Dramatic data on what is saved in legal expenses by good compliance practices

A recent survey found that, “regardless of size, companies following best practices when it comes to compliance issues spent a smaller amount on legal fees than those following the worst practices.” Companies that follow what the survey describes as “normative” practices [the middle state between poor practices and excellent practices] “still spent just roughly a third of what their less-diligent counterparts spent.”

These findings come from a survey of 235 mostly-US companies by the IT Policy Compliance Group (IT PCG) as reported in Info. Mgt., Vol. 43, Jan./Feb. 2009 at 10. IT PCG conducted their interviews between October and November 2007.

This data deserves careful attention. First, to make sure the methodology supports the claims and second, because the conclusions clearly suggest what law departments ought to pursue as best practices. Further posts will delve deeper.