It's important for legal departments to remember that not all of their law firms will be entirely open to the idea of alternative fee arrangements.        

“What we've found in our research is that, not surprisingly, smaller and midsize law firms tend to be more open to alternative fee arrangements than some of the largest ones,” says Brian Lee, managing director of CEB (formerly known as Corporate Executive Board). “You always have to see it from both sides. A lot of times, one of the things general counsel in legal departments fail to do is go into an alternative fee arrangement with the attitude that they are partnering with a law firm, and the law firm is also taking a risk. Sometimes they come at it from a viewpoint of just trying to save as much money as possible, which doesn't actually build a whole lot of trust in the relationship.”

It's important for legal departments to remember that not all of their law firms will be entirely open to the idea of alternative fee arrangements.        

“What we've found in our research is that, not surprisingly, smaller and midsize law firms tend to be more open to alternative fee arrangements than some of the largest ones,” says Brian Lee, managing director of CEB (formerly known as Corporate Executive Board). “You always have to see it from both sides. A lot of times, one of the things general counsel in legal departments fail to do is go into an alternative fee arrangement with the attitude that they are partnering with a law firm, and the law firm is also taking a risk. Sometimes they come at it from a viewpoint of just trying to save as much money as possible, which doesn't actually build a whole lot of trust in the relationship.”