The GC Insider Report Launch

On March 16, 2023, LawWiser launched its report ‘The GC Insider’ in the presence of eminent General Counsel and law firm founders followed by an engaging panel discussion on GC-law firm collaboration titled – Finding the Right Fit: Matching Law Firm Expertise with Business Needs.

This report explores for the first time how the relationship between in-house counsel and their legal advisors has changed drastically in India, creating a need to re-evaluate the parameters of a successful engagement.

While there is no dearth of talent and experience on the law firm side, there are certain areas like quality, responsiveness, and commercial awareness where GCs as clients have different expectations. The GC Insider report has investigated and analyzed this gap. Readers can expect to find actionable insights for optimizing collaboration between internal and external legal teams for business success.

Launching the report, Aman Abbas, Founder & CEO, LawWiser said, “General Counsel are now business enablers and have a strategic role to play in their organizations. The GC Insider Report by LawWiser examines the latest parameters GCs use to assess and engage a law firm. It reveals interesting insights on parameters such as Firm size v/s experience, quality and pricing, issues such as ESG and DEI which law firms can use to assess client needs and engage with them effectively.”

Appreciating LawWiser for its efforts towards the GC community, Dr. Sanjeev Gemawat, Group General Counsel, Vedanta said that this report in a way acknowledges the in-house discipline and recognizes GCs as strategic thinkers. He said, “Majority of the time, the strategy of litigation and even non-litigation work is getting devised at the GC’s office and then being shared with law firms for advice. In this construct, lawyers need to understand the GC’s business requirements and legal interpretation and come up with a solution. Effective delivery is the key, all other factors are peripheral.”

Some key findings of the report are as follows: –

• Expertise with a proven track record is the most important factor for GCs in law firm selection, with almost 80% of the respondents giving it Rank 1. Cost-effectiveness and prior relationships are next in line.
• Almost every respondent said that knowledge of industry of the client is very important, pointing to the fact that lawyers need to understand the client’s business to come up with effective solutions.
• When it comes to changing advisors, General Counsel end up doing so because of quality issues – 44% of respondents selected this as the primary reason, with lack of responsiveness coming in a close second.
• With respect to billing, not a single GC said they would go for billable hours. Over 52% said they prefer fixed costs, and the remaining respondents prefer hybrid fees depending on the nature of the mandate.
• Individual relationships are key, and General Counsel often selects a firm based on the Partner who will lead the project.
• While awards & rankings are good for team morale, they are a relatively unimportant factor for GCs in law firm selection.
• The report answers many other intriguing questions such as what makes GCs bet on emerging firms, do they give preference to firms which are well-integrated with technology and does DEI play a role while selecting external legal advisors.

The launch event was supported by IndusLaw, Athena Legal and Phoenix Legal.

The GC Insider will be an annual report released by LawWiser with participation from a large and diverse base of General Counsels. It is now available for download on LawWiser.com.

Download the report here – https://lawwiser.com/reports/