Embracing modern legal service delivery models

It’s more than just talk

According to the 15th Annual Blickstein Group Law Department Operations Survey, done in collaboration with Deloitte, more than 30% of law departments expect their spending with alternative legal service providers (ALSPs) to increase in the next 12 months, and none expect their spending to decrease.

Additionally, leading practices among legal departments recognize that not all legal services are homogenous in terms of business value created, contribution to strategic goals, complexity and risk profile. One perspective on legal work is categorizing it into three general buckets: cream, core and commodity:

• A “bet the company” piece of litigation might be classified as cream, meaning it is worthwhile and necessary to engage bespoke services from top attorneys at leading law firms to mitigate unacceptable risk or take full advantage of a complex opportunity.
• Other legal work may be seen as a “commodity” because it can be done in largely the same way every time with less expensive resources with reduced risk.
• We define core legal work as the bread-and-butter matters that in-house counsel and their law firms do that keeps the company running on an ongoing basis. It may occasionally vary or escalate but is mostly predictable and repeatable.

Alternatives for core legal work

Most attorneys, of course, look at work through a legal lens. Different areas of work may not seem to have much in common from that perspective. Negotiating contracts and drafting pleadings, for example, may require completely different legal expertise. They may not even be in the same type of practice, as contracts are a commercial enterprise and pleadings are part of litigation. When looking at legal work through an engineering lens, however, the processes behind a lot of core legal work may actually be quite similar, and, therefore, ripe for disruption.

Here are three alternatives to the traditional or hourly billing model for delivering legal services. When implemented strategically, they can drive much more than just cost savings.

As used in this document, “Deloitte” means Deloitte Tax LLP, a subsidiary of Deloitte LLP. Please see www.deloitte.com/ us/about for a detailed description of our legal structure. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. The Deloitte US firms do not provide legal advice. This article contains general information only and Deloitte is not, by means of this article, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or other professional advice or services. This article is not a substitute for such professional advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified professional advisor. Deloitte shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person who relies on this article.

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		Robert Taylor Managing Director Legal Business Services Deloitte Tax LLP roberttaylor@deloitte.com +1 617 960 5407