It’s the case in just about every major corporate legal department—the pressure is on to function more as a part of the business than just a cost center. And according to a new survey from Bloomberg Law and The Buying Legal Council, a change in how legal departments approach their outside counsel spending may be the catalyst for massive department innovation.
The 2017 Legal Procurement Survey indicates that the use of legal procurement experts is growing, with those studied in driving buying decisions in other divisions of a corporation applying their talents to legal. Only 27 percent of respondents said procurement plays “little to no role” in hiring of outside counsel; 33 percent, meanwhile, said procurement’s main duty is as a partner and adviser in the decision.
