Several articles and surveys that have come out recently suggest a looming donnybrook in 2023 between law firms and business clients. The law firms want to aggressively raise rates but their business clients claim to be outraged by such efforts. These clients also say they plan to resist such efforts aggressively.
Pardon me, but I have heard this before.
Continue Reading To Raise or Not To Raise Lawyer Rates: That Is The 2023 Question
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)…
Ch-ch-changes
Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I can’t trace time
Changes by David Bowie
I recently ran across an article in Macworld by Dan Moren. The article is entitled Apple Is Quietly Preparing for a Future Without the iPhone-Or Another Big Thing.
In
Continue Reading Does Your Law Firm Need To Think About a Pivot?
Lexion, an AI-powered contract management system geared to in-house lawyers and legal professionals, recently announced the results of a survey of some 450 in-house legal professionals. The Survey sought information on the state of legal technology, the potential economic slowdown, and the potential impact of any slowdown on their work. The results were published in The State of Legal
Continue Reading Legal Tech: It’s Not Just for Lawyers Anymore
I just finished reading James Patterson’s book, The Last Days of John Lennon. In it, he goes through a fair amount of the history of the Beatles, both before and after the breakup.
I was struck by the role Ringo Starr played in the group. Like Charlie Watts, the Rolling Stones drummer who recently passed away, Ringo never
Continue Reading Every Law Firm Needs a Ringo
Several years ago, I was engaged by an insurance carrier to defend many of its insureds in some repetitive litigation across the nation. At one point, the VP of Claims to whom I reported and I were asked to brief the carrier’s VP of subrogation on the litigation. The subrogation unit was exploring whether any recovery actions could be brought
Continue Reading Why Are So Many In-House Counsel Are Reluctant to Bring Plaintiff Actions?
Everyone is talking about the recent Partners Compensation Survey conducted jointly by Major, Lindsay and Africa, and Law360. Perhaps rightly so. The data for the Survey came from some 1800 equity and nonequity partners. While it was not specified, my guess is that those surveyed primarily came from larger firms.
The big headline from the Survey is
Continue Reading The Partners Compensation Survey: Lots of Interesting Non Comp Findings
Just like Moneyball concepts changed baseball forever, perhaps the same may be happening in legal tech. Yes, legal tech companies are making more data and financial based decisions. But the old days seemed, well, more fun.
Another day, another announcement by a legal tech company of increased integrations, acquisitions, or consolidations. Monday, Reveal announced that it acquired Technically Creative.
Continue Reading Moneyball Comes to Legal Tech? Or Am I Just An Old Curmudgeon?
As things stand now, it looks like Elon Musk’s deal to purchase Twitter will go through. I fear what that all means for Twitter users and the legal tech community.
A couple of things seem certain. First, Musk has repeatedly said he plans to cut Twitter staff by a jaw dropping 75%. Secondly, he has promised to open Twitter
Continue Reading Wither Twitter: What It Could Mean for the Legal Community
I recent returned from the annual Clio conference, at which it released its 2022 Legal Trends Study. This Survey of Clio lawyer customers and others comes out every year.
In addition, Aba Practice Forward Group also recently realized its own Survey of some 2000 members.
The two Surveys are interesting both because they offer a look
Continue Reading CLIO and ABA Recent Surveys: A Tale of Two Studies
“By the way, you know, when, when you’re telling these little stories, here’s a good idea. Have a point. It makes it so much more interesting for the listener!”
Neal Page (played by Steve Martin) in the 1987 movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Clio’s Legal Trends Report came out this week at Clio’s annual conference. One of
Continue Reading How to Build Culture, Train Associates and Make People Happy in a Remote World
The big, extravagant Clio legal tech Conference kicked off today in Nashville. ClioCon is one of the most attended and well respected legal tech conferences. It’s famous for its well known keynote speakers from all walks of life, its training sessions and tracts, workshops, and of course, parties. This year’s Conference is the first in-person Conference since 2019. It’s been
Continue Reading ClioCon 2022: First Rate Conference That Sends the Right Message
Several weeks ago, after ILTACon, I wrote a piece questioning what the maturing of the legal tech market could mean. I specifically wondered what the influx of venture capital and the acquisition mania whereby the big get bigger might mean long term. I also questioned the long-term impact if those without legal experience and understanding become more dominant in the
Continue Reading The Maturing of LegalTech: Ominous Clouds for Customers?
The more I am around legal product and service providers, the more I think many of them have a lot to learn about lawyers and marketing. Too much jargon, too much BS, and too little understanding of what drives lawyers. I’m not a vendor, but I did practice law for a long time and have seen lots of pitches. So
Continue Reading Ten Marketing Tips for LegalTech Vendors
Earlier this month, EY, the mega accounting firm and one of the Big 4 accounting firms, announced plans to spin off into two separate businesses. One business would be devoted exclusively to providing audits to EY clients. The other business would be devoted to providing a variety of consulting services to EY’s business clients. The consulting business will likely be
Continue Reading The Big 4: A Growing Risk to Law Firms?
As I have discussed before, the legal profession, especially the law firm end of it, can’t be thought of as a monolithic marketplace. Instead, today’s legal marketplace is composed of various segments. These segments have business models and goals that are so different that they might be thought of as distinct businesses entirely. Marketers and vendors need to understand
Continue Reading ILTA 2022 Tech Executive Summary: Law Firms’ Tech Approaches Vary By Size