Australian in-house counsel and whether they track and charge internal legal costs

According to a post on Allocature (May 31, 2006), “78.4% [don’t you love the precision?] of Australian in-house counsel do not track internal legal costs – therefore most costs are not passed back to other business units. Only 6% of Australian in-house counsel charge business units, and if they do, costs are generally based on estimate rather than on time actually spent.”

The finding comes from a survey of approximately 1,800 members of the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association. It’s clear that the post refers to inside lawyer time. It is misleading to say that “most costs are not passed back” for the reason that outside counsel costs probably are charged to clients.