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Enterprise Legal Management Trends Report Demonstrates Corporations Shifting Legal Work to “Large Enough” Firms; AFAs a Factor
CounselLink®, a leading provider of Enterprise Legal Management (ELM) software, published a report finding that “Large Enough” law firms—those with between 201 and 500 attorneys—are increasingly winning market share at the expense of the largest U.S. law firms.
The underlying drivers for the shift in market share center on corporate law’s consolidation of legal work and that “Large Enough” law firms tend to provide a similar value at a lower cost. In addition, the “Large Enough” law firms are more willing to experiment with alternative fee arrangements (AFAs).
First, corporate legal departments are increasingly consolidating legal work with firms with between 201 and 500 lawyers—those firms that are “Large Enough” to provide the necessary level of service―and this is happening at the expense of the “Largest 50” law firms or those with more than 750 attorneys. Second, these smaller firms are demonstrating comparative capabilities at lower billing rates and a willingness to experiment with AFAs.
“‘Large Enough’ firms with multiple office locations and diversity in practice areas generally have lower billing rates and are more willing to engage in AFAs,” said Kris Satkunas, Director of Strategic Consulting with LexisNexis® CounselLink® and principal author of the report. “As a result, corporate law departments are finding the same value from this size law firm for less or at least more predictable costs―and that is driving the migration of legal work into this segment of the law firm market.”
The report is based on the analysis of two million invoices valued at more than $10 billion in legal fees, for legal work performed on approximately 300,000 matters. These invoices are processed through CounselLink software.
Other key findings in the report include:
CounselLink provides ELM software including matter management, legal spend management and legal hold software along with process, analytical and benchmarking consulting services. Billions of dollars in legal fees, billed to corporate legal departments by law firms of all sizes, are processed through the CounselLink system every year.
A detailed report with graphical visualizations of the data is freely available today for download (with registration) on the CounselLink website.
For more information please visit: www.lexisnexis.com/TrendsReport
About CounselLink®
CounselLink is a leading provider of cloud-based software for Enterprise Legal Management, which includes matter management, legal spend management and legal hold solutions designed to help corporate legal departments manage operations while providing analytics and benchmarking tools for better decision making. Expert professional services and product support teams are available to help users maximize the benefits of the solution. Based in Sacramento, CA, the CounselLink business offers innovative and tiered software solutions to address the unique requirements of both large and small legal departments. CounselLink is part of the Business of Law Software Solutions (BLSS) group at LexisNexis. Visit us online at www.lexisnexis.com/counsellink.