2017 has arrived with a bang: expenses are back on the rise and demand growth is trending negative. Last year in the March issue of this publication, we hypothesized what the results of the 2016 Mattern & Associates Cost Recovery Survey would reveal. With the results tabulated, let's see how accurate our predictions were as well as analyze the results.
Over the last few years, the legal operation managers' role has flourished, growing from a profession in its infancy into an unruly teenager, far more mature but with substantial areas poised for development. Now, more than ever, law departments are focused on implementing programs and structures to improve their financial management and deliver value.
The top performing law firms continued to pull away from the rest of the Am Law 200 last year, according to a report released on January 23 by Wells Fargo Private Bank's Legal Specialty Group. Meanwhile certain regions, including the mid-Atlantic states, struggled to achieve even modest revenue growth.
Law departments are not being asked to do more with less? Instead, they are being asked to do more with more (though sometimes their budget increases are not keeping up with their new responsibilities).
A true partnership requires a compensation structure that rewards partner-like behavior — collegiality, mentoring, expansion and transition of client relationships to fellow partners, and a consensus to pursue long-term strategies promoting institutional stability rather than maximizing short-term profit metrics.
Over the years, the structure of law firms has shifted from a geographical model to a practice group model. Rather than placing leaders in each geographical office, law firm practice group leaders have more power. As law firms have evolved in size, reach, and complexity, so too has the need for seasoned executives to manage the business of law.
With overall law firm billing rates rising fast, firms that increased their rates more slowly are reaping rewards in the form of greater revenue growth, according to a new study.
