Corporate Legal Spend Hits Six-Year Low — Median Team Now Supports 367 Employees Per Lawyer

The ACC's 2026 Law Department Management Benchmarking Report (576 departments, 45 countries, released June 16) documented total legal spend as a percentage of company revenue falling to 0.43% — down from a previous high of 0.63% — a six-year low. Each in-house lawyer now supports a median of 367 company employees, up steadily year over year. The median law firm count is three lawyers per $1 billion in revenue. ALSPs account for only 3% of external legal budget categories; technology/overhead accounts for just 5%. ACC president Jason Brown characterized the findings as showing "legal departments being asked to take on more strategic responsibility but not necessarily receiving the investment to support that increased mandate." For law firm BD directors, the ACC data is the baseline against which to position value conversations: clients are under structural resource pressure, and the firms that demonstrate institutional knowledge and capacity leverage will capture disproportionate share.