Large corporations shifted legal work in-house to cut costs, halving expenses in some cases
Evidence
More than 8 percent of lawyers currently work in private industry, frequently in firms involved in finance, insurance, real estate, communications, or manufacturing. Major corporations are most likely to employ lawyers and maintain large legal departments. Fortune 500 firms employ approximately 30 percent of all in-house counsel (General Electric employs more than 400 attorneys, Exxon more than 200). The growth in corporate law offices represents an attempt by major companies to reduce legal costs by relying less heavily on elite law firms. By using in-house counsel, some companies have halved their legal costs. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 705
Categorization
- XREF: Percentages and examples here are examinable textbook data for memorizing the profession’s structure. — connects to: Corporations expand in-house legal departments to cut reliance on elite firms — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1064; Legal clinics cut costs through scale, paralegals, and standardized forms — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 735; Continuous corporate legal needs drove the shift to retainer practice — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 1227
Broader Connections
- Corporations expand in-house legal departments to cut reliance on elite firms
#expands(0.95) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1064 - Continuous corporate legal needs drove the shift to retainer practice
#qualifies(0.75) — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law, 1227 - Legal clinics cut costs through scale, paralegals, and standardized forms
#exemplifies(0.72) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 735