As general counsel respond to pressure to reduce and rationalise their choice of legal adviser, legal panels are shrinking. Philip Hoult reports on the findings of this year’s Legal Week Intelligence Client Satisfaction Survey
The enthusiasm of the UK’s largest companies for reviewing their panels of chosen law firms shows no signs of waning – last month National Grid became the latest FTSE 100 company to take a fresh look at its suppliers of legal services. Legal Week Intelligence’s fourth annual Client Satisfaction Survey – published in October – revealed that almost 90% of FTSE 100 companies use formal panels; and none had any intention of ditching them. More importantly, the average number of advisers on all panels has fallen from seven in 2006 to between four and five.
