The U.S. government has slashed spending on outside legal work for a third consecutive year, leaving law firms and other legal services contractors with the smallest pot of money since President Barack Obama took office.
Federal agencies last year gave more than 1,900 contractors $542.1 million in legal services work, the lowest sum in at least five years, according to a National Law Journal analysis of government contracting data. The U.S. Department of Justice led federal agencies that paid for outside legal help, doling out more than half of the money.
