In my experience, many RFPs are poorly written, do not provide the information law firms need to customize their responses, and do not ask the right questions 鈥� especially in the fee section 鈥� to get corporate law department leaders or legal procurement specialists the answers they need to make a well-informed decision. Legal departments need to improve not only how they craft the RFP but also how they determine exactly what they are trying to get out of the process.

I recently worked with a client on a proposal for a global panel and was shocked to see that it was sent from a top Fortune 500 company. The format was poor, the questions were ambiguous, and the fee section did not permit transparency. I have no idea how the corporation would have been able to fairly appraise the submissions they would receive and then come up with the best selection of law firms.

Now, however, some procurement and legal operations professionals are becoming more sophisticated and are striving to create smartly worded, well-thought-out RFPs. However, I think that all in-house legal departments would be wise to periodically review their proposal processes to ensure that they implement best practices in order to achieve a win-win outcome.

Top 5 reasons why law firms hate RFPs

The way the RFPs are worded and how they solicit answers from law firms can be a challenge for those firms. Some of the top reasons why RFPs can frustrate law firms include when corporate clients do things such as:

1. Ask for AFAs but they really don鈥檛 mean it 鈥� Corporate law departments that say they want alternative fee arrangements (AFAs) but revert to hourly rates even when provided with detailed AFA proposals top the list of frustrations for many law firms. These AFA requests are often simply fishing expeditions. And I have seen this tactic more often than you may think. Law firms take a lot of time to involve partners, legal project managers, and pricing specialists to provide AFAs that they believe would be beneficial to the client. Of all the pet peeves of law firms, this is a big one.

2. Impose unrealistic deadlines 鈥� Crazy deadlines that don鈥檛 allow for thoughtful responses, or are imposed with the expectation that law firms will drop everything to reply on time. that one reason a law firm may decide not to respond to an RFP is if the deadline is unreasonable. This tactic may indicate to some law firms that a specific firm has been pre-selected, and that the RFP is being proffered simply because it is corporate policy to seek three bids.

3. Fail to test software or spreadsheets 鈥� Often the RFP software or Excel documents included in the offering have glitches that are not discovered until the proposal is almost due. This can be a disaster because pricing information is often the last information to be added to the bid submission.

4. Exclude selection criteria, such as weighting information 鈥� Corporate clients that don鈥檛 communicate the scoring process and proposal assessment criteria are putting themselves at a disadvantage. Law firms need to know what the rating is for fees versus other technical factors. The responses to the selection criteria will give in-house departments the best indication of how the strengths of the competing law firms align with the company鈥檚 goals.

5. Neglect to notify law firms that were not selected 鈥� It is common business etiquette (or should be) to notify those law firms that were unsuccessful in their bid. It is amazing that very often firms are not notified as to the results of the selection process. Even if debriefs are not permitted (and that information should appear in the RFP) a phone call or at least an email is appreciated as a common courtesy by the bidders that were not selected.

I am pleased to say that when I consult with in-house lawyers, and legal ops and procurement professionals, they are keen to learn how they can improve their RFPs and client relationships with law firms during the process.

Hopefully, remembering these top 5 law firm frustrations will give in-house legal teams some insight into how treating law firms better during the RFP process can end up resulting in a more beneficial outcome for everyone involved.

Because I consult with in-house legal departments in developing legal services RFPs and pricing templates and assist law firms with their RFP responses, I decided to go right to the sources and speak to those in corporate law departments, legal software providers, and law firms.

In-house legal operations & procurement

By speaking to in-house legal operations & procurement professionals, I gained great insight into the status of bids on a global basis. As can be expected, RFPs for panels 鈥� particularly global panels 鈥� are mostly on hold at this time.

However, in certain practice areas of law, RFPs are flourishing even though law firms are laying off business development staff and lawyers. Obviously, some areas of litigation are continuing to move ahead, even though a lot of the courts have shut down and are not hearing cases. This area promises to build after the pandemic subsides. In fact, one company I spoke to said that we will see a tsunami of litigation, post-pandemic.

The same is also true for insolvency. Employment and labor is impacted amid travel bans and immigration sanctions, and cases are mounting to protect the health and safety of employees particularly in instances of COVID-19 workplace outbreaks. And of course, everyone is concerned about privacy and cybersecurity due to so many professionals having to work remotely from non-traditional locations with new operational procedures. Within this new environment is a higher risk of information security incidents, such as phishing ransomware and malware attacks.

It goes without saying that COVID-19 has resulted in a massive global domino effect, hitting multiple industries where the sourcing of external legal services is required. The pandemic has impacted specific sectors, interrupted supply chains, and added to the challenges of meeting contractual obligations and funding agreements. Corporate clients, for example, face an increase in legal work related to the rewrite of many commercial contracts as vendors look to refinance existing agreements in favor of more lenient financing arrangements.

Further, the pandemic has forced companies to close and workers to stay home, leading to a significant decline in business activity and consumer spending. Add to all this the massive job loss, event cancellations, business interruption, and bankruptcies around the globe.

As a result, in-house legal departments are ramping up their roster of outside firms in certain practice areas to be better prepared when their panel firms are inundated with RFPs.

RFP software providers

Another source of information I spoke to are RFP software providers. Several vendors and in-house legal departments that have installed RFP software are using it to track fees, as this is a big area for renegotiation during the pandemic. They also confirmed that RFPs are up.

鈥淩unning mini-RFPs on a matter-by-matter basis to choose from among their panel firms helps clients select the right firm, at the right price, at that point in time,鈥� says Jim Delkousis, CEO and founder of RFP platform company and a former Big Law partner. 鈥淭his yields significant savings above and beyond pre-negotiated and discounted hourly rates 鈥� and the reason why is law-firm capacity. At different points in the year, law firms often have excess capacity and can provide a more competitive fee arrangement to their clients.鈥�

Beau Wysong, chief marketing officer of RFP software company ,聽says legal organizations are increasingly seeking technology solutions. 鈥淒ue to the increase in people working from home, upturn in bid requests, and potential reduction of business development staff, law firms are seeking more efficient ways to respond to incoming RFPs,鈥� Wysong explains. 鈥淎s a result, firms are beginning to view technology in this area as a part of their big-picture digital transformation initiatives.鈥�

Richard Brzakala, director of Global Legal Services for a large Canadian financial institution, agrees that RFPs are forging a way forward. 鈥淐OVID-19 will have a massive impact on how legal services are delivered and sourced in the pandemic and post pandemic era,鈥� Brzakala says. 鈥淩FP bids will become increasingly important to cost conscious clients looking for greater cost savings and for firms looking to distinguish themselves from their competitors.鈥�

Law firms

I spoke with many lawyers and business development leaders within law firms, and they agree that RFPs have been increasing during the pandemic in certain sectors such as litigation, employment, and restructuring & bankruptcy. In fact, some firms have noticed a significant increase between March and May this year compared to the same period last year.

I also have noticed an increase in requests for standard content to be written in preparation for an upsurge in proposals once the pandemic has subsided. Some law firms are updating their RFP software systems with new and improved content, while others are updating their internal proposal content databases. Overall, it appears that law firms are preparing for pricing negotiations as COVID-19 creates havoc with many of their key clients.

Once thing is for sure, no one is immune to the ramifications of this deadly global virus, and all legal organizations need to prepare for the short term and the long haul.