Around 82 percent of companies globally plan on reducing their legal function costs over the next two years, a survey from Big Four professional services firm EY has found, with 42 percent planning on doing so by more than 10 percent.

The survey also found that the equivalent numbers for Singapore were 78 percent and 20 percent. 

Featuring the opinions of more than 1,000 senior legal practitioners across 25 jurisdictions, the survey found that, on an average, companies plan on reducing their legal function costs by 11 percent.

It also highlighted the difficulty in attracting and deploying talent. Nearly three out of five businesses reported challenges in attracting and retaining the appropriate talent needed for today’s legal function, the survey found. Additionally, when deploying talent, legal functions find they exhaust considerable time and effort on routine tasks, with 67 percent of those surveyed spending 20 percent of their time on routine compliance and ‘low value’ tasks.

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