As budgets continue to shrink and in-house legal teams are being asked to do more with less, general counsel need to get creative to find ways to save money on outside counsel and prioritize which matters they can keep in-house, a group of general counsel said Wednesday during Corporate Counsel’s virtual General Counsel Conference.

Finding unique arrangements with law firms will lead to greater efficiency in the work that comes back and will stop surprises in year-over-year work, the group said in a panel discussion called “Problem Solving Through COVID-19: Decreasing Budgets, But Creative Solutions.”