How legal eagles rank against their peers is the cause of much furor in the legal world. But also, the reports that rank, measure and rate them are also under considerable scrutiny.
The who's who of legal department benchmarking can now be revealed. And only one stands out in Australia.
The Legal Department Benchmarking Report has won an award at the an APEX 2009 Award of Excellence at the 21st Annual Awards for Publication Excellence, based in the United States.
Commissioned by the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association (ACLA) and the Corporate Lawyers Association of New Zealand (CLANZ) the report is the result of extensive research with the general counsel of corporate and government organisations in New Zealand and Australia.
The report provides in-depth benchmarking information on the composition, structure and financials of corporate and government legal departments, and key elements on the relationship between major users of legal services and law firms.
The award was the only one to be awarded to an Australasia-based nominee. "Very few of these prestigious awards are granted outside North America, so it's tremendous recognition for leading companies and government agencies in Australia and New Zealand who had the vision to support a detailed research report on the use of lawyers", said ACLA chief executive, Peter Turner.
According to the APEX 2009 judges, the report's win was based on its “excellence in quality of editorial content, graphic design and the success of the entry in conveying the message and achieving overall communications effectiveness".
