Login
Legal procurement having ‘profound, lasting’ impact, survey says
New findings from the United States show the substantial impact of legal procurement on the bottom line of a business.
Jerome Doraisamy
Procurement is having a “profound and lasting impact” on the purchase of legal services for the world’s largest companies, according to the US-based Buying Legal Council.
The survey results showed, ultimately, that legal procurement is changing the way companies do business.
With procurement’s involvement, companies save 14.6 per cent of legal spend, and when procurement is well-aligned and works in tandem with the in-house legal team, companies save an average of 21 per cent.
Reflecting on the survey results, Council executive director Dr Silvia Hodges Silverstein said clients are now equipped with tools and data, and with senior management’s backing, legal procurement has gained significant traction.
“When procurement teams pair with the general counsel and legal department, the costs go down and the effectiveness goes up,” she explained.
“The survey shows the savings can be measured in the hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Further, the survey demonstrates that legal procurement “is no longer an unchartered territory”, the Council proclaimed, with the majority of legal spend now under some form of review and active spend management.
Relationship-only business approaches to buying and selling legal services is now a minority, the Council noted, having been replaced by a professional, business-driven approach to service bartering.
For law firms and in-house legal teams, the pressure is thus greater than ever. It is both a threat and an opportunity for the legal profession, the Council noted.
“Winners will respond and deliver better results at lower costs,” it said in a statement.
In light of this, the Council said, now is the time to begin investing in the procurement journey, for those who haven’t yet done so.
“It takes time to drive value: quick stints in the legal category are insufficient,” the Council concluded.
“Legal procurement professionals contribute the most after five years of buying legal services.”
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
You can email Jerome at:
