{"id":1124,"date":"2016-04-26T14:00:42","date_gmt":"2016-04-26T18:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/?p=1124"},"modified":"2016-04-27T16:34:26","modified_gmt":"2016-04-27T20:34:26","slug":"product-summary-corporate-purchasing-project-how-sp-500-companies-evaluate-outside-counsel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2016\/04\/26\/product-summary-corporate-purchasing-project-how-sp-500-companies-evaluate-outside-counsel\/","title":{"rendered":"Product Summary: Corporate Purchasing Project: How S&P 500 Companies Evaluate Outside Counsel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"banner1-2-1\"Photo by Brooks Kraft<\/em><\/p>\n

The Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession\u2019s (CLP\u2019s)<\/em><\/a> mission is to make a significant contribution to the modern practice of law by increasing understanding of the structures, norms, and dynamics of the global legal profession. In pursuit of this mission, CLP conducts rigorous, empirical research on the profession, implements new content and methods of teaching legal professionals at all stages of their careers, <\/em>and fosters bridges between the global universe of legal practitioners and the academy. To learn more, visit the Center\u2019s <\/em>website<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Post by Bryon Fong, Assistant Research Director (HLS Center on the Legal Profession), and Nour Soubani, HLS Case Studies Assistant<\/p>\n

\u201cHow are relationships between clients and service providers evolving\u2014and why?\u201d The HLS Center on the Legal Profession\u2019s publication entitled \u201cCorporate Purchasing Project: How S&P 500 Companies Evaluate Outside Counsel<\/a>\u201d is based on more than four years of empirical research aimed at answering exactly that question. The publication is drawn from a combination of quantitative and qualitative data on how large U.S. corporations make law firm hiring and assessment decisions, including a large-n survey as well as information gleaned from over 160 interviews with chief legal officers. The publication aims to address four main topics:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. How do companies evaluate the quality of legal service providers when making hiring and legal management decisions?<\/li>\n
  2. Under what circumstances do these companies discipline or terminate their relationship with their law firms?<\/li>\n
  3. How do these companies evaluate whether to follow \u201cstar\u201d lawyers when they change law firms?<\/li>\n
  4. In what ways do these companies manage the intersection between law and public relations?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    As an example of the sort of in-depth, empirical findings presented in the publication, the research found that general counsel rely heavily on their own experience when making hiring decisions\u2014fully 97 percent of general counsels (GCs) told us that the most important source of information in making hiring decisions is personal knowledge (either their own experience with the specific outside lawyers or law firm or their personal knowledge of the lawyers\u2019 or law firm\u2019s reputation). Three-quarters talked with colleagues at their own firm, and half with peers at other firms. Yet only 17 percent consulted public sources of information such as rankings or court records. As a result, and as interview data corroborates, the ways in which GCs hire outside counsel has not yet materially changed.<\/p>\n

    It is interesting to note that, for those who did consult outside rankings, prior experience became a less important criteria, while firm size, geographic reach, and commitment to diversity assumed more significance. External factors like these may gain in importance when selecting new clients if industry-wide rankings become more trusted and well known, but for now, relationships still dominate.<\/p>\n

    \"blogpic\"<\/p>\n

    This is just a snap-shot of the sort of practical takeaways the publication offer. The full publication provides a fascinating and in-depth look at the thought process of chief legal officers, and provides a dataset that is challenging and important for the legal profession as a whole.<\/p>\n

