Some FTSE 100 legal teams out size city law firms
December 14, 2015
When companies in-source services it is usually for two reasons; service level and pricing, and we know GCs have expressed issues on both fronts.
When I first looked at the figures of in-house teams and their planned growth, I was shocked. I have spoken and written about my views on why in-house teams have grown; in particular within the piece for PLC below.
Although the growth of some in-house teams is likely to continue, GCs are continually looking for ways to increase efficiency so that they can curb the growth of headcount. And because “in-house” now has substantial mass, creating and developing products and services for in-house teams is becoming a sophisticated market place. Whether that involves, Legal Project Management (which is what Halebury provides) or AI services, GCs have a great deal of options on how they want to structure and operate.
The largest FTSE 100 in-house teams rival private practice law firms in terms of fee-earners. HSBC emerges as the company with the largest number of lawyers working in-house. It employs 1,109 legal professionals – on a par with Clyde & Co, the twelfth biggest law firm in The Lawyer UK 200.
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