Large Law Firms
Tuesday 19th Dec 2023
As the pace of legal technology innovation increases, Thomson Reuters announced today it is entering into a partnership with global law firm Morgan Lewis to collaborate on new artificial intelligence (AI) driven legal products. Through the partnership, Morgan Lewis will provide feedback to help shape new Thomson Reuters products. “We’re committed to providing the best ...
Friday 16th Sep 2022
A lot of attention has been paid lately to lateral hiring and associate compensation, but changes are also taking place in law firm staffing. Thomson Reuters Institute recently completed its annual analysis on law firm staffing ratios. Today, we’ll talk about what the new trends are with Isaac Brooks, senior industry data analyst, and Natalie ...
Thursday 28th Oct 2021
As Osborne Clarke moves swiftly to digitally unify its future-focused international legal practice of more than 925 lawyers across 25 worldwide locations, it is adopting Thomson Reuters 3E Cloud and 3E Cloud Care to provide global enterprise business management. “The investment in 3E demonstrates our commitment to a cloud-first IT strategy that provides our people ...
Thursday 7th Oct 2021
The legal industry continues to rebound from the effects of the pandemic, but much uncertainty still remains. The Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor Index hit a record high in the second quarter as demand returned to pre-pandemic levels or higher, and law firm profitability soared. But questions about the direction of the economy and global trade ...
Monday 10th May 2021
The law firm market continues to show encouraging signs as it recovers from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor Economic Index found that demand for legal services dipped slightly in Q1, falling 1.0%. However, that was in comparison against Q1 2020 which was a strong quarter prior to the economic ...
Tuesday 2nd Feb 2021
Law firms finished 2020 on an optimistic note. Weakness in demand moderated, rates remained high, and firms were able to reduce several key costs. As a result, the Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor Index (PMI), which measures key law firm performance indicators hit a near-record high in the fourth quarter of 2020. Demand for law firm ...
Tuesday 12th Jan 2021
While 2020 brought unprecedented challenges for law firms, history may look back and see the year as a “tipping point” that accelerated significant changes in the law firm market. The 2021 Report on the State of the Legal Market from the Center on Ethics and the Legal Profession at Georgetown University Law Center and the ...
Monday 9th Nov 2020
For many American law firms, the second quarter was an abrupt shock to the system. Yet it also provided ample time to chart a path forward, and firms did just that in the third quarter. The decline in demand for law firm services moderated in the third quarter as rates rose and firms took steps ...
Thursday 22nd Oct 2020
What separates the top-performing law firms from the rest of the pack? A new study looks at some of the differences. The 2020 Dynamic Law Firms Report from Thomson Reuters Institute, Peer Monitor and Acritas, part of Thomson Reuters, looked at the top quartile of law firms, as measured by overall firm profits, revenue per ...
Tuesday 18th Aug 2020
Thomson Reuters HighQ today rolled out version 5.4 of its cloud-based productivity solution. The new version seamlessly integrates Contact Express into a single solution, allowing more powerful document automation. Contract Express templates can be used to generate and store documents natively within HighQ, enabling the user to integrate and establish workflows, collaborate, co-author, and utilize ...
Tuesday 23rd Jun 2020
As recently as a few months ago, it would have been inconceivable that law firms would be forced to support entirely remote workforces. But over the recent months, that’s exactly what’s happened. On top of it, clients are facing their own challenges, and their expectations are not diminishing. As a result, firms have been and ...
Monday 11th May 2020
The Q1 2020 Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor Economic Index (PMI) report, found the large law firm market saw strong growth in demand and rates in the first quarter, setting a robust foundation at the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak. It’s important to note that the bulk of the social and economic impact of the outbreak ...
Tuesday 7th Apr 2020
Law firms, as well as their attorneys and staff, are facing unique circumstances and firm leaders are dealing with new challenges in managing their business, as well as their employees. The Thomson Reuters Institute is presenting a series of webinars to help law firm leaders navigate in uncertain times. Together, these webinars can offer valuable ...
