ALMResearchBlog

Surveys of U.K. Corporate Counsel: Not on Their Company’s Boards, Ignorant of DOJ Practices

A poll of U.K. general counsel conducted by top international firm Lovells found that less than a third (28%) have a seat on their company’s board of directors, despite widespread belief that it should be accepted practice. A report of the results appeared in Legal Week.

In a separate report that appeared on the BLT: Blog of Legal Times, a survey of some of the 350 largest British companies found nearly half of them don't know much about the U.S. Department of Justice's prosecution of foreign firms suspected of corrupt practices. KPMG Forensic polled the heads of legal departments, BLT reported, and found that 46 percent of them are unaware of the long arm of the U.S. law or believe that they are exempt from scrutiny.

Just Released: Report of Practice Group Management Survey

Altman Weil and ALM Research have just released a report of their survey of Law Firm Practice Group Management, which surveyed law firm leaders across the U.S. about their practice group operations and management. Key findings include the fact that, despite the time and money invested in their practice groups, more that half of law firm managing partners and executive directors surveyed rated overall practice group performance as average or worse. When asked to rate their groups on the ability to market, develop new business and cross-sell other practices, fewer than 20 percent of firm leaders rated their groups as “excellent” or “very good” on any one of those measures.

The report includes data and information about practice group structure, performance, operations, leadership, administration, and marketing. It is the first formal benchmarking survey of law firm practice group management to be published in the U.S. In addition, the report leverages the extensive expertise of Altman Weil, to provide actionable recommendations for improving and increasing the overall effectiveness of Practice Groups. The report is available through ALM Research Publishing.

Survey: In-House Counsel Require More of Their Outside Counsel

According to an Associated Press report about the 2007 ACC/Serengeti Managing Outside Counsel Survey counsel have become more systematic in the ways that they manage their work with outside counsel and are applying basic vendor management practices in their evaluations.” Another major change during the past three years, according to the report, has been the increase in resources spent on compliance issues, “including periodic reporting on legal spending and developments.” Benchmarks from the survey available free through SerengetiLaw.com. The full report is $500 for ACC members, and $750 for non-members.

Survey: Skadden is the Standard-Bearer, DC Firms Lag

According to this report from the blog of our sister publication in Washington, DC, Legal Times, a new survey report published by BTI Consulting Group reveals the unsurprising news that Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is the standard-bearer among corporate law firms. BTI’s survey asked corporate counsel, among other things, what firms were getting the most work. Their research identified eight other firms as power players in the transactions market: Baker & McKenzie; Jones Day; Mayer Brown; McDermott Will & Emery; Sidley Austin; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and Vinson & Elkins. As for Washington-based firms, they aren’t leading the pack, the blog writer said.

Who Represents Corporate America?

The National Law Journal has the list, the 20th annual Who Represents Corporate America list, that is, showing which law firms represent America’s largest companies, the Fortune 500. According to NLJ, their methodology this year was to “comb state and federal records to see which firms corporations actually used for commercial law and contracts litigation; corporate transactions; employment and labor litigation; and intellectual property litigation and patent prosecution.”

Data from this list is archived in the ALM Research Online database. In spreadsheet format, it becomes part of the overall Who Represents Corporate America product for 2007, which is updated on an on-going basis throughout the year with information from American Lawyer’s and Corporate Counsel‘s “Big Deals” and “Big Suits” columns, and a variety of other research reports that tell readers who counsels who.

National Law Journal’s Defense Hot List

Just in case you missed it, the National Law Journal published its third annual Defense Hot List this summer. The law firms on the list, according to NLJ, “have done exemplary, cutting-edge defense work.”  Nominations came from readers and were then supplemented with NLJ’s own research. They looked for firms with “overall impressive track records that managed at least one significant defense bench or jury verdict since July 1, 2006.”

Data from this list, as well as NLJ’s annual Plaintiffs Hot List (published in October) is archived in the ALM Research Online database. In spreadsheet format, it becomes part of the Who Represents Corporate America product for 2007, which is updated on an on-going basis throughout the year.

Wall St. Journal Free Company Research

The WSJ has a new feature, earnings cheat sheets for Q2 2007 that's bookmark-worthy, along with its Markets Data Center, which provides information on U.S. and international stocks, exchange-traded funds, mutual funds, bonds, rates and credit markets, and much more.

Survey Names “Power Elite” Firms

The BTI Consulting Group has released its “Client Relationship Scorecard” for 2007 and named 20 firms in its “Power Elite.” The firms in the “Power Elite” pass four tests with their clients, the report said – they have an established, primary relationship with their clients, enjoy “go-to” status, receive “enthusiastic” recommendations by peers, and have “superior” levels of client satisfaction. The top five firms in the “Power Elite” include: Jones Day, Sidley Austin, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, and Davis Polk & Wardwell.

M&A League Tables,1st Quarter

Once again, our friends at Alacra have posted links to the mergermarket M&A league tables. Links to all tables are also available on mergermarket’s press release site. At the top of the global M&A legal advisor’s chart is McCarthy Tetrault, though Davis Polk & Wardwell leads the North America table. Freshfields captured the number one spot on both the European and Asia-Pacific league tables.

More data on corporate transactions information is available through ALM Research Online in spreadsheet format. Both the Corporate Scorecard and the Corporate Representation (Who Counsels Who) spreadsheets can be accessed by clicking on either title. Samples are available for reviewing before purchase to show fields of data included in each.

Rankings: 50 Largest Private Equity Firms

For whatever reason, The Deal didn’t include Private Equity International’s list of the world’s 50 largest private equity firms (based on direct investment) in their story, but they did include an extensive discussion of it in Dealwatch: Middle Market. Carlyle Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and Goldman, Sachs & Co top the list, according to The Deal. The 50 firms have collectively raised a total of $551 billion in equity in the last five years, PEI says, and using a 5 times leverage multiple to their equity capital raised, that translates to $2.76 trillion in buying power. But along with the heavyweights, more than a handful of middle-market-focused firms also made their way onto the list and raised billions in capital to advance their rankings.