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In the ever-evolving landscape of corporate legal departments, conventional wisdom has long held that insourcing legal work is a surefire way to contain costs. However, until now, this belief has largely been based on anecdotal evidence and high-level estimations.
As savvy legal operations leaders and discerning general counsel, we know that intuition isn’t enough — we need hard data to drive truly strategic decisions.
Challenging the status quo
ACC’s new research examines the simplistic notion that “more in-house equals more savings” across the board. By analyzing a robust dataset from hundreds of corporate law departments, we’ve uncovered a nuanced reality that demands attention.
Contrary to popular belief, our initial broad-stroke analysis revealed no discernible correlation between overall insourcing rates and total legal spend. This challenges the long-held assumption that insourcing inherently drives cost savings.
Digging deeper with precision
However, when we refined our focus to seven specific — often high-cost — legal work areas, we uncovered a game-changing insight: Departments that predominantly handle these seven work areas in-house report significantly lower total legal expenditures:
- Legal research
- Labor and employment
- Due diligence
- Litigation case/project management
- Discovery (data collection)
- Discovery (data processing/hosting)
- Intellectual property services
The magnitude of these savings is staggering:
- For small enterprises: Up to 55-percent reduction in legal spend for a US$100 million company
- Even for larger enterprises: Cost savings of more than 20 percent persist even among US$20 billion companies
For detailed breakdowns of the data across work areas and company size, download the full report today: How Shifting Legal Work In-house Drives Cost Savings: A Quantitative Analysis
Strategic implications for legal leaders
In-house counsel should consider the following steps for their legal departments:
- Targeted insourcing: Focus on bringing these seven high-impact areas in-house for maximum financial returns.
- Data-driven advocacy: Use these quantitative insights to justify strategic in-house growth and demonstrate tangible value to the C-suite.
- Optimized hybrid models: Build efficient portfolios that leverage in-house expertise for cost-effective execution while judiciously engaging outside counsel for specialized needs.
Learn more from trusted experts and industry peers: At the 2025 ACC Annual Meeting, join more than 2,000 legal professionals from around the globe to discuss the most pressing issues in law department management and legal operations. Register yourself — or your team — today!
While the broad concept of insourcing as a universal cost-saving solution may be oversimplified, our analysis proves its power when applied strategically. For forward-thinking general counsel and legal operations leaders, the imperative is clear: precision-driven insourcing of critical, high-value work types is not just a trend — it’s a data-backed mandate for achieving significant and sustainable financial efficiencies.
Take the next step
Ready to revolutionize your legal department’s cost structure with precision-driven insourcing? Download the full report: How Shifting Legal Work In-house Drives Cost Savings: A Quantitative Analysis
Arm yourself with the granular insights and empirical evidence you need to optimize your legal spend and maximize value for your organization.
Disclaimer: The information in any resource in this website should not be construed as legal advice or as a legal opinion on specific facts, and should not be considered representing the views of its authors, its sponsors, and/or ACC. These resources are not intended as a definitive statement on the subject addressed. Rather, they are intended to serve as a tool providing practical guidance and references for the busy in-house practitioner and other readers.
