Wolters Kluwer Report: Changing Trends for CLD Providers

Post-pandemic, it was expected that corporate law department (CLD) provider counts would recover. However, a new report from Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions reveals that the number of actively used law firms and service providers continues to remain depressed. Even some of the larger Am Law firms are experiencing client attrition. In March 2021, ELM Solutions’ inaugural LegalVIEW Insights report examined the biggest shakeup in the outside legal services market since the Great Recession: More than 90% of CLDs reduced their active third-party provider relationships. The latest study indicates that trend has not yet reversed itself, although this hasn’t blunted CLD’s average external legal spend. That has grown by 36% over the last year. Interestingly, firms in the Am Law 1- 10 failed to retain market share gains, while small and unranked firms outside the Am Law 200 expanded their share of external legal department spend. Says Nathan Cemenska, Director of Legal Operations and Industry Insights, “Our findings show that unranked law firms lost clients but grew revenue by increasing the dollar size of the average client relationship.”