Chief Legal Officers Are Happy and Hiring
A little more than 90 percent of chief legal officers responding to a survey said they still like their jobs.
The happiness could spread to some job-hunting lawyers, if another finding of the survey is any indication. Twenty-nine percent of the top legal officers responding to the survey by the Association of Corporate Counsel said they plan to hire in their departments this year, Corporate Counsel reports. Last year only 23 percent planned to do more hiring.
ACC deputy general counsel James Merklinger told Corporate Counsel that the hiring plans are an indication more work will be brought in-house.
The lawyers responding to the survey are spending less on outside counsel, the survey found, and focusing more on alternative fee arrangements. Seventy-nine percent of chief legal officers said they wanted alternative fees to make up an increasing portion of their spending on outside counsel.
“This may be part of an overall restructuring that lets them be more efficient and effective, and that’s a good sign,” Merklinger told Corporate Counsel. “The economy has raised the awareness that it’s time to do things differently.”