Monday 16th Mar 2020
Falling in Love with the Problem, BCLP Encourages its Associates to Think Differently By Nick Pryor & Andrew Fletcher How can we create an environment that nudges legal professionals out of their day-to-day and beyond their comfort zone when rethinking their work? At BCLP’s (Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner) 2019 Business Academy, an award-winning technology and ...
Monday 3rd Feb 2020
The large law firm market notched a second straight year of growth in 2019, according to the latest Peer Monitor report. Firms wrapped up what is arguably their best two-year period since the end of the recession, 2019 marked the first two year stretch in more than a decade where demand for law firm services ...
Tuesday 21st Jan 2020
Baker McKenzie, DLA Piper and Clifford Chance top the latest Acritas Global Elite Brand Index, as the firms most top of mind and most favored by corporate clients with more than US$1B in global revenues, as well as most considered for multi-jurisdictional deals and litigation. Baker McKenzie has increased its lead atop the index for ...
Tuesday 5th Nov 2019
Law firms face numerous challenges, including those coming from clients, from within their own firms, and from the economy in general. But how much change are law firms willing to embrace to meet those challenges? The “2019 Law Firm Business Leaders Report: Outlook for U.S.-Based Local & Regional Firms” interviewed law firm leaders. They are ...
Monday 4th Nov 2019
Demand for large law firm services surged in the third quarter to one of its highest levels since the end of the recession. The Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor Economic Index Report (PMI) says the PMI rose three points to 56 — its second consecutive quarterly gain. However, lagging productivity and rising costs dampened profitability slightly. ...
Tuesday 24th Sep 2019
“It is encouraging to note that we have seen a return to stability in the legal market.” That’s the conclusion of the 2019 Peer Monitor Midyear Report, noting that demand for legal services was modestly higher in the first half of 2019, while rates grew at some of the highest levels seen this decade. Much ...
Thursday 15th Aug 2019
At ILTACON 2019 in Orlando next week, the focus will be on legal operation strategies for today’s transforming legal industry. Today we share a preview of A Bold New Vision for the Way Lawyers Work, one of six panels Thomson Reuters will be involved in at ILTACON. Jill Schornack, Thomson Reuters senior director of Product ...
Monday 5th Aug 2019
The large law firm market regained its footing somewhat in the second quarter. After a weak start to the year, demand rebounded in Q2 and rate growth remained strong, lifting the Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor Economic Index (PMI) three points to 53. However, productivity continues to fall, dampening profitability. Demand for law firm services rose ...
Tuesday 25th Jun 2019
Hardly a day goes by when we’re not interacting with someone working the “gig economy” — that Uber driver who gave us a ride, a Instacart grocery shopper or the Bite Squad person dropping off your dinner. You soon might be able to add one more person to that list: your lawyer. A pair of ...
Thursday 20th Jun 2019
Thomson Reuters is proud to announce that this year’s 2019 VANTAGE Worldwide charity partner is Doctors Without Borders, known globally as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). The goal during the conference is to raise $30,000 for MSF and $11,000 had already been raised by attendees on the first day and a fundraising run took place this ...
Wednesday 19th Jun 2019
How firms stand out amongst a variety of competition is a topic that law firms need to continue to address according to the discussion during a panel of Thomson Reuters executives at this week’s VANTAGE 2019 Worldwide Conference. Firms of all sizes must seize opportunities to become more efficient and differentiate themselves from a crowded ...
Tuesday 14th May 2019
While large law firms saw the strongest rate growth in several years in the first quarter, demand growth was flat and productivity fell. The combination dropped the Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor Economic Index (PMI) by six points to 50. Demand for large law firm services slipped 0.1%, however, that was largely a result of weakness ...
Monday 8th Apr 2019
Law firms are under pressure from many quarters these days – from clients to demonstrate greater value and cost efficiency, from competitors such as legal process outsourcing, as well as from other law firms. Trevor Faure, head of Smarter Law Solutions and former head of global legal services at EY, says lawyers need to take ...
