2. Contents
Executive summary
3
Key findings
5
Introduction & profile of respondents
6
Profile of companies
7
Revenue & legal spend
8
Reporting lines & team size
9
Department structures & responsibility
11
Internal & external work split
12
Mission critical
15
Challenges
17
Team-building & recruitment
18
Thank You
To all who contributed this
year. We hope you find this
document useful. As always
we are very interested to
hear your feedback and
suggestions for future editions.
3. Executive
summary
The ACC & Laurence Simons EMEA Legal
Department Survey 2013 builds on previous
research, confirming established trends and
revealing new ones.
As the economic downturn
continues to bite across Europe
and company executives,
including general counsel and
heads of legal, look to respond
accordingly. This is having a
clear impact on the way legal
departments are managing
their workloads, budgets and
are being staffed. In particular,
company executives, are on
the whole looking to respond
to increasing pressures of cost
containment — to continue to do
more with less.
Compliance
Most respondent companies now have dedicated
compliance / regulatory functions (67%), or see the requirement to
create one. Nonetheless it is to the EMEA head of legal / general
counsel to which most such functions continue to report (63%).
Profile of Companies
Revenue & Legal Spend
T
he 2013 Survey draws
on the responses of
182
legal departments, a 60%
increase from the number
received last year (114).
12%
58%
21%
T
he majority of respondent
organisations are headquartered
in Europe (58%) with the United
Kingdom representing (12%) and
with the next best represented
region being North America (21%).
The average
EMEA revenue of
respondents is
The average internal
spend among all
respondents is
The median internal
spend among all
respondents is
€1,117bn
€17m
€800,000
while average
global revenues
stand at €2,346bn.
with the average
external spend being
€15,4m; significantly up
from last year’s data.
with the median
external spend
being €500,000.
Of the business sectors represented by respondents,
the most prominent are:
25%
T
echnology Telecoms
18%
The majority of respondents
expect internal legal spend
to stay the same (46%) or
increase (30%).
T
he majority of respondents
expect legal department
external spend to stay the
same (46%) or fall (36%).
M
anufacturing Engineering
10%
Energy Utilities
9%
FMCG Retail
30%
46%
36%
8%
Banking Finance
Laurence Simons Association of Corporate Counsel | EMEA Legal Department Benchmarking Survey 2013
3
4. Department Structures Responsibility
23%
The majority of legal departments
continue to be structured along a
mix of business line, geography
and area of law.
Law firms continue to dominate
legal departments’ external
spend, but LPOs and alternative
providers are utilised by just
over twice as many respondents
(23%) as in the 2012 EMEA
survey results.
Internal External Work Split
The major areas of work legal
departments are currently
focused on are:
•
company and commercial,
•
bribery / corruption /
compliance,
•
intellectual property,
•
regulatory, and
•
competition / antitrust.
Albeit the majority of respondents
have seen a decrease in internal
emphasis across all such areas
except regulatory — which is
seeing a growing focus, as are
more areas involving finance
and tax.
L
ess internal focus is being
placed on areas such as:
•
competition / antitrust,
• e-commerce, and
IT
• abour and employee benefits.
l
The major areas of law being sent
externally to law firms continues
to be:
•
dispute resolution,
• abour and employee benefits,
l
•
intellectual property, and
•
tax.
Many of these areas are also
being outsourced more frequently
than in previous years.
Mission Critical
Those areas of law which are
being sent out to law firms less
include:
•
competition / antitrust,
•
banking and finance,
•
capital markets,
• eal estate
r
and environmental, and
• ribery / corruption /
b
compliance.
4
Dispute resolution and regulatory
have risen in significance over
the past year, and most areas
considered mission critical
through 2013 are seeing a greater
focus on in-house capability.
There is a trend toward legal
departments taking on more work
and reducing the flow to external
advisers, which is also apparent
in the way they are being staffed
with an evident recent upturn
in recruitment.
