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Project Management & Process Design Top Law Firm Priorities, Latest Staffing...
Priorities are reflected in the budget. Put another way, people tend to spend the most on what they feel is the most important to them. Law firms are not immune to this line of thinking. Lawyers’...
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What’s Behind the Drop in Litigation Demand? Large Firms Feel It, Midsize...
The Legal Executive Institute and Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor recently released the Peer Monitor Economic Index (PMI) for the 4th quarter of 2015. The PMI is produced by Thomson Reuters, and is a...
View ArticleGrowth in Negotiated Rates Slowest in Years, According to Peer Monitor
The billable hour rate is the lifeblood of a large or medium law firm. And in recent years, the flow of this necessary component has been turbulent. According to the Peer Monitor Economic Index (PMI)...
View ArticleMaking Transparency Count in Client Billing
I read a recent entry on BTI Consulting’s Mad Clientist blog with great interest. Who wouldn’t want to learn how to charge clients “whatever you want”? The article points out that 80.1% of recently...
View ArticleBenchmarking: Knowing Where Your Firm Stands
The idea of knowing where you stand in the business world is hardly new, but it is one with which the legal industry has struggled for a long time. What other firms do my clients work with? What types...
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Rates & Realization: Is Slow Rate Growth the Key to Increasing Demand?
How much is my work worth? It’s a question that law firms constantly struggle with, particularly in the first part of a new year as firms wait to see how clients will react to new rate increases. The...
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PMI Breakdown: Demand Growth is Out There, If Law Firms Know Where to Look
Knowing where growth is happening in the market is a key element for a law firm’s strategic planning. Aggressive headcount growth by a firm during a time of market contraction may not necessarily be a...
View ArticleBig or Small, All Law Firms Should Explore Ways to Reinvent Their Business...
I recently had the opportunity to work with Ian Turvill, Chief Marketing Officer of Chicago-based Freeborn & Peters, to develop a framework for law firm strategic planning focused around the...
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Is Disruptive Change Really Making a Difference in How Law Firms Approach the...
How much has disruptive change in the legal marketplace spurred law firms to actually change strategy to confront these challenges? So little that 66% of respondents to a survey conducted in...
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Growth Gap Between Transactional and Litigation Practices Narrows, But...
Last year, we produced a report entitled The Rise of the Transactionals, discussing how transactional practices are increasingly assuming a leading role in law firm growth strategies. At that time...
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PMI Analysis: Where Confidence and Reality Clash on the Field of Falling Demand
On the whole (at least according to the recent Citi Private Bank Law Firm group’s mid-year survey), law firm leaders seem pretty confident that their economic situation will improve as the year...
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Inside the PMI Report: Is Overcapacity Behind Law Firms’ Productivity Drop in...
While not necessarily garnering the same level of attention as marquee metrics like rates and demand, productivity numbers should be offered the same level of consideration, and thus, the sharp drop in...
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Law Firm Leaders Forum Infographic: Higher Rate Growth Doesn’t Always Result...
A newly released infographic from Thomson Reuters’ Legal Executive Institute and Peer Monitor suggests that strong rate growth, a key factor for many firms in controlling profitability, may actually be...
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Growing In-House Work, Client Skepticism Leads to Demand Contraction …Again
The latest Peer Monitor Quarterly Index report showed a second straight quarter of average contracting demand. Though not unprecedented, we haven’t seen two consecutive quarters of contracting demand...
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Worked Rates & Realizations Both Tick Up in 3Q, But Profit Unlikely to Follow
The recently released Peer Monitor Index report for the 3Q showed encouraging signs in terms of rate growth for the year so far. After 2015 saw average worked rate growth of 2.7% for the year, worked...
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Examining the Nexus Between Slower Rate Growth & Greater Demand
We recently completed a very interesting analysis around rate performance and what is driving profits for successful law firms. One of our key conclusions is that it does not all boil down to rates. We...
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Georgetown Report Analysis: The Demise of the Hourly Billing Model
The 2017 Report on the State of the Legal Market — colloquially known as the Georgetown Report — was released late last week by The Center for the Study of the Legal Profession at Georgetown University...
View ArticleAs Client Relationships Change, Some Law Firms Could Find Solace in Vendor...
A lot of the attention paid to the recently released 2017 Report on the State of the Legal Market has focused on the discussion of the fate of the billable hour. While drawing less attention, the...
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Law Firms Reined in Expense Growth in 2016, But for How Long?
When looking at the Peer Monitor Index, we don’t tend to pay much attention to expenses. Metrics like demand and rates tend to command more eyeballs, and therefore, more analysis. But the recently...
View ArticleALSPs & Clients’ Desire to Use Them: Law Firms’ Newest Balancing Act
Law firms today face a market that would be unrecognizable to a lawyer even as little as 10 years ago. Prior to the Great Recession, law firms typically handled all aspects of their clients’ matters...
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