The state of corporate litigation today was published in collaboration by EverLaw. It noted that 47% believe technology adoption will be the most important skill required by the next generation in-house lawyers.
The report was published at the ACC 2022 Annual Meeting and included the results of a survey that included more than 200 legal operations and in-house counsel. The survey asked respondents about their departments’ top litigation costs, approaches to litigation, technology requirements, and criteria for selecting outside counsel.
The survey results showed that almost half of respondents reported that their legal departments spent more than $400 an hour on outside counsel, and more than $100,000 per case. 46% of respondents reported that the average litigation case length is increasing and that moving work in-house is the best strategy to reduce litigation costs (59%)
While 56% said that they expected their department’s tech needs to grow in the next year, it was discovered that the most common criteria for considering outside counsel is a firm’s innovative technology use. Expertise and industry knowledge were the most popular factors.
According to other data, breach of contract and employment disputes were the most frequent litigation cases that legal departments face. The top-rated risk for respondents’ businesses was reputational and financial risk (38%).
You can read the entire report on the EverLaw website.