CLOs question law firm commitment to change.

• Position: Dicta - Chief legal officers

Despite the faltering economy and efforts such as the ACC's Value Challenge [see "Take the ACC Value Challenge," p. 4], most chief legal officers are skeptical that law firm attorneys are committed to changing the way they deliver legal services, according to a recent survey by Altman Weil.

The 2009 Chief Legal Officer Survey asked CLOs to rate the pressure that corporations are applying to law firms to change the value proposition in legal service delivery, as opposed to simply cutting costs. A quarter of respondents said the pressure is high, while 37 percent reported that is in the mid-range. However, only 5 percent of CLOs said their law firms are highly serious about changing, while three-quarters said they believed their law firms have little or no interest in change.

"This year, in the midst of an unprecedented financial shift, we wanted to learn if the talk about a changing model of legal service delivery--in terms of pricing, staffing and law firm selection criteria--was being translated into action," Altman Weil principal Dan DiLucchio said in a press release.

"This is a dramatic vote of no confidence from chief legal officers," according to DiLucchio. "Either...