ACC 2026 Benchmarking: Legal Spend Hits Six-Year Low — 367 Employees Per Lawyer

The 2026 ACC Law Department Management Benchmarking Report — developed in partnership with Major, Lindsey & Africa, drawing on data from 576 legal departments across 45 countries — documented total legal spend as a percentage of company revenue at a six-year low of 0.43%, down from a previous high of 0.63%. The median number of lawyers per US$1 billion in revenue has decreased to 3, and legal teams are now supporting a median of 367 employees per lawyer — a steady upward trend that means in-house teams are absorbing more organizational demand with fewer resources. ALSPs and technology/overhead account for only 3% and 5% of respective budget categories, signaling that the efficiency gains of the past three years have not yet translated into structural investment in alternative delivery. For BD directors, the spend compression data reframes the relationship conversation: clients who are doing more with less are not simply asking for discounts — they are restructuring what they buy and from whom, and panels built on historical relationship patterns are increasingly subject to efficiency-first review.