Challenges
O
perational issues most keep
in-house lawyers awake at night
— dominated by the need to do
more with less and contain legal
costs. Next come concerns over
the blurring of the responsibilities
The leading mission-critical areas
of law for legal departments over
2012 were considered to be:
• company and commercial,
• competition and antitrust,
• intellectual property, and
• bribery / corruption /
compliance.
of legal departments and
managing regulatory change,
and compliance and reporting
obligations — well ahead of
personal development and job
satisfaction.
Around 49% of respondents
predict legal departments to stay
the same size, 40% expect an
increase and only 10% foresee
a decrease in headcount.
6. Introduction
profile of
respondents
In spring 2013, Laurence Simons and the Association of Corporate
Counsel (ACC) once again invited law departments to complete the
EMEA Legal Department Survey, to learn more about their teams,
and the business challenges facing them in Europe, the Middle
East and Africa (EMEA).
The findings of this year’s survey
build on those of last year and
of previous years, confirming
established trends and revealing
new ones.
As the economic downturn
continues to bite across Europe
particularly, company executives
including general counsel, are
on the whole looking to respond
to increasing pressures of cost
containment — to continue to do
more with less.
This year, we received responses
from 182 legal departments,
significantly up from the number
received last year (114), and
which were drawn from the range
of business sectors. The most
prominent being:
• Technology Telecoms (25%),
•
Manufacturing
Engineering (18%),
• Other (18%),
• Energy Utilities (10%),
• FMCG Retail (9%), and
• Banking Finance (8%).
Such a breakdown differs
marginally from the 2012 survey,
where manufacturing companies
were most prominent (23%),
followed by TMT (21%),
Life Sciences (16%) and
Commercial (11%).
The companies represented
were drawn from across the
globe, albeit the majority
(58%) were headquartered in
Europe — United Kingdom
companies representing 12%
of total respondents — with the
remainder from North America
(21%), Asia-Pacific (5%),
Russia / CIS (2%), Africa (1%)
and the Middle East (1%).
This year, general counsel again
accounted for the largest body
(51%) completing the survey,
followed by deputy / regional
general counsel (19%) and legal
counsel (18%). Of the remaining
12%, the largest single body
of respondents were heads
of regulatory affairs, or chief
compliance officers.
In this report, we have used
medians as well as means (the
more common form of average).
The median is the mid point of
a set of values and is a more
useful indicator when a few
outliers would otherwise skew the
average, as with the fully loaded
hourly rate for example.
RESPONDENT JOB TITLE
12%
Other
18%
Legal counsel
19%
Deputy / regional GC
6
51%
General counsel /
CLO / legal director
7. Profile of
companies
COMPANY’S GLOBAL HQ
12%
United
Kingdom
21%
North America
2%
58%
Russia / CIS
Europe
1%
Middle East
5%
1%
Asia Pacific
Africa
COMPANY’S INDUSTRY SECTOR*
5%
7%
1%
Aerospace Defence
Leisure Hospitality
8%
Professional Business Services
7%
Banking Finance
3%
Life Sciences Healthcare
7%
Property Real Estate
4%
Chemicals Minerals
10%
Energy Utilities
3%
Logistics
Public Sector / Government
18%
Manufacturing Engineering
9%
FMCG Retail
18%
3%
Media, Sports Entertainment
3%
2%
Insurance Pensions
25%
Technology Telecoms
Planes, Trains Automobiles
Other
0%
Charities
*Respondents could select all options that applied.
Laurence Simons Association of Corporate Counsel | EMEA Legal Department Benchmarking Survey 2013
7
8. €1,116,803,510
Revenue
legal spend
Average actual / estimated EMEA
revenues of the company in 2012
12
Average EMEA department size
(practising lawyers)
€93,066,959
Average revenue per lawyer
This year’s survey reaches much deeper than previous years,
drawing in more companies with a greater international reach.
The average EMEA revenue of respondents is €1,117bn
while average global revenues stand at €2,347bn.
As regards to how this translates
into legal spend — the average
internal spend among all
respondents stands at around
€17m, with the average external
spend at €15.4m; the latter
including money spent on law
firms, vendors, expert witnesses,
investigators and consultants, but
not patent and trademark fees.
