Surveys: Corporate Legal Depts. Are Conducting Their Own

Corporate legal departments are starting to survey their own lawyers and company executives about the performance of outside law firms to keep better tabs on the relationships, according to this report in The National Law Journal, based on reports by attorneys attending the Association of Corporate Counsel annual meeting in Chicago. According to NLJ, more companies, especially those that are small and midsized, may be turning to a formal survey process as they seek to foster stronger ties and better communication with their law firms. One example provided in the story was that of Ullico Associate Inc. General Counsel Patrick McGlone said his insurance company for the first time this year sent a three-page survey to legal staff and executives, asking questions about a firm's communications, timeliness, qualities and deficiencies. It has been following up with face-to-face meetings. According to the NLJ report, the eight firms working with Ullico took the survey "very seriously" and were eager to see how they performed relative to the other firms.