America's In-House Counsel Strongly Concerned with Corporate Governance and Tightened Purse...

Business Editors/Legal Writers

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 21, 2003

National Survey of Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 In-House Counsel Reveals Profile of a Profession under Stress

The national law firm of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP (K&L) today released survey

findings that revealed the most pressing issues facing in-house attorneys of America's leading companies. The unique survey of 106 senior in-house counsel of Fortune 500 and 1000 companies identified key concerns of America's top lawyers in the aftermath of Enron and in the face of escalating litigation and a soft economy.

The survey debunks the myth that in-house counsel are dissatisfied with the value of work they receive from their outside counsel, as more than four-fifths of the surveyed group believe that outside counsel do deliver a good value through their services. In an era of increasing regulation and litigation, however, nearly half of corporate counsel state that controlling the costs of outside counsel is their most difficult financial challenge.

"K&L undertook this survey effort because successful collaborations with corporate counsel demand that we understand their professional challenges. Our survey reveals a virtual profile of the profession's most pressing concerns at a time when the role of the corporate counsel could not be more important to America's business community," said Peter Kalis, chair of K&L's Management Committee. Key findings from the survey include:

-- In the wake of the Enron scandal, 22 percent of in-house

attorneys, a plurality, identify corporate governance as the

area of law they expect to be most challenging in 2003, over

others such as litigation, intellectual property, and the

environment.

-- 56 percent of in-house counsel and 74 percent of primary

decision-makers reported an increasing workload over the past

two years.

-- Whether because of increasing workload or because of the

increasing tendency to outsource, use of outside counsel is on

the rise. The survey reports that 52 percent of Fortune 500

companies and 62 percent of Fortune 1000 companies now spend

more money on law firms than was being spent two years ago.

-- Non-standard billing arrangements are becoming more popular.

Among Fortune 500 companies, 40 percent are using fixed-fee

arrangements and nearly a quarter are receiving volume

discounts. Similarly, 24 percent of Fortune 1000 companies are

using contingency based billing.

Dr. Mark Greene of Brand Research Company, which conducted the survey on behalf of K&L, said, "In my twenty years of market research, I have never seen corporate counsel vocalize such strong concern over corporate governance and budgetary issues. The survey findings illustrate how the ripple effect of Enron and the recession are directly impacting corporate counsel in ways perhaps never before measured."

For a copy of the survey brochure, which details key findings, please visit K&L's Web site at http://www.kl.com.

Kirkpatrick & Lockhart is a national law firm with approximately 700 lawyers in Boston, Dallas, Harrisburg, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New York, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Washington. The firm serves a dynamic and growing clientele in regional, national and international markets, currently representing more than half of the Fortune 100.