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Law Firm Leaders Report Lawyer Oversupply and ‘Chronically Underperforming Lawyers’
June 4, 2017
Fifty-two percent of law firm leaders responding to Altman Weil’s Law Firms in Transition Survey (PDF) said their equity partners are not sufficiently busy. Sixty-two percent said nonequity partners are not busy enough, and 25 percent said associates don’t have enough work. A summary is here; Bloomberg Big Law Business and the Am Law Daily (sub. req.) have stories. Eighty-eight percent of the leaders said they have “chronically underperforming lawyers” at their firms. When asked why, 82 percent...
June 4, 2017
Fifty-two percent of law firm leaders responding to Altman Weil’s Law Firms in Transition Survey (PDF) said their equity partners are not sufficiently busy. Sixty-two percent said nonequity partners are not busy enough, and 25 percent said associates don’t have enough work. A summary is here; Bloomberg Big Law Business and the Am Law Daily (sub. req.) have stories. Eighty-eight percent of the leaders said they have “chronically underperforming lawyers” at their firms. When asked why, 82 percent...
Financial Times: Artificial Intelligence Closes In On The Work Of Junior Lawyers
May 25, 2017
“The 2020s will be the decade of disruption,” says Professor Richard Susskind, co-author of The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts. He believes there is growing demand from executives who control corporate legal budgets to cut costs by taking advantage of the savings offered by technology. ... So far, firms say, technology has not meant job losses. But Prof Susskind believes a wave of lay-offs is to come — law firms are still experimenting...
May 25, 2017
“The 2020s will be the decade of disruption,” says Professor Richard Susskind, co-author of The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts. He believes there is growing demand from executives who control corporate legal budgets to cut costs by taking advantage of the savings offered by technology. ... So far, firms say, technology has not meant job losses. But Prof Susskind believes a wave of lay-offs is to come — law firms are still experimenting...
Let Me Introduce You to Three Robot Lawyers
May 13, 2017
The practice of law is going to look very different 15 years from now. The most routine legal work traditionally performed by human lawyers will likely be carried out by artificial intelligence (AI). In fact, some law firms have already employed robots to perform legal services and private companies are rapidly developing new artificial intelligence and data analytics tools for lawyers. I would like to introduce you to three examples. Do Not Fear the Robots Ross, Lex Machina and Kira are just...
May 13, 2017
The practice of law is going to look very different 15 years from now. The most routine legal work traditionally performed by human lawyers will likely be carried out by artificial intelligence (AI). In fact, some law firms have already employed robots to perform legal services and private companies are rapidly developing new artificial intelligence and data analytics tools for lawyers. I would like to introduce you to three examples. Do Not Fear the Robots Ross, Lex Machina and Kira are just...
Should Attorneys Care About Data Analytics?
May 10, 2017
Whatever one may think of the value of Big Data, economic studies have consistently and conclusively found that customers are more likely to buy a product when they know what the price of the product is. Data analytics can help give greater certainty to prospective clients, and hence drive more business to the firm. To answer the question that we started with then – should attorneys care about data analytics? The answer is a resounding Yes – but only if they want to make more money and have...
May 10, 2017
Whatever one may think of the value of Big Data, economic studies have consistently and conclusively found that customers are more likely to buy a product when they know what the price of the product is. Data analytics can help give greater certainty to prospective clients, and hence drive more business to the firm. To answer the question that we started with then – should attorneys care about data analytics? The answer is a resounding Yes – but only if they want to make more money and have...
Oral Argument in Federal Court Becoming a Lost Art
May 3, 2017
Oral argument - the once commonplace art of making one’s case before the judge - is slipping into obscurity in the nation’s federal courtrooms after steadily going out of fashion. This is especially so in the federal circuit courts of appeals across the country. In the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2006, 25.9 percent, or 8,956, of all 34,580 cases decided on their merits were disposed of after hearing arguments, according to data from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. In the most...
May 3, 2017
Oral argument - the once commonplace art of making one’s case before the judge - is slipping into obscurity in the nation’s federal courtrooms after steadily going out of fashion. This is especially so in the federal circuit courts of appeals across the country. In the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2006, 25.9 percent, or 8,956, of all 34,580 cases decided on their merits were disposed of after hearing arguments, according to data from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. In the most...
