Some 44% of in-house legal teams have taken charge of most of their own litigation work, a new Legal Week survey has found, offering up the latest evidence of the determination of general counsel to rein in spending on external lawyers.

The finding highlights fears among companies about the increasing cost of litigation, which has propped up the profits of many law firms over the past couple of years – with lucrative City cases such as those arising from the Libor scandal giving extra momentum to the litigation boom.