Keep me logged in until I sign out. Mr. Lauer is a consultant based in Maplewood, New Jersey, on issues related to the efficient delivery of legal service to corporate clients and the relationships between corporate clients and outside law firms. Corporate legal services are under pressure.
Cost is scrutinized more closely than ever before.
There probably is no law department that is immune to demands from business executives that it control, if not reduce, the budget for legal work. This has caused in-house counsel to attempt to use techniques for cost containment that were previously unfamiliar to the legal profession. RFPs long have been used to solicit interest in providing construction services or in contracting with government agencies. Law firms have received RFPs from existing and potential clients in recent years much more frequently then previously. All proposals submitted by competing firms would have a similar focus, however.