Biglaw Divided On How To Deal With Technology
April 28, 2017
If one envisions a law firm’s efforts to move boldly into the future as a matter of balancing the triad of people, technology, and process, then the most striking revelation of the event was the lack of uniformity across the industry. Considering the pack mentality of Biglaw firms — consistently terrified to waver from their peers — the firms represented on this day varied greatly in their current focus. The first few firms to offer their thoughts said, unequivocally, that they’re in the market...
April 28, 2017
If one envisions a law firm’s efforts to move boldly into the future as a matter of balancing the triad of people, technology, and process, then the most striking revelation of the event was the lack of uniformity across the industry. Considering the pack mentality of Biglaw firms — consistently terrified to waver from their peers — the firms represented on this day varied greatly in their current focus. The first few firms to offer their thoughts said, unequivocally, that they’re in the market...
Can Data Help Lawyers Earn More Money?
April 8, 2017
In 2016, the company released its Legal Trends Report, which studied benchmark data from its 150,000 daily active users. It found on average, users only billed 28 percent of their available work hours, and the average billable hour rate across the country was $232. Big data is increasingly available to industries, but lawyer information still tends to be self reported, which can be problematic, said George Psiharis, vice president of business development and partnerships at Clio. Sometimes the information...
April 8, 2017
In 2016, the company released its Legal Trends Report, which studied benchmark data from its 150,000 daily active users. It found on average, users only billed 28 percent of their available work hours, and the average billable hour rate across the country was $232. Big data is increasingly available to industries, but lawyer information still tends to be self reported, which can be problematic, said George Psiharis, vice president of business development and partnerships at Clio. Sometimes the information...
Wolters Kluwer Real Rate Report Shows Law Firm Rates Rising at the Fastest Pace Since the 2008 Recession
April 2, 2017
Wolters Kluwer’s ELM Solutions has released its 2016 Real Rate Report. The report contains new information that the firm...
April 2, 2017
Wolters Kluwer’s ELM Solutions has released its 2016 Real Rate Report. The report contains new information that the firm...
The Robot Lawyers Are Coming (to Help, Not to Take Your Jobs)
April 2, 2017
There is no such thing as robot lawyers, and even if there were, they are not coming to take jobs away from human lawyers. Instead, lawyers should think about how best to work with and harness the potential of software and artificial intelligence to propel their practices forward while bridging the access-to-justice gap. Those were the main takeaways in a wide-ranging Friday morning panel discussion at ABA Techshow featuring Ross Intelligence CEO Andrew Arruda, IBM Global Chief Information...
April 2, 2017
There is no such thing as robot lawyers, and even if there were, they are not coming to take jobs away from human lawyers. Instead, lawyers should think about how best to work with and harness the potential of software and artificial intelligence to propel their practices forward while bridging the access-to-justice gap. Those were the main takeaways in a wide-ranging Friday morning panel discussion at ABA Techshow featuring Ross Intelligence CEO Andrew Arruda, IBM Global Chief Information...
Dallas’ Increase in Lawyer Billing Rates Among Highest in Country
March 30, 2017
Billing rates charged by firms in Dallas increased by 6.8 percent in 2015, compared with 2014—an increase second only to New York when considering the 25 U.S. cities with the highest volume of legal work. Rates increased by 7.9 percent in New York during the same period. According to the 2016 Real Rate Report, issued by CEB consulting company and Wolters Kluwer NV's ELM Solutions, which helps in-house legal departments manage budgets, hourly rates in the United States increased 5.4 percent in 2015...
March 30, 2017
Billing rates charged by firms in Dallas increased by 6.8 percent in 2015, compared with 2014—an increase second only to New York when considering the 25 U.S. cities with the highest volume of legal work. Rates increased by 7.9 percent in New York during the same period. According to the 2016 Real Rate Report, issued by CEB consulting company and Wolters Kluwer NV's ELM Solutions, which helps in-house legal departments manage budgets, hourly rates in the United States increased 5.4 percent in 2015...
