General Electric (GE) is forcing firms on its panels to compete in online auctions for legal work in a move which they hope will lead to a reduction in their overall legal spend. The process consists of asking panel firms to make financial bids for specific pieces of work with the further tweak that their bid can also be seen by the other participants in the auction.
The system was rolled out in the US for the first time at the end of last year and the company is now considering implementing it in the UK, where it uses firms including Clifford Chance, Slaughter and May, Allen & Overy and Linklaters. A GE Commercial Finance spokesperson said: “This is a broad-based system in which a lot of firms get to participate. We have an enormous legal business and we are trying to control costs but also get the best counsel possible.”
