The head of legal operations at a very large oil and gas company needed quick cost-cutting ideas due to the economic disruption from COVID-19. With insights, advice and tools from Gartner, the client reduced overall legal department expenses by more than $5 million between March and June of 2020 by developing and executing a new law firm sourcing and negotiation strategy.
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Mission-critical priority
Due to the industry disruption and economic impacts of COVID-19, the VP of legal needed to make significant legal budget reductions on very short turnaround to meet a mandated cost-cutting target.
How Gartner helped
Gartner advisors began by focusing on the outside counsel management strategy, pulling insights from the Ignition Guide to Law Firm Consolidation, to reduce the number of firms the department worked with. Additionally, the advisors guided the negotiation strategy and helped draft a letter for firms asking for rate reductions in light of COVID-19, industry conditions and the overall consolidation initiative. This not only resulted in reducing outside expenses by $5 million, but also helped to create a long-term cost strategy that includes work from the Gartner Ignition Guide to Cost Optimization Roadmap. The VP received positive feedback on the cost strategy from the CFO.
Business impact
With support from Gartner for Legal & Compliance, the client successfully:
- Developed faster, higher-quality strategy to reduce outside expenses
- Reduced outside counsel spend by renegotiating law firm rates and shedding firms
- Created a sustainable framework for cost reduction
Industry:
Oil and Gas
Revenue:
Approximately $30 billion
Employees:
> 11, 000
Contact:
VP of Legal
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