Canvassed for our annual in-house survey, general counsel at some of the UK’s leading companies give their perspective on risk, fees and the future of law
Keep it in the family
‘As part of our evolution over the past five years, we are also doing more internally, particularly focusing on transactions that do not proceed or do not come to fruition. When you look at the statistics, because we get involved at a very early stage only one in ten deals goes all the way. Of those nine out of ten that do not proceed, we try and identify them as early as possible and ensure that we are handling those matters internally as far as possible.’
Khasruz Zaman, head of M&A legal, Barclays
More buying power
‘Do clients have more leverage now? Historically the banks have had a considerable amount of leverage. Following the banking crisis, most banking-focused firms realised they needed to diversify their client base. Our panel review outcome is a reflection of the greater buying power we now have because many of these firms may not have worked with Aviva and other insurers historically and are keen to build a longer-term corporate relationship with us.’
Monica Risam, group general counsel, Aviva
Think local
‘We’re not interested in a global legal model. We only have 11 firms that have prequalified to provide legal support in three or more jurisdictions so they are a huge “no”. There are firms out there who have prequalified to give us litigation support in Argentina or energy contract work in France or IP support in China, and that’s the only thing they have qualified for.’
Peter Rees QC, legal director, Royal Dutch Shell
Risky business
‘The amount of legal work will go up but more than that, the type of work and the relationship between the client and law firm will change. Whereas most firms are very transactional, what clients are increasingly looking for is advice on how best to manage risk and that requires a lot more than just providing legal advice. They require consultancy services across a whole range of areas and clients are looking more for that type of advice and that’s what they’ll be attaching a big premium to.’
Paul Newton, group legal director and general counsel, Bupa
Clients need innovation
‘I’m not one of these that think that law firms will disappear but there will be fewer of them. The law firms that need to stay relevant need to do two things: one is to bring solutions to clients – no longer waiting for the phone to ring – and being quite innovative in terms of application of law. Say you work for a property company and you come up with a really clever solution around a particular problem, very few law firms codify that solution and take it to other clients, they forget they’ve done it and wait for the next piece of work to come in and then reinvent that wheel. The second thing they need to do is to invest in tech and to invest in people who are not lawyers to deliver services back to clients.’
Stephen Allen, head of global legal services transformation, PwC Legal
In-house has the expertise
‘In-house energy sector teams have grown to take on more transactions of greater complexity. Only a handful of firms, predominantly those in Aberdeen, get a sufficient flow of North Sea deals to stay proficient. We have seen London-based energy firms who appear to be “earning while they learn”.’
David Isenegger, general counsel, Centrica Energy
Lean, mean,fighting machine
‘We have had a slight increase in headcount across the division but as with any financial institution we make sure we operate effectively and efficiently. We have got much better at planning the resources we need and when we need them, enabling us to continue to be flexible in meeting the needs of the business as they change.’
Liz Kelly, general counsel, Nationwide
Tough on fees
‘If law firms start to get aggressive on price as and when the economy improves I can see us getting tougher and saying “all bets are off, we’re putting in place a formal panel and you’ll have to apply for your current job”. I can also see flexible providers doing well as legal teams turn to them for ad hoc work in preference to law firms.’
Robert Ivens, head of legal, Marks & Spencer Group