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Canadian legal landscape 2019

Issues and trends facing in-house counsel in Canada

Canadian legal landscape 2019

Issues and trends facing in-house counsel in Canada

Our 2019 report explores issues and trends faced by in-house counsel and law firms and whether or not they are prepared to make changes to drive long-term strategic value within their organization.

With over 200 surveys conducted across Canada and the United States, our research shows that most legal teams have not undergone significant change since 2017, but we feel the industry is on the verge of disruption. In this report, we identify the top priorities for CLOs in the coming year and opportunities for in-house teams to maximize technology and talent investments.

We’ve focused on three areas that will continue to have a significant impact on the legal industry in the years to come, and ones we believe can help CLOs bridge the gap between the many roles they play:

  • Operations: CLOs continue to focus on insourcing more work and utilizing AFAs to maintain or decrease their external legal spend, with law firms attracting the majority of spend.
  • Technology: Legal teams remain hesitant to invest in technological solutions, a critical yet underused means to achieving best-in-class status.
  • Talent: CLOs continue to prioritize legal/technical skills over emerging critical skills such as data analytics, talent management and communications.

Canadian legal landscape 2017

Issues and trends facing Canadian in-house counsel and law firms

Deloitte recently set out to understand today’s legal landscape in Canada, and how in-house counsel and law firms are dealing with disruption. We asked survey participants how legal services are currently performed and how they see the industry adapting to the future.

A common theme emerged: the importance of client service excellence. Both in-house and external counsel told us they want to provide practical, business-friendly advice to their clients. At the same time, regulatory risk and “unknown unknowns” keep them up at night.

The results of our findings are in our new report, Canadian legal landscape 2017. In it, we examine four key issues and trends currently affecting legal professionals:

  • External spend: The increasing demand for alternative fee arrangements, analytics, and comparative benchmarks
  • Organizational structure: How legal departments and law firms are organizing themselves to meet demand, and the ensuing competition for skilled resources
  • Technology: A critical yet underused means to achieving best-in-class status
  • Consolidation: A continuing trend in the legal industry

View the full report here.

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