Tuesday 19th Feb 2019
The sheer size of the largest firms is often perceived as an advantage, providing more resources, broader geographical reach and other benefits. The “2019 Report on the State of the Legal Market: A View from the Midsize Firms” from the Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute concludes that despite these assumed disadvantages, Midsize firms – those ...
Tuesday 12th Feb 2019
The large law firm market pulled back slightly in the fourth quarter, but for the year as a whole, 2018 saw across-the-board improvement in demand, rates and productivity. However, much of the gains were concentrated among the very largest firms. The Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor Economic Index (PMI) dropped seven points to 56 in Q4, ...
Tuesday 6th Nov 2018
Litigation remains the largest single practice law for large law firms, despite a steady decline in demand in recent years. Steady decline, that is, until this year. Litigation is seeing a pickup in demand so far in 2018. What is driving this demand? Is litigation back? Or is it just a temporary blip? This new ...
Tuesday 14th Aug 2018
The large law firm market scored a rare triple win in the second quarter, with strong gains in demand, rate growth and productivity. The Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor Index (PMI), which measures the relative health of the U.S. large law firm market, surged ten points to 62, its highest reading since 2011. Demand for law ...
Monday 9th Jul 2018
The large law firm may be becoming more competitive. Firms in the highest-performing segment of the market may be pulling back towards market averages, as their performance gap over the rest of the market has narrowed somewhat. That’s among the findings of The Dynamic Law Firms Study: A 2017 Year-End Update from the Thomson Reuters ...
Monday 14th May 2018
Demand for legal services at the largest law firms grew in the first quarter, even while overall demand for law firm services slumped, according to the Q1 2018 Peer Monitor report. The segment of the market made up of the largest firms – the Am Law 100 – had a strong quarter, with demand growing ...
Monday 12th Feb 2018
The large law firm market had a surprisingly strong fourth quarter as demand, rate growth and productivity all rose in the same quarter for the first time in almost five years. The Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor Index (PMI), which measures the relative health of the U.S. large law firm market, rose a sharp 11 points ...
Wednesday 10th Jan 2018
Many law firms may be unprepared for rapid changes that are transforming the legal market at an accelerating pace. “The 2018 Report on the State of the Legal Market’ from Georgetown Law and the Legal Executive Institute says that new competitors and changing client expectations make it essential for law firms to re-evaluate strategies, even ...
Wednesday 13th Dec 2017
Corporate clients may be evaluating outside counsel and shifting work more frequently than you might think. A new survey from the Legal Executive Institute says more than half (58 percent) of corporate legal departments surveyed say they shift their legal work among law firms at least once every two years. Nearly one in five (18 ...
Monday 13th Nov 2017
The law firm market is becoming increasingly competitive, as described in last week’s Q3 2017 Peer Monitor Index Report. But some law firms are managing to achieve consistent above-market growth, even in this difficult environment. What sets these firms apart? The 2017 Dynamic Law Firms Report examined top-performing law firms and identified several key factors ...
Monday 6th Nov 2017
The large law firm market slowed again in the third quarter, as declining demand more than offset higher rates, according to the (PMI). The PMI, which measures the relative health of the U.S. large law firm market, fell one point to 49. Demand for the large law firm market fell a sharp 1.9 percent — ...
Monday 7th Aug 2017
The large law firm market has largely been split so far this year, with the very largest segment of firms seeing gains, while other segments of the market are facing more challenging conditions. The latest Peer Monitor report shows that through the first six months of the year, much of the strength in the market ...
Tuesday 20th Jun 2017
At VANTAGE 2017 Orlando, Cory Branden with Peer Monitor presented about trends and the true cost of lost productivity: Productivity. It’s a subject that we seem to be talking about all the time over the last few years. Firms want to find a way to utilize the lever and spur greater profitability, while corporate legal departments ...
