A new study of top in-house attorneys at U.S. corporations suggests that a majority of respondents see an increasing need for overseas legal support across a wide variety of practice areas.

The survey of more than 200 key U.S. corporate decision-makers involved in the purchase of overseas legal services examined information and selection preferences.

Notably, the data shows that 85% of U.S. companies and divisions do not maintain a formal preferred list of foreign firms and/or lawyers.

While these companies continue to rely heavily on referrals and recommendations, the survey also shows that new tools are playing a growing role in sourcing efforts.

The study points out that more than 65% of respondents named websites as a key resource used to identify and select overseas law firm partners, while 26% cited seminars, conferences, and events.

Intellectual property matters were cited most frequently by respondents as the area where overseas legal advice was needed (67%), followed by labor and employment law (58%) and litigation/arbitration (56%).

Finally, the respondents sought outside counsel most frequently in Europe, led by the U.K. (59%). Canada (50%) and China (46%) followed closely as the most frequently mentioned individual countries.

This research study was conducted by ALM’s Corporate Counsel, a trade publication for general counsel and in-house attorneys at corporations across the country.