Summary Global economics, regulatory compliance, cybersecurity, and data security and privacy concerns shaping the legal world require continuous attention to the rule of law. Contract lifecycle management...
Summary An outside counsel evaluation checklist is a necessary tool to enable vendor recruitment and selection. Enterprise legal management software includes applications for vendor management dashboards...
Summary Selecting the right outside counsel requires a systematic due diligence approach beyond cost comparison and referrals. Organizations implementing comprehensive evaluation processes—including...
Summary The landscape of enterprise legal management software is rapidly evolving, driven by the increasing complexity of legal operations and the demand for greater efficiency, transparency and strategic...
Summary Legal spend continues to rise, but industry experts have identified proven strategies to maintain control without compromising quality. This article presents actionable tactics from seasoned...
* The views expressed in externally authored materials linked or published on this site do not necessarily reflect the views of LexisNexis Legal & Professional.
An outside counsel evaluation checklist is a necessary tool to enable vendor recruitment and selection. Enterprise legal management software includes applications for vendor management dashboards, scorecards and selection tools. The evaluation checklist below assists legal operations professionals in their initial due diligence in outside counsel selection.
In the LexisNexis® CounselLink® 2025 Trends Report: Benchmark Metrics to Empower Legal Cost Management, data indicates that outside counsel partner rates continue to rise among the top 100 U.S. law firms. That suggests that corporate legal departments are paying more for outside counsel matter management. To manage legal spend budgets and give other law firms an opportunity, legal operations can use the following as an outside counsel evaluation checklist.
Follow these steps to evaluate outside counsel prior to making a hiring decision:
Each legal department can customize the above outside counsel evaluation checklist for specific matters and practice areas. This master checklist is a good starting point until it's used and adjusted per each organization. As changes are made, update the file for consistency. It can also be used as a training tool for new legal operations professionals involved in hiring decisions.
LexisNexis® CounselLink+™ is an enterprise legal management solution featuring vendor management, matter management, contract lifecycle management, financial management, and analytical reporting. In the vendor management application, scorecards enable legal operations to evaluate outside counsel. Counsel Selector, a Lex Machina database, delivers side-by-side comparisons of lawyers in various categories. The tool accurately provides ranking data in jurisdictions, winning litigation, practice areas, and more.
To learn more about how to evaluate outside counsel in the CounselLink+ environment, contact us.
An outside counsel evaluation checklist can be used to assess performance of lawyers and associates in a law firm. This manual evaluation checklist can be transferred to a digital spreadsheet, or an enterprise legal management solution vendor management application can be helpful in outside counsel evaluation.