Thursday 6th Apr 2017
The Ark Group recently held its conference on Best Practices & Management Strategies for Law Firm Library, Research & Information Services. In this episode of KM with Kim, we discuss a recap of the conference with Kim Stein, national KM manager for Thomson Reuters. [audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/legalcurrent/Ark_Group_Conference_Recap_-_KM_with_Kim_episode_7.mp3]
Tuesday 21st Mar 2017
Knowing how your legal department and outside counsel are performing compared with the competition can be invaluable information. Corporate legal departments can more easily compare their performance to industry benchmarks and streamline frequently-used workflows with new automation tools in the latest update of Thomson Reuters Legal Tracker™ (formerly Serengeti Tracker™), the market-leading e-billing and matter ...
Thursday 12th Jan 2017
The billable hour model of decades past where firms experienced little pushback on rates or number of hours spent is effectively dead, and the traditional law firm franchise is increasingly at risk. Law firms must either find ways to effectively adapt to these and other evolving competitive conditions or risk further erosion of their market ...
Monday 7th Nov 2016
Cross-currents buffeted the large law firm market in the third quarter. Firms saw the highest rate growth in two years, but also suffered the second consecutive quarterly decline in demand. The result was that the Peer Monitor Index held steady at 48 for the quarter. Rates have been rising steadily all year. In the third ...
Monday 31st Oct 2016
Balancing technology needs with budget realities can be tricky. Seventy percent of attendees surveyed at the 15th Annual Law Firm COO-CFO Forum produced by the Legal Executive Institute said they consider technology to be a strategic differentiator for their firm. But most also agreed on the importance of prioritizing and the need to sort out ...
Tuesday 18th Oct 2016
A new report from Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor finds that large law firms willing to accept smaller rate increases are on average experiencing higher demand and revenue growth. For many years, annual rate increases have been seen as a reliable means for firms to grow their revenues. But in an increasingly flat market in demand ...
Friday 7th Oct 2016
Earlier this year, the American Bar Association produced A Report on the Future of Legal Services in the United States. This report has generated much discussion with varying viewpoints about whether the report went too far or not far enough in its 12 recommendations to continue building on the legal profession’s legacy and ensure access ...
Thursday 6th Oct 2016
Clients continue to change their expectations for law firms, including how and from whom they purchase legal services. Beyond the latest use of panels and convergence programs, clients are making statements to the marketplace by moving work to firms that best respond to their requirements and guidelines. Jami Wintz McKeon, Firm Chair, Morgan, Lewis & ...
Thursday 6th Oct 2016
The 21st annual Thomson Reuters Law Firm Leaders Forum in New York began with a panel discussing recent developments over the past year, a session that traditionally opens the forum each year. Ralph Baxter, Chairman of the Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute, author and advisor, opened with remarks discussing three developments he sees impacting the ...
Thursday 29th Sep 2016
As I was preparing for our VANTAGE EMEA conference being held this week in London, I spent some time thinking about where we’ve come as an organization since we were here a year ago. And since it’s a history that directly informs where we’re at and where we’re going, I’d like to reflect on our ...
Tuesday 27th Sep 2016
I had the privilege of hosting the opening keynote session at VANTAGE EMEA this week and both Eric Ruud and I devoted a lot of our time to discussing our continued focus and commitment to Customer Advocacy. We have made many changes to enhance the customer experience over the past year. As I said onstage ...
Monday 26th Sep 2016
The Elite Vantage EMEA 2016 User Conference is underway in London. The two-day conference brings together Thomson Reuters Elite users from across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Elizabet Hardy, Vice President of Product Management and Eric Sugden, Chief Technology Officer discuss what will take place at Vantage, including the release of Elite 3E version ...
Tuesday 13th Sep 2016
In discussions with firms at ILTACON 2016, one thing stands out in the world of knowledge management: in an era of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, knowledge management can help firms gain a competitive advantage. In this post-ILTA wrap-up edition of “KM with Kim,” Kim Stein, national manager of knowledge management for Thomson Reuters, shares ...
