Law and Sourcing Order

1 comment April 2nd, 2008 David Bush - Iasta

Strategic sourcing has been around for a good number of years now, in the corporate ranks. However, if you want to see the trickle down effect, first hand, you need go no farther than the legal industry. Here some major firms are beginning to breach the billion dollar turn over mark and have significant spend along with it.

In a recent article I found, the new concepts of strategic sourcing are taking root at very traditional companies that have never “sourced” anything before. Some of the low hanging fruit targeted first include: office supplies, contract labor and facilities management. Travel did not follow far behind, which is not surprising either.

Some of the primary methods used include supplier consolidation, spend aggregation and leverage, and, of course, “sourcing” over “buying”. Quoted within the article, is this from a consultant, “Perhaps 15 to 20 percent of Am Law 100 firms are tackling this opportunity by hiring someone with corporate experience to rationalize sourcing on a highly centralized basis, says Petrini-Poli. Both firm executives and consultants say that the annual savings amount is about 10 to 15 percent of the $150 to 300 million these firms spend each year on goods and services.”

Entry Filed under: General, Supply Management Best Practices