed reports on the brave new world of enterprise legal services
  • Law firm spend and its impact.
  • Realising the potential for law firm transformation.
  • Steps to take for a win-win outcome.

Corporate legal spend has increased significantly in recent years as litigation and other risk has shot up the boardroom agenda. And control of that spend is a constant conversation topic between GCs and their C-Suite bosses, with knock-on impacts for the firms that advise them. Much has been written about the rise of innovative outsourcing and managed legal services arrangements, and of course the advent of legal super-tech, all focused on delivering more value in the legal supply for less money. It’s a brave new world of law being done differently, and with the right imagination the possibilities seem endless. But the opportunities are so much bigger than lawyers currently envisage. Done the right way and pushed to its full potential, the terms ‘outsourcing’ and ‘managed legal services’ don’t even cover it. Indeed, these descriptors become entirely inadequate.

Ambition

Lawyers

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Katten Muchin Rosenman—Charlotte Hill

Katten Muchin Rosenman—Charlotte Hill

Katten strengthens financial markets and funds group in London

Hugh James—Keith Cundall & Lee Hart

Hugh James—Keith Cundall & Lee Hart

Hugh James expands national Serious Injury team with two new Partners

HFW—Rémi Ducloyer

HFW—Rémi Ducloyer

HFW continues Paris office growth with public law Partner hire

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A little-noticed provision of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 has fundamentally expanded corporate criminal liability
Artificial intelligence is transforming legal practice, but careless reliance on it is creating growing professional risks
The law offers cohabiting couples surprisingly greater protection after one partner dies than when they separate during life
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