Companies Squeeze Legal Fees Even the Most Elite Law Firms That Serve Fortune 500 Companies Are Being Forced to Become More Efficient Series: BUSINESS GOES TO COURT. to Cut Costs and High Fees, Companies Aggressively Manage Their Legal Work. Part 5 of a 5-Part Series. First of 3 Articles Appearing Today

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WHETHER they got mad or just determined, company lawyers decided a few years ago that they weren't going to take it any more.

Caught between rising legal expenses and cost-cutting demands by senior management, many in-house corporate lawyers began challenging the fees charged by outside attorneys. These general counsel not only have sparked a revolution in how legal services to business are billed and paid for, but, more broadly, their assertiveness could effect long-term changes in how those services are performed.

"Efficiency," a production-line word that seemed as out of place in many law firms as blue collars, has joined the legal lexicon.

Even the …