But while this year’s figures may
contrast with those of last year
(€3.8m internal spend versus
€5.8m), respondents anecdotally
report strong and continuing
budgetary pressures.
“I have the somewhat rare good
fortune to be growing my team at
the moment; but nonetheless, the
pressures of cost containment,
proper management of outside
counsel, and internal professional
development and career
progression are real for me and
my team too,” says one general
counsel.
When looked at more closely, the
median internal spend among all
respondents is perhaps inevitably
different from the headline
average, at €800,000 (however
significantly down from last year’s
median of €1.5m); with this year’s
median external spend being
€500,000 — in line with last
year’s external median figure of
€482,680, but also well down on
2008’s median of €553,000.
Significant however, in both
average and median measures,
is that internal spend exceeds
external spend. There is clearly
greater importance being placed
on ensuring budgetary certainty
within legal departments –
bringing more work in-house
provides clearer cost control than
estimating external lawyers’ fees.
But even this may be changing.
Pressure is also reflected in how
respondents view the likelihood
of budgetary changes over the
coming year. Less than half of
respondents believe that their
internal or external spends will
stay the same (46%). But more
respondents expect their external
budgets to fall (36%) than rise
(18%).
Exactly 30% of respondents
predict an increase in internal
spend, compared to around
a quarter (24%) who predict a
decrease.
A quote from one respondent
perhaps best demonstrates
the rationale behind the data:
Average actual / estimated
worldwide revenue of the
company in 2012
“Our organisation has been
restructured and the scale
reduced — we are more focussed
on fewer areas, enabling us to
keep costs low. We are unlikely
to expand.”
The median fully loaded hourly
rate of €223 (based on an
assumption of 1,800 hours
worked by each lawyer per
annum) is up a little from 2012
when it stood at €204. This could
just be a factor of the change in
the respondent pool rather than
a clear sign that salaries are rising
or that companies are letting
overheads creep up a little again.
53
Average worldwide department
size (practising lawyers)
€44,273,646
Average worldwide revenue
per lawyer
€800,000
Median actual / estimated
total internal legal spend
in € for 2012
€500,000
Median actual / estimated
total external legal spend in
€ during 2012
€223
Median fully loaded hourly
rate per lawyer
IS YOUR 2012 EXTERNAL LEGAL
SPEND BUDGETED TO INCREASE
OR DECREASE IN 2013?
18%
Increase
46%
Stay the same
36%
Decrease
IS YOUR INTERNAL LEGAL
SPEND BUDGETED TO INCREASE
OR DECREASE IN 2013?
30%
Increase
8
€2,346,503,244
46%
Stay the same
24%
Decrease
9. Reporting lines
team size
Legal departments continue to play the key
role not only in managing legal risk, but also
in managing compliance and regulatory
issues, this year’s survey confirms. Law may
be the core responsibility, but the remit of
legal departments, and particularly general
counsel, increasingly extends much further.
Virtually all respondents (99%)
report a solid reporting line from
the EMEA general counsel,
albeit to different tiers or
management. A third (33%) say
they report directly to the group
general counsel, with slightly
fewer reporting direct to the
president / chief executive officer
(CEO), and with 17% reporting
to the chief financial officer (CFO).
Two-thirds of respondents (64%)
this year also state that there
is a dotted reporting line from
the EMEA GC — with the CEO
(32%), Group GC (23%) and CFO
(9%) most frequently named as
secondary point of reference.
The perception of the GC as
an independent leadership role
is confirmed by the number of
respondents who state that
they do not have a seat on their
company’s board (61%) —
this year’s findings reflecting,
however, an increase in board
membership when compared
to last year, when only 25% of
respondents reported they had
a seat.
Legal teams seem also to be
getting larger. The average size
of legal departments with lawyers
reporting directly or indirectly
to the EMEA general counsel /
head of legal, according to
respondents, is 12 (up from 10.5
in 2012) albeit with a range of
responses varying between zero
and 150 (again contrasting with a
range extending from zero to 120
last year).
