Corporate general counsel are not particularly concerned about the size of legal bills when considering the value of work done by their external law firms, new research has suggested.

In-house thinktank Global Leaders in Law, which examined how general counsel measure value in legal services, found that they were more interested in whether firms were able to offer bespoke advice which fully understood their individual company, rather than low cost.

The report also found that general counsel were typically bad at defining their own value, and making this known to colleagues in their business. However, they were more successful at defining the value delivered by external advisers.

The report found that the quality of instructions given by general counsel had a big effect on the value gained from external lawyers. It noted that long-term relationships between general counsel and external lawyers were essential.

‘Value is becoming more important in the current downturn,’ the report says. ‘As the bankers and accountants realign themselves and face off major litigation and reputational slurs, the legal profession has an opportunity to assume more of a leadership role with their clients.’

The report, Leading the Way to Value in Legal Services, involved interviews with 12 ­general counsel across a range of business sectors and was prepared in conjunction with legal industry analysts RSG ­Consulting.