Consultation with a range of firms as to their experiences of the tendering process has uncovered alarming shortfalls on the part of the briefs issued by corporate counsel.
The findings have major implications for legal management in client companies and law firms.
Resource shortfalls
Firms approached complained of:
l the time and cost involved in the preparation of the tender – often with the further hindrance of a brief which omits information about the project or the requirements of the client;
l the cost of pulling all the information together with – at best – the chances of success being about 60%;
l the fact that conflicts of interest emerge too late in the tendering process, with law firms having already incurred substantial costs.