Thursday 1st Sep 2016
Where is Knowledge Management headed? How will AI and Big Data impact Knowledge Management? In this edition of “KM with Kim,” Kim Stein, national KM manager for Thomson Reuters explores the future of Knowledge Management. A white paper on “Knowledge Management Software Has Come of Age” can be downloaded here: http://blog.legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/law-and-techology/knowledge-management-software-has-come-of-age-now-what/
Thursday 1st Sep 2016
At ILTACON 2016, Nancy Beauchemin from InOutsource; Roger Bonine from Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin; and Abby Spilker from Miles & Stockbridge P.C. spoke about their experiences streamlining their workflow technology. Their session focused on using workflow software suites like Intapp to build brand new, technology-assisted workflows. The whole panel agreed that a significant ...
Wednesday 31st Aug 2016
During the ILTACON 2016 Session “AI in Law: The State of Play in 2016”, Michael Mills, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Neota Logic, gave compelling insight into the economics, significance and potential of AI in law firms. According to Mills, law firms have traditionally operated on a time-based billing model, simply scaling their work ...
Wednesday 31st Aug 2016
The cloud is becoming increasingly ubiquitous at law firms. In fact, a recent ABA Technology Survey stated that 46 percent of cloudless firms will be transitioning in the next 6-12 months. In the session on the “New International Standard for Cloud Due Diligence,” Gregg Brown, senior director Technical Strategy, Computer Standards at Microsoft, and Patrick ...
Wednesday 31st Aug 2016
Knowledge Management, like any solution, is only as effective as an organization’s ability to get people to use it. In this episode of “KM with Kim”, Thomson Reuters national manager of knowledge management, Kim Stein discusses how firms can get the most out of the KM systems A white paper on “Knowledge Management Software Has ...
Tuesday 30th Aug 2016
Among the themes that have emerged at this year’s ILTACON is the notion of “deconstruction” of the legal industry. It was a point Dan Katz, associate professor of Law at Chicago Kent College of Law, touched on in his keynote, particularly as a precursor of change in the space. After all, unleashing big data or ...
Tuesday 30th Aug 2016
What are some of the disruptive technologies facing the legal industry? Ron Friedman of Fireman & Co. led an ILTACON 2016 session on “When Will Blockchains and Smart Contracts Be Important in Legal?” He and Eric Laughlin, managing director, Legal Managed Services, Thomson Reuters, sat down to discuss. [audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/legalcurrent/AI__Legal_Technology_with_Eric_Laughlin__Ron_Friedmann.mp3]
Tuesday 30th Aug 2016
Does the past drive the future? Why do you need predictive analytics? These are questions a passionate panel of experts sought to answer at the ILTACON 2016 session: “How the Past Drives the Future with Predictive Analytics.” Andy Peterson, Innovative Solutions Strategist at Davis Wright Tremaine; David Cunningham, CIO at Winston & Strawn; Mark Thorogood, ...
Tuesday 30th Aug 2016
By Monica Bay What is ILTA? Like IBM, not everyone knows what the acronym stands for. (IBM is the International Business Machines Corp., based in Armonk, N.Y.) You won’t find the answer if you assume you can find it at ilta.com. Or ilta.org. ILTA is easy to say and runs smoothly off the tongue—maybe that’s ...
Tuesday 30th Aug 2016
Advances in legal technology — both the present and future — will be front and center at ILTACON 2016 this week. Charlotte Rushton, managing director, large and midsize law firms, and innovation leader for the Legal business of Thomson Reuters, discusses the state of innovation in the legal industry
Monday 29th Aug 2016
Daniel Katz, associate professor of Law at Chicago Kent College of Law, opened his Day One ILTACON session by assuring attendees that the days of robot overlords are still a bit further off. “I’m not about robots replacing lawyers, I’m about placing robots where they aren’t now,” Katz remarked. Lawyers, technologists and futurists have long ...
