As 2024 approaches, general counsels (GCs) and chief legal officers (CLOs) expect to increase their reliance on external law firms to address their vast legal needs. These needs span new matters, regulatory challenges, and the surge in employee activism. The trend for top corporate lawyers to engage further with outside counsel and dedicate more resources to it has been highlighted in a recent report.
Various legal, regulatory, and internal factors have attributed to this growing dependency. Unresolved matters, changes or anticipated changes in laws and procedures, and internal activities related to employee rights and activism, are primarily driving the increased spending on law firms.
Contrary to previous trends, more and more GCs and CLOs are adopting a strategic approach by partnering with law firms. Furthermore, according to the latest industry insights, more such legal heads expect to retain their partnerships with these firms into the future. Cost, expertise area, and previous success records are among the key factors that GCs and CLOs consider while selecting a law firm, with these factors likely to influence trends in 2024.
Thus, the future for law firms seems promising as legal professionals in corporations foresee a greater need for external legal counsel to navigate the increasingly complex and diverse legal challenges that lay ahead in 2024.