A new report, "Secrets to successful matters", examines the ways that both corporate clients and their outside law firms can improve their relationships and boost the chances of successful outcomes in their legal matters
Relationships between clients and their outside legal counsel are the backbone of the legal industry, and not surprisingly, both parties tend to give high marks to the strength of those relationships. Indeed, they further attest that their ability to arrive at successful legal matter outcomes in general is proof that these relationships are solid.
However, there undoubtedly remains room for improvement; and our research conducted with corporate general counsel (GCs) indicates that they still experience the same set of frustrations with their outside counsel time and time again, especially around issues of cost control, responsiveness, outcome quality, and perhaps most importantly, how well the work of outside counsel aligns to the client’s business.
Rather than asking GCs about their frustrations, our new research turned to outside counsel to identify what their counterparts on corporate in-house legal teams do that may help or hinder their outside firms from delivering the desired result.
Perhaps it’s time for new approaches to solve old problems. So, to dig into that question, the Thomson Reuters Institute launched a new survey report, Secrets to successful matters: The importance of preparation, project management & partnership, in an attempt to provide a different perspective.
Rather than asking GCs about their frustrations, our new research turned to outside counsel to identify what their counterparts on corporate in-house legal teams do that may help or hinder their outside firms from delivering the desired result. In other words, what are those things that are within a GC’s control to effectively push to better the chances of successfully meeting the objectives of a matter? Indeed, the research looked at how to win better by focusing on those actions that corporate in-house legal teams can take to help their outside counsel better meet the objectives of every matter.
Our research also considered how well the outcomes of matters met the client’s objectives — that includes winning (in the case of litigation), but also considers expectations around cost and resources, risk tolerance, and advancing or supporting the client’s overall business objective.
To gain this perspective, we conducted a survey of 1,122 lawyers who had been named stand-out lawyers by their clients, asking them to rate their experiences with their clients around topics such as characteristics of the broader client relationship, as well as to rate the success of their most recent client matters. We also delved into responses from more than 2,000 interviews conducted with corporate general counsel as part of an ongoing body of research maintained by the Thomson Reuters Institute.
Key findings revealed in this report include:
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- Both parties cite their overall satisfaction with the relationship, but note there is room for improvement. Further, outside counsel share both what they view as relationship best practices but also cite areas in which GCs can improve how they manage their outside counsel.
- Survey respondents noted how GCs can optimize matter success through intentional, repeatable steps, especially in areas of preparation through matter briefing, project management through effective communication, and partnership in an open and honest way.
- They also cited behaviors that are within the GC’s management of outside counsel relationships that can have a profound impact on how successfully a matter outcome will meet the client’s objective. Further, the report noted that understanding those behaviors, measuring how the corporate legal department performs, and gauging the potential impact of improvement will help GCs guide their internal legal departments to consistently more successful outcomes.
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As the report clearly delineates, every relationship between clients and their outside law firms is a two-way street. By leveraging the insights offered by outside counsel in this report, GCs can improve certain aspects of these vital relationships and ultimately, improve upon the success of every legal matter.