Monday 29th Aug 2016
I am what’s known as a “lifer”… or an “old-timer … or any number of other descriptors usually said affectionately but with just the slightest hint of pejorative undertone. I’ve been around the legal tech community a long time, and am coming up on 24 years at Thomson Reuters Elite. However, I am a mere ...
Friday 26th Aug 2016
Knowledge management can be a powerful way for firms to increase their efficiency. In the first episode of our series, “KM with Kim,” we discuss how knowledge management improves productivity, with Kim Stein, national manager of knowledge management at Thomson Reuters. In upcoming episodes, we’ll discuss how firms can get the most out of their knowledge management systems, ...
Friday 26th Aug 2016
A new survey from West LegalEdcenter found that most associates find high value in training, but report moderate-to-low satisfaction with the training that is currently provided. With few exceptions, respondents say that training adds high value to their work. However, they report moderate-to-low levels of overall training satisfaction and generally low satisfaction with the amount ...
Monday 13th Jun 2016
The 6th Annual Law Firm CFO/CIO/COO Forum conducted by the Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute marks a return to the forum’s roots with a comprehensive examination of collaborative strategies across the law firm C-suite on a number of timely topics impacting law firm operations, finance and technology. One of the key topics will be law ...
Thursday 26th May 2016
The 2016 Elite VANTAGE Worldwide User Conference saw record attendance, with 1100 users, 300 sessions and numerous customer panels, demos, sharing best practices, and talking about industry trends. Eric Ruud, Managing Director for Legal Enterprise Solutions, discusses this year’s VANTAGE conference, and how users can continue to keep up with developments at Elite throughout the ...
Wednesday 25th May 2016
What does it take to turn a business with more than 4400 customers in 40 countries into a customer-focused community? Patrick Hurley, Elite vice president of customer advocacy, discusses Elite’s effort to put the customer at the forefront of everything it does, and how that plays into the VANTAGE 2016 Worldwide User Conference underway in ...
Monday 23rd May 2016
VANTAGE 2016 Worldwide User Conference is being held in Nashville this week. More than 1100 Elite users will take in presentations, user group meetings, exhibits, demos and a learning lab. Elizabet Hardy, vice president of product management for Elite, discusses today’s keynote that kicked off the conference. [audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/legalcurrent/Elite_VANTAGE_2016_Keynote__Kickoff.mp3]
Thursday 7th Jan 2016
Remember the Kodak Instamatic camera? Long before cellphones and selfies, it seems we all had one. But now they’ve faded away like aged Kodachrome film. The 2016 State of the Law Firm Market report from Georgetown Law and Peer Monitor provides a snapshot of the legal industry, warning that similar fates could be in store ...
Thursday 8th Oct 2015
As Day One of the Law Firm Leaders Forum came to a close, Dr. Heidi Gardner, lecturer on law and distinguished fellow, Center on the Legal Profession, Harvard Law School, led an introspective panel on how successful firms innovate and change in the face of an uncertain future. Lucy Endel Bassli, assistant general counsel, Legal ...
Thursday 8th Oct 2015
The legal industry has changed dramatically in the years since the beginning of the Great Recession, and is now driven by market forces like hyper-competition, technological innovation and slower demand for legal services. These forces continue to push change on the industry, forging it into something very different from what it was less than a ...
Thursday 8th Oct 2015
The 20th annual Law Firm Leaders Forum began this morning with an introspective look at the state of the legal industry. Ralph Baxter, chairman of Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute began with a review of key data points from the Peer Monitor Index. Citing that the total size of the current legal market sits at ...
Friday 28th Aug 2015
The term “Big Data” is rather overused these days. Maybe they really should call it “Humongous Data” or something. According to IBM’s Jeopardy-winning Watson, an astounding 2.5 billion gigabytes of data are generated every day. Joseph Raczynski, a legal technologist futurist says we’ve reached the point where no one person can possibly absorb the vast ...