This is in contrast to an average
of 53 practising lawyers in
respondent organisations’ legal
departments worldwide (again up
from last year’s 39), with a range
of responses from one to 600
(compared to one to 212).
Interestingly, legal departments’
appetite for secondees from law
firms or legal staffing agencies
has changed from previous
years, perhaps unsurprising
given general counsel’s evident
budgetary pressures — 38% of
departments now state that over
the past year they have used
such extra external resource, up
13 percentage points from last
year’s 25%, the equivalent of a
52% increase
Regulatory
compliance
The majority of respondents (67%)
report that the legal department
has a dedicated compliance /
regulatory function. With a notable
minority (2%) stating that although
no such function currently exists,
there is a requirement for one.
It is, however, to the general
counsel / head of legal that
the majority of heads of
regulatory / compliance
nonetheless report (63%), with
the CEO / president next most
frequently mentioned (21%).
TO WHOM DOES THE GENERAL COUNSEL
(THE TOP LEGAL OFFICER) IN EMEA REPORT?
33%
23%
CLO
CLO
32%
29%
CEO
CEO
17%
9%
CFO
CFO
21%
36%
Other
Other
SOLID LINE
DOTTED LINE
Laurence Simons Association of Corporate Counsel | EMEA Legal Department Benchmarking Survey 2013
9
10. TO WHOM DOES THE HEAD OF
THE REGULATORY / COMPLIANCE
DEPARTMENT REPORT TO?
63%
General Counsel /
Top Legal Officer
IS THE EMEA GENERAL COUNSEL
A MEMBER OF THE EMEA BOARD
OF DIRECTORS?
21%
7%
CEO / President
9%
Other C-level
executive
Other
HOW MANY PRACTISING LAWYERS IN
EMEA REPORT DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY
TO THE HEAD OF LEGAL FOR EMEA?
39%
61%
0 lawyers
DO YOU HAVE A DEDICATED
COMPLIANCE / REGULATORY FUNCTION
WITHIN YOUR BUSINESS?
67%
Yes
Minimum
12 lawyers
Average
150 lawyers
Maximum
HOW MANY PRACTISING LAWYERS
ARE THERE IN TOTAL WORLDWIDE?
26%
No
2%
No, however there
is a requirement
for one
5%
Other*
1 lawyer
Minimum
53 lawyers
Average
600 lawyers
Maximum
*Respondents that indicated ‘Other’ included organisations that do not have a dedicated compliance function as the regulatory responsibility is
shared either amongst those in other departments such as finance, or is handled by the legal department.
10
11. Department structures
responsibilities
Respondents report a variety
of methodologies in how EMEA
legal departments are structured.
Geography (17%), area of law
(13%) and business line (11%)
remain significant, albeit with
significantly more respondents
this year utilising area of law when
compared to the previous year’s
findings (3%), and slightly more
preferring geography (14% in
2012). Business line has seen a
minor drop in preference (down
from 12%).
The findings this year reinforce
the previous year’s analysis
that a larger number of legal
departments utilise a combination
of factors — significant,
however, is the finding that
HOW IS YOUR LEGAL TEAM
STRUCTURED?
fewer departments are using a
dual-approach of business line
and geography (12% compared
with last year’s (25%); but as
with last year, an equal number
of departments (5%) utilise a mix
of geography and area of law, or
business line and area of law
— albeit down from 9%.
It remains the case that the
majority of respondents continue
to prefer to adopt a combination
of all three options — area of law,
business line and geography —
and that more legal departments
are adopting such a structure (up
to 37% from 28%).
13%
AREA
OF LAW
5%
11%
BUSINESS
LINE
5%
37%
17%
GEOGRAPHY
12%
DID YOU HAVE ANY SECONDEES FROM
LAW FIRMS OR LEGAL STAFFING
AGENCIES DURING 2012?
38%
62%
Laurence Simons Association of Corporate Counsel | EMEA Legal Department Benchmarking Survey 2013
11
12. Internal external
work split
When it comes to the main types of work
legal departments are focused on, this
year’s findings reinforce those of last year’s
report — although there is an apparent
growing focus on bringing more financial
and regulatory issues in-house.
