The suite of metrics is available for customization by industry, geography, company size
WASHINGTON (June 25, 2019) – The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), a global legal association representing more than 45,000 in-house counsel employed by over 10,000 organizations in 85 countries, and Major, Lindsey & Africa (MLA), the world’s leading legal search firm, today released the first Global Legal Department Benchmarking Report.
The report tracks standardized metrics, both financial and operational, in 508 corporate law departments, operating across 30 countries and 71 industries. Those metrics quantify the most recent trends in staffing, inside and outside spend, workload, work allocation, law firm and fee structure usage, and legal technology adoption. The report also tracks each law department’s self-assessment in 10 key performance attributes.
“The scope of this report is remarkable,” said Veta T. Richardson, president and CEO of ACC. “It creates a framework for law departments anywhere, of any size and in any industry, to explore the broader in-house community with their own specific data needs in mind.”
Major, Lindsey & Africa Partner and Vice President of Retained Search and Advisory Services Greg Richter added: “We are thrilled to work with ACC to offer a report with such comprehensive coverage of key law department metrics. The ability to compare your law department to more than 500 others in such detail is incredibly significant for performance-focused general counsel worldwide.”
While the summary is free, reports that compare legal department data in the same company revenue, industry, legal staff size, and company ownership structure categories are available for purchase. In addition, legal departments can commission bespoke reports to analyze performance relative to comparable peer groups.
As part of the release of this comprehensive benchmarking data, ACC has partnered with Smarter Law Solutions to offer law department customized consultations. All consultations will utilize ACC Benchmarking Report data. The Smarter Law Solutions consultancy improves the legal coverage, compliance and client satisfaction of legal functions while optimizing their headcount and reducing overall legal costs, including liabilities and external law firm fees. The award-winning Smarter Law methodology uses a broad range of proven, real-world techniques from Emotional Intelligence to Artificial Intelligence, from soft skills to hard data.
Through the partnership with ACC, members who purchase the ACC Benchmarking Report receive an initial Smarter Law consultation at no charge. The consultation utilizes ACC benchmarking data to provide key metrics around head count and cost specific to each law department. The member will receive a written analysis summary and a phone briefing on the results, analyzing their implications for legal coverage, compliance, and client satisfaction. Members who seek a more detailed assessment, including advice on how to make the prescribed improvements, will have the opportunity to engage Smarter Law Solutions fully.
“We’ve had the honor of collaborating with ACC before, but this opportunity to utilize customized in-house intelligence is unprecedented,” said Trevor Faure, CEO of Smarter Law Solutions. “Using data from the ACC Benchmarking Report will result in a legal department establishing where it currently is but Smarter Law analysis takes the next key steps: showing what these results mean and how they can be improved in tangible, practical ways. As legal leaders strive to become business partners, the application of world-class business data and improvement processes are vital first steps.”
The report is available at www.acc.com/benchmarking. Information on the advisory consultation services, including the free consultation, is available at www.acc.com/smarterlaw.
About ACC: The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) is a global legal association that promotes the common professional and business interests of in-house counsel who work for corporations, associations and other organizations through information, education, networking opportunities and advocacy initiatives. With more than 45,000 members employed by over 10,000 organizations in 85 countries, ACC connects its members to the people and resources necessary for both personal and professional growth. By in-house counsel, for in-house counsel.® For more information, visit www.acc.com and follow ACC on Twitter: @ACCinhouse.
About Smarter Law Solutions: An independent global consultancy founded by the former EY global general counsel & leader of legal services, Trevor Faure. Since 2008, Smarter Law methodology has helped transform the performance of over 250 general counsel, legal departments and law firms around the World for all-round wins; from the Tyco-Eversheds alliance up to the recent award-winning AvisBudget program. Transforming busy lawyers into business leaders has established Smarter Law as the definitive performance improvement solution. See www.smarterlawsolutions.com.
About MLA: Major, Lindsey & Africa is the world’s leading legal search firm. The firm, founded in 1982, offers a range of specialized legal recruiting and Transform Advisory Services to meet the ever-changing needs of law firms and legal departments and to support the career aspirations of talented lawyers and legal and compliance professionals. With more than 25 offices and 200-plus search consultants around the world, Major, Lindsey & Africa uses its market knowledge and experience to partner with organizations to fulfill their legal talent needs and provide solutions to increase team efficiency and effectiveness. Major, Lindsey & Africa is an Allegis Group company, the global leader in talent solutions. To learn more about Major, Lindsey & Africa, visit www.mlaglobal.com.
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