Clients All But Abandon RFPs: Here’s What’s Next

It’s a scramble for clients.

Clients are cutting way back on issuing RFPs. As one corporate counsel put it: “It’s about as efficient as a dating app – maybe less so.”

Clients aren’t swiping right on RFPs because:

• Clients have more new and novel matters than anyone can remember
• Fresh ideas and approaches are at the top of client’s must-haves
• It’s the 4^th year of peak workload
• A clear understanding of client risk tolerance and business objectives is mandatory for the high-rate work
• Urgency surges as corporate counsel constantly engage with their CEO about meeting strategic objectives

The odds of getting all this from a firm hired through an RFP? About 1 in 13 – less than 10%.

Our new survey of 350 corporate counsel uncovers clients’ plans to issue RFPs to hire law firms in 2026. It’s no surprise the results look like this:

• Absolutely yes – 8% – down from 11% last year
• Thinking about it – 15%
• Hasn’t thought about it – 31%
• No way, no how – 46%

Only 23% are even considering more RFPs. This means initiative – not participation – wins.

But This Unlocks Major Opportunity

We describe the 2026 legal market as The Opportunity Rich market in our BTI Practice Outlook 2026. Here are 7 ways firms are replacing RFPs with opportunity:

1. Go Unsolicited: Learn to Love Unsolicited Proposals
   Send a short, insight-led proposal based on what the client is facing – business transformation, novel matters, workforce risk, supply chain exposure. No credentials. No “capabilities.” Just problems and solutions.
2. Run a 90-Minute Strategy Session
   Meet with the client to pressure-test business goals, obstacles, and risk tolerance. Bring a second partner who can add an “outside-in” perspective. These sessions regularly convert into new matters – and often feed the unsolicited proposal.
3. Deliver an Anticipation Brief
   “Anticipating needs” is a 2026 differentiator. Go beyond alerts: track job postings, IP filings, litigation patterns, and footprint shifts. Have an associate help build it (training + leverage). Share it with the client – they love forward-looking signal.
4. Deploy Rainmakers Where the Growth Is
   Cut territorialism. If access is the constraint, leadership can fix origination mechanics when it wants to – even informally. The firms doing this are reallocating rainmaker time to clients with the highest upside – and it shows up in revenue.
5. Create a Client-Facing Diagnostic Tool
   Clients love checklists and questionnaires – because they trigger action. Build a simple diagnostic around privacy, due diligence, geopolitical risk, data governance, or another industry-specific hot zone. Use it to surface issues the client didn’t know to ask about.
6. Build a Monthly “Top Risks” Signal Loop
   Email a short prompt to select clients: “What are your top 3 risks this month?” Aggregate the trends into a brief, high-signal insight you share with clients and attorneys. Ask clients to add to it. This creates a network effect and fuels organic BD.
7. Aim at Industries with the Most Acute Needs
   Your best BD target is urgency. In BTI Practice Outlook 2026, the industries with the most acute practice needs include High Tech, Pharma, Consumer Goods, Manufacturing, and Healthcare. Align outreach and insight with where demand is peaking.

Use the RFP drought to create an idea wheel with clients – proof you can help before they ask.

And before anyone gets too nostalgic for the good old days of RFPs, remember this: 80% of clients report no change in their law firm lineup 6 months after issuing an RFP.

Opportunity belongs to those who create it.