Financial Times: Shell in move to reduce its legal costs
By Carola Hoyos, Energy Correspondent
Jul 20, 2004
Royal Dutch/Shell, the Anglo-Dutch energy group, plans to reduce sharply the number of international law firms it uses in an attempt to cut its $100m (£53m) a year legal bill.
Shell, which already has 550 in-house lawyers, is in the middle of a review that will see the number of external advisers it relies on internationally falling from 20 to fewer than five. It plans to retain another 10 firms for specific projects.
Clive Grant, the group’s legal services co-ordinator, said: “Shell is trying to reduce its overall legal spend by using fewer international law firms, with whom we build close relationships.”