New report turns billions in legal spend data into actionable insights for corporate legal departments navigating outside counsel management.

NEW YORK, NY — May 27, 2025 — Brightflag, the AI-powered enterprise legal management (ELM) platform trusted by corporate legal departments globally, today announced the publication of a new benchmarking report on outside counsel management. Drawing from billions of dollars in analyzed legal spend data, the report surfaces the most critical—and often overlooked—factors influencing legal service delivery and cost control.

Designed for General Counsel and legal operations leaders, the report offers unique benchmarks and best practices to support more strategic, data-driven decisions about outside counsel engagement.

“Outside counsel relationships are a critical component of service delivery for corporate legal departments, but too often managing those relationships is more art than science,” said Kevin Cohn, Chief Customer Officer at Brightflag. “This report gives legal teams the data-driven foundation they need to set expectations, manage costs, and improve outcomes.”

Report Highlights:

• Spend is highly concentrated. On average, a legal department’s top 20 matters account for 75% of its external spend. Getting outside counsel management right on these matters has a disproportionate impact on both outcomes and cost.
• Volume discounts deliver measurable savings. In-house teams that negotiate volume-based agreements with their top firms typically secure discounts of 10-15%.
• Resourcing is a major cost lever. Departments that limit partner involvement in routine phases of a matter and staff outside counsel teams “at the top of their license” reduce unnecessary costs. Partner rates can be up to 50% higher than associate rates, making resource allocation a critical area for review.
• Work quality is strong, but budget alignment lags. Brightflag’s vendor performance survey data reveals that while outside counsel generally receive high marks for quality, they underperform on budget alignment.

More data, including an analysis of the most common commercial considerations identified by Brightflag AI, and tips on how to use benchmarking to drive better relationships with firms, can be found in the full report.

Empowering In-House Teams with Data

This report is the latest addition to Brightflag’s library of resources designed to empower legal operations professionals and General Counsel. From cost control checklists to AI implementation guides, Brightflag is committed to helping legal teams improve operations and demonstrate value to the business.

The full report is available here.

About Brightflag

Brightflag’s AI-powered enterprise legal management (ELM) platform provides complete visibility into legal work and spend. It makes in-house teams more productive by eliminating time-consuming invoicing, reporting, and matter management work, and provides the insights legal leaders need to effectively deliver legal advice to the business.
The company serves a global community of legal professionals from offices in New York, Ireland, and Australia.