Tech Adoption Named Top Non-Legal Skill for In-House Counsel
New data shared by the Association of Corporate Counsel found the opinion held by almost half of corporate legal professionals.
The State of Corporate Litigation Today, published in collaboration with EverLaw, noted that 47% of respondents believe that technology adoption will be the most important skill needed by the next generation of in-house legal professionals.
The report, which was issued at the ACC 2022 Annual Meeting, showed the results of a survey of more than 200 in-house counsel and legal operations professionals. Respondents were surveyed on their department’s top litigation costs, approach to litigation, technology needs and selection criteria for outside counsel.
Among other findings, the results of the survey showed that nearly half of respondents’ legal departments reported spending more than $400 per hour on outside counsel and more than $100,000 per legal matter. 46% reported that the average length of a typical litigation matter is increasing, and that the most common strategy for containing litigation costs (used by 59%) is moving more work in-house.
While 56% reported that they expect their department’s technology needs to increase in a year, it was found that a firm’s use of innovative technology is the least common criterion when it comes to considering outside counsel. The most common factor was expertise and industry knowledge.
Other data found that breach of contract and employment and labour disputes are the most common litigation matters faced by legal departments, and that the perceived top risk to respondents’ firms was monetary and reputational and reputational risk to the business (38%).
The full report can be read on the EverLaw website.
