Firms see clients pause relationships in biggest market shakeup since financial crisis, study finds
01 April 2021
Wolters Kluwer report shows AmLaw 150-200 firms most impacted as in-house teams pare legal spend
rikur B; Shutterstock The legal services market experienced its biggest shakeup in a decade last year as a majority of in-house teams reduced their reliance on external legal providers, with smaller firms suffering the greatest impact, according to a new report from Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions. The first of its four quarterly reports – LegalVIEW Insights – found that 90% of corporate legal departments downsized their active provider relationships, with 16% of relationships that existed in 2019 paused last year due to the economic impact of the pandemic. Firms ranked between 150 and 200 in AmLaw’s annual US law firm ranking were most impacted by the cutbacks, followed by firms outside the top 200.