Company and commercial
continues to dominate, with the
vast majority of departments
managing such issues internally
where they can (86%) — albeit
this is down on last year’s
94%. Next in importance come
bribery / corruption / compliance
(64%), intellectual property
(55%) and regulatory issues
(51%) — reflecting perhaps the
continuing implementation of new
legislation and regulation notably
across Europe, including new
banking and capital adequacy
requirements, as well as the rising
application of extra-territorial
laws, such as the US Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act and UK
Bribery Act.
That just over half of all
respondent legal departments
now manage regulatory issues
in-house reflects an increase
on last year (31% in 2012), a
trend that is matched across the
financial arena — with greater
12
focus also now being placed
by departments on insurance
and reinsurance (up to 30%
from 14%), banking and finance
(24% from 14%), restructuring
and insolvency (17% from 11%),
tax (17% from 8%), and capital
markets (12% from 5%).
Those areas of emphasis that are
down on 2012 include however,
bribery / corruption / compliance
— perhaps reflecting the growth
also in dedicated departments —
competition / antitrust (50% this
year, down from 66%), dispute
resolution (40%, down from
55%), IT e-commerce (46%,
down from 60%), and labour and
employee benefits (41%, down
from 63%).
The drop in the volume of such
work being managed internally
may, however, be partly
explained by an increase in such
matters being sent more routinely
to external counsel, perhaps
13. WHICH AREAS OF LAW DO YOU MAINLY
COVER INTERNALLY?
WHICH AREAS OF LAW DO YOU TEND TO
SEND TO LAW FIRM(S)?
24%
Banking / Finance
64%
Bribery / Corruption / Compliance
12%
Capital Markets
22%
86%
Company Commercial
17%
50%
Competition / Anti-Trust
32%
40%
Dispute Resolution
65%
17%
Insolvency Restructuring
15%
30%
Insurance Reinsurance
55%
Intellectual Property
34%
46%
IT e-commerce
10%
41%
Labour Employee Benefits
41%
33%
Real Estate Environmental
21%
51%
Regulatory
19%
17%
Tax
33%
10%
Other
11%
Laurence Simons Association of Corporate Counsel | EMEA Legal Department Benchmarking Survey 2013
28%
8%
4%
13
14. DO YOU USE ANY LEGAL PROCESS
OUTSOURCING FIRMS OR OTHER
ALTERNATIVE PROVIDERS?
5%
Other
18%
Yes
77%
No
because of a reduction in the
work type itself. Five years on
from the onset of the economic
downturn and many businesses
have now completed major
restructurings, divestment and
redundancies, to better cope with
reduced demand or a geographic
refocus.
Of those areas of work most
routinely outsourced to law
firms, dispute resolution remains
dominant (65%, although down
from 70% last year), followed by
labour and employee benefits (up
to 41% from 33%), intellectual
property (up to 34% compared
to 28%), and tax (also up, to
33% from 30%). Also being
more routinely outsourced is
14
restructuring and insolvency
advice (up to 15% from 8%),
regulatory matters (up to 19%
from 8%) and IT and e-commerce
(now 10% from 6%).
Areas in which there has been
a notable drop in the volume
of work being sent out include
competition / antitrust (at 32%,
down from 37%), banking
and finance (down to 34%
from 36%), capital markets
(down to 22% from 25%),
real estate and environmental
(down to 21% from 30%),
bribery / corruption / compliance
(down to 8% from 12.5%), and
insurance and reinsurance (down
to 4% from 8%).
LPO oh so steadily
Respondents state that law
firms continue to manage most
departments’ external legal
needs — accounting for 77%,
by volume, of the work done.
Nonetheless, there is a growing
tendency towards the use of legal
process outsourcers (LPOs) and
other alternative providers.
This year, just under a fifth of all
respondents (18%) stated that
they have utilised the services
of an LPO over the past year,
with a minority (5%) stating that
they have used other types
of providers. Clearly General
Counsels’ desire to get the best
value for money is being reflected
in the types of external resource
they are calling on, and while
law firms still dominate, they are
losing market share. Last year’s
report revealed that only 11% of
respondents had used an LPO or
other alternative provider.
