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Corporate Counsel Costs Are Up 7 Percent
The National Law Journal
November 21, 2007
Image: Glowimages
Corporate law department internal spending climbed by 7 percent while outside spending edged up by 1.4 percent at American companies with more than $5 billion in revenue, according to a new survey from legal consultancy Altman Weil Inc. and LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell.
The increase translates to costs of $346,497 per lawyer, driven chiefly by an average 19.2 percent bump in lawyer compensation and benefits. Outside expenditures now average $616,519 per lawyer, ranging from above $1 million in the chemical manufacturing industry to $251,405 per lawyer in the insurance industry.
"This increase comes at a time when general counsel continue to strategize over improved cost management of legal fees," said Altman principal Dan DiLucchio.
The 2007 Altman Weil Law Department Metrics Benchmarking Survey data, collected from 144 companies in the spring, reflects fiscal year 2006 spending.