    Want to learn more? Check out the Center on the Legal Profession\u2019s digital magazine, The Practice<\/em><\/a>, including the forthcoming May 2016 issue on The Changing Role of the Global General Counsel. This exciting new issue contains previously unreleased data from the Center\u2019s survey on how in-house legal departments in India, Brazil, and China make purchasing decisions\u2014and how these findings related to U.S. trends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Photo by Brooks Kraft The Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession\u2019s (CLP\u2019s) mission is to make a significant contribution to the modern practice of law by increasing understanding of the structures, norms, and dynamics of the global legal … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7945,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4CR8M-i8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":603,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2013\/09\/10\/new-beginnings-for-cdi-exec-ed-leadership\/","url_meta":{"origin":1124,"position":0},"title":"New Beginnings for CDI, Exec Ed Leadership","author":"Elizabeth Moroney","date":"September 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"HLS Professor Ashish Nanda\u2014who founded the Case Development Initiative, a leading contributor to the Case Studies portal\u2014was recently appointed Director of his alma mater, the Indian Institute of Management\u2013Ahmedabad. Nanda held three appointments at Harvard Law School\u2014Robert Braucher Professor of Practice, Faculty Director of Executive Education, and Research Director at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Case Development Initiative Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Case Development Initiative Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/category\/case-development-initiative-blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2013\/01\/14\/the-case-development-initiative-at-harvard-law-school\/","url_meta":{"origin":1124,"position":1},"title":"The Case Development Initiative at Harvard Law School","author":"Lisa Brem","date":"January 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Case Development Initiative (CDI), including Ashish Nanda, Faculty Director and Robert Braucher Professor of Practice (pictured left), Dechert Fellow Nicholas Haas (right), and Program Coordinator Rachel Gibson (center), focuses on producing cases for use in a variety of business-oriented courses at HLS. \"We're currently working on a professional service\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Case Development Initiative Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Case Development Initiative Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/category\/case-development-initiative-blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2012\/01\/CDI-group-500x375.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":979,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2015\/06\/09\/new-vice-dean-to-develop-experiential-learning-at-hls\/","url_meta":{"origin":1124,"position":2},"title":"New Vice Dean to Develop Experiential Learning at HLS","author":"Amanda Reilly","date":"June 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Dan Nagin, Clinical Professor of Law and director of the WilmerHale Legal Services Center, will serve as Harvard Law School\u2019s first Vice Dean for Experiential and Clinical Programs. In this position, Nagin will work to build the school\u2019s experiential offerings and foster new opportunities for hands-on learning. Nagin, who joined\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Daniel Nagin, Clinical Professor of Law","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2015\/06\/Dan-Nagin.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1108,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2016\/04\/12\/new-product-tiantong-partners-transforming-litigation-in-china\/","url_meta":{"origin":1124,"position":3},"title":"NEW PRODUCT: Tiantong & Partners: Transforming Litigation in China","author":"nsoubani","date":"April 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"photo by \u00a0yeowatzup post by Dr. Lisa Rohrer, Executive Director of the Case Development Initiative at Harvard Law\u00a0 School CDI is pleased to announce the publication of its first case on the Chinese legal market: Tiantong & Partners: Transforming Litigation in China, co-authored by Ashish Nanda, Director of the Indian\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"yeowatzup","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2016\/04\/yeowatzup-1024x679.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2016\/04\/yeowatzup-1024x679.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2016\/04\/yeowatzup-1024x679.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":495,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2013\/07\/23\/summer-reading-legal-educations-9-big-ideas-part-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":1124,"position":4},"title":"Summer Reading: Legal Education\u2019s 9 Big Ideas, Part 3","author":"Elizabeth Moroney","date":"July 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It All Started With the Case Study Last week we shared with you \u201cThe Four Cs,\u201d proposed solutions to the crisis in legal education. We have one more to consider: the Case Study Method. Let\u2019s call it the Fifth C. Law schools have been teaching the case method for well\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Legal News and Debate"","block_context":{"text":"Legal News and Debate","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/category\/legal-news-and-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2013\/07\/Langdell.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":729,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/2014\/03\/25\/check-out-our-menu-makeover\/","url_meta":{"origin":1124,"position":5},"title":"Check Out Our Menu Makeover!","author":"Elizabeth Moroney","date":"March 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Better Browsing and Ready-to-Teach Units on HLS Case Studies Site The Case Studies Program is piloting new website features to help customers explore our offerings. Now, visitors can browse by product type: discussion-based case study, workshop-based case study, role play, DVD, international materials, and free materials. Workshop-based case studies generally\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Case Study Program Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Case Study Program Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/category\/case-study-program-blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/files\/2014\/03\/New-menu-500x345.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7945"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1124"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1132,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1124\/revisions\/1132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/hlscasestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}