Companies Look to Data Tools to Cut Outside Legal Costs

It’s a challenge corporate legal departments continually face: how to get the best results for the best price when working on projects with outside counsel.

Legal departments are trying to streamline their work and use automation and other tools to save time. Companies like Apple use data and metrics to track spending by the law firms they contract with. Corporate legal teams, including at Google, may also look for products that clarify how legal services prices are determined.

There may have been a time before the Great Recession when in-house legal departments and outside law firms agreed on budgets at ...