15. Mission critical
In an uncertain economic and business environment, where
we continue to see significant regulatory change and scrutiny,
risk management clearly remains a core mantra of many legal
departments.
Company and commercial
(43% of respondents), dispute
resolution (28%), regulatory
(26%), competition and
antitrust (23%), intellectual
property (22%), and
bribery / corruption / compliance
(21%), are the issues most
frequently cited as mission critical
for legal departments over the
past year.
And this year’s findings continue
the trend of previous years. All
the areas highlighted were also
raised as areas of concern by
respondents in 2011 — albeit
dispute resolution and regulatory
have emerged anew on general
counsel’s radar.
Looking forward through 2013,
it is company and commercial
(cited by 44% of respondents),
regulatory (28%), dispute
resolution (26%), and bribery /
corruption/ compliance and
intellectual property (both 24%)
that continue to dominate legal
department concerns.
Following on is competition
and antitrust (23%) and IT/ecommerce (18%) – both areas
in which legal departments are
also choosing to place greater
in-house focus (see Internal and
external work split) – alongside
tax (16%), labour and employee
benefits (15%) and banking/
finance (12%). The latter areas
notable for the different emphasis
legal departments place on them,
with more looking to outsource
such work.
DO YOU ENVISAGE THE MISSION CRITICAL AREAS
CHANGING IN 2013?
15%
85%
Laurence Simons Association of Corporate Counsel | EMEA Legal Department Benchmarking Survey 2013
15
16. WHICH AREAS OF LAW WERE
MISSION CRITICAL IN 2012?
WHICH AREAS OF LAW DO YOU ENVISAGE
TO BE MISSION CRITICAL IN 2013?
14%
Banking / Finance
12%
21%
Bribery / Corruption / Compliance
24%
10%
Capital Markets
43%
Company Commercial
44%
23%
Competition / Anti-Trust
23%
28%
Dispute Resolution
26%
8%
6%
Insolvency Restructuring
8%
3%
Insurance Reinsurance
2%
22%
Intellectual Property
24%
19%
IT e-commerce
18%
16%
Labour Employee Benefits
15%
6%
Real Estate Environmental
6%
26%
Regulatory
28%
16%
Tax
16%
6%
16
Other
5%
17. Challenges
When it comes to the most important professional challenges
facing in-house lawyers, pressure to do more with less budget
and staff is what keeps most company lawyers awake; followed
closely by the challenge of containing legal costs, cited by over
half of all respondents (56%).
WHAT PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGES
ARE MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU?
21%
19%
Career mobility and job satisfaction
Information Privacy
46%
56%
Containing legal costs
Keeping up with increasing /
changing regulation / standards
37%
Coordinating global compliance / operations
16%
Outside counsel retention and management
28%
60%
Corporate governance initiatives / standards
Pressure to do more with less budget
and / or staff
14%
24%
Corporate records / e-mail management
Protection of Intellectual Property
or related disputes
18%
22%
Data breaches and protection
Safeguarding the company’s reputation / brands
21%
20%
Ensuring an ethical corporate culture
36%
Establishing effective compliance
and reporting programs
Technology developments
4%
Operational demands are next
high up on legal departments’
agendas — keeping up with
increasing / changing regulations
and standards is cited by 46% of
respondents, while coordinating
global compliance operations
(37%), and establishing effective
compliance and reporting
programs (36%) come next.
At the same time as legal
departments are facing acute
budgetary issues, the demand
for greater risk management and
managing behavioural issues is
taking on ever-greater emphasis
for the business as a whole.
Indeed, more ephemeral — less
hard law — issues have a growing
importance. Safeguarding the
company’s reputation / brand is
cited by 22% of respondents,
while ensuring an ethical
corporate culture is cited by
21%; equal to individual concern
over career mobility and job
satisfaction, and ahead of human
relations and employment issues
(19%).
The blurring of where legal
department responsibility both
starts and stops continues to
be perhaps the most significant
emerging operational trend and
management headache.
