General counsel are under intense pressure to do as much
work as possible in-house to save money, if law firms want to win
instructions they must become increasingly focused
A survey of nearly 200 senior in-house lawyers in Spain has
revealed that many face the struggle of having to do "more for
less" due to the fact that, while in-house legal
departments´ budgets have remained broadly the same in the
last two years, their roles have expanded and their
responsibilities have increased without commensurate growth in
personnel or support from external lawyers.
The recently published Iberian Lawyer In-house Club study
concluded that one of the main lessons learned by in-house lawyers
during the crisis was the "need to control expenditure".
The report added: "While the outlook for the economy is
positive, general counsel remain cautious when making decisions
about expenditure and examine costs much more closely."
