Client satisfaction surveys and client perceptions of law department value added

Cargill’s Law Department, according to a GC Roundtable report, asks clients not about their level of satisfaction with performance but instead “seeks to uncover the areas where the law department adds the greatest value – currently and in the future.”

If clients can rank the activities of their law department by the amount of value they produce for clients, the results could be useful for sorting out where the department should build capabilities and where it might toggle back.

Not all worthwhile efforts of law departments, one should note, do clients value. For example, compliance reviews may annoy many clients, yet they create value (or save money) for the company as a whole. It would be important not to pander to clients, while at the same time striving to do more and better where they perceive the most worth comes from legal services.