I just saw an article from my rebel buddy Rachel Zahorsky in the ABA Journal reporting on an event featuring Chief Legal Officers at Foley & Lardner. The article states:
The pressure to reduce costs has also pushed general counsel to become more assertive when voicing billing and staffing concerns to their outside lawyers.
It seems that many in-house lawyers are realizing what I have been saying for a while: The acquisition of legal services is inherently a buyers’ market. There are so many competitors and movement from one to another is relatively easy compared to most movement in most other industries. If your law firm isn’t responsive to your pricing needs, move the work. You will, in the end, be able to get what you want. And if you try even a bit, you can get more than you want.