Performance, Not Size, Leads to Growth In Today’s Market

In today’s market, growth is no longer a function of how big you are, but how well you perform — how quickly you can make informed decisions, respond to shifting client needs, and align the entire firm around a shared vision of success. The firms that pull ahead over the next five years won’t be the ones with the most lawyers or the flashiest marketing budgets. They’ll be the ones that master the art and science of firm performance.

5 minute read September 30, 2025 at 11:43 PM
By
Eric Thurston
Performance, Not Size, Leads to Growth In Today’s Market

For decades, the legal industry measured success with three metrics: headcount, office footprint and big-ticket client wins. But that scoreboard is now dangerously out of date.

This premium content is locked for Accounting and Financial Planning for Law Firms subscribers only

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE SINGLE SOURCE OF OBJECTIVE LEGAL ANALYSIS, PRACTICAL INSIGHTS, AND NEWS IN Accounting and Financial Planning for Law Firms

  • Stay current on the latest information, rulings, regulations, and trends
  • Includes practical, must-have information on copyrights, royalties, AI, and more
  • Tap into expert guidance from top entertainment lawyers and experts

Already have an account? Sign In Now

For enterprise-wide or corporate access, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or call 1-877-256-2473.

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2026 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Continue Reading

Most firms are aiming their newest tools at the work they already do — pouring their most powerful technology into running the same tasks a little faster. But when everyone automates the same tasks at once, no one pulls ahead. That reaches the future a little faster while leaving a firm’s largest opportunity untouched — and that opportunity isn’t doing more of the existing work, but transforming how the high-value work gets done.

June 01, 2026

Artificial intelligence is rapidly embedding itself into legal workflows, but much of the conversation treats all use cases as if they carry the same level of risk, even if they do not. The more useful question is not whether AI works, but where it can be safely applied and where it cannot.

June 01, 2026