The vast majority of corporate general counsel will purchase legal services from non-specialist firms once the Legal Services Act reforms are in place, a new study has revealed.

Three-quarters of respondents to a survey by business advisory firm KPMG – seen exclusively by the Gazette this week – said they would purchase legal services from multi-disciplinary practices (MDPs). MDPs will allow any business to offer legal services once the act is fully implemented.

Furthermore, a third (36%) of corporate general counsel maintained they were unlikely to use barristers if they were tied to a particular law firm, while only one in three (34%) believed that a merger of solicitors and barristers would lead to better service.

Stephen Bligh, UK head of legal services at KPMG, said the responses indicated large clients were unhappy with an ‘obsession’ over increasing profits per equity partner.

KPMG quizzed 28 general counsel of predominantly FTSE 100 companies.