There is too much secrecy around panels
It’s now more than a decade since major plcs began using the panel model to manage their relationships with law firms. As Legal Week has noted before, despite the rapid adoption of the model in Europe, it has plainly failed to deliver on one of supposed benefits: securing value and containing fee inflation. Obviously, clients are now robustly acting to gain better terms from legal advisers but that has precious little to do with panels – in most cases it is due to the recession and pressure from chief executives and finance directors.