Whistleblower issues
19%
7%
Human relations employment issues
Other
Laurence Simons Association of Corporate Counsel | EMEA Legal Department Benchmarking Survey 2013
17
18. Team building
recruitment
The trend toward legal departments taking
on more work, and reducing the flow to
external advisers, is also apparent
in the way they are being staffed.
Just under half of all respondents
(49%) predict their departments
will stay the same size over the
coming two years — assuming
no major mergers or spin-offs
— reflecting a slight upturn on
last year’s prediction (45%) of a
continuation of the status quo.
Almost a quarter of respondents
(24%) have recruited externally in
both Q1 of 2013 and Q4 of 2012,
up from the 10% who had made
hires in Q3 2012. The general
recruitment trend continues to be
one of an overall increase in hiring
stretching back to Q3 2011.
Notwithstanding this, 40%
of respondents believe their
department will grow with only
10% predicting the opposite, a
decrease in size (compared to
the 27% who last year predicted
a fall in lawyer numbers).
Nonetheless, an almost equal
number (48%) reported that
they had not lost a single staff
member over the past 12
months, with 25% stating they
had lost 1% —10% of total
numbers.
ASSUMING NO MAJOR MERGER OR SPIN-OFF, HOW DO
YOU ENVISAGE YOUR LEGAL DEPARTMENT DEVELOPING
IN TERMS OF SIZE OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS?*
40%
Increase
49%
Stay the same
10%
Decrease
*The above graph totals 99% due to the rounding off of the figures.
18
19. But there is a sense that
tighter management over legal
departments is having an
impact on staff — exactly half of
respondents stated that the most
common reason team members
gave for leaving the business
was career progression. Either
new opportunities are opening
up elsewhere, or doors are being
closed, at home.
Salary issues accounted for
13% of departures, while an
almost equal number (12%)
cited redundancy as the reason.
Restructurings are continuing,
but the number of staff numbers
being laid-off is significantly
down on last year’s 22% of
respondents who cited it.
Of the 20% of respondents
who gave “other” as the reason,
the recurring trends were
of maternity leave, termination
of employment for low
performance, or employees
leaving due to increased
workloads and low salary levels.
WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND TO BE THE
MOST COMMON REASON FOR PEOPLE
LEAVING THE BUSINESS?
50%
Career progression
13%
Salary
12%
Redundancy
3%
Retirement
2%
Join competitor
20%
Other
WHEN DID YOU LAST RECRUIT EXTERNALLY?*
22%
2%
1%
Q1 2011
Q2 2011
Q3 2011
4%
8%
Q4 2011
Q1 2012
7%
10%
24%
24%
Q2 2012
Q3 2012
Q4 2012
Q1 2013
*The above graph totals 102% due to the rounding off of the figures.
Laurence Simons Association of Corporate Counsel | EMEA Legal Department Benchmarking Survey 2013
19
20. Laurence Simons
Founded in 1988, Laurence
Simons is a specialist
international legal recruitment
consultancy. Our clearly
stated vision is: ‘To be the
world’s leading company in
legal recruitment by quality
of service, market reputation,
calibre of employees and global
coverage’.
Operating across Europe,
Russia, the Middle East, Asia,
North America and Latin
America, Laurence Simons truly
is an international recruiter. Our
network of offices is unique in
the field of legal recruitment
and we have been pioneering
in serving new markets, in
particular across Europe and
Latin America, the Middle East,
Russia and India.
For more information, visit
www.laurencesimons.com
The Association of
Corporate Counsel
The Association of Corporate
Counsel (ACC) is a global bar
association that promotes
the common professional
and business interests of inhouse lawyers who work for
corporations, associations and
other private sector organisations
through information, education,
networking opportunities and
advocacy initiatives.
With more than 30,000 members
in more than 75 countries,
employed by over 10,000
organisations, ACC connects
its members to the people and
resources necessary for both
personal and professional growth.
By in-house counsel
for in-house counsel ®
For more information, visit
www.acc.com
In association with: