Law firms, technology, competition and friction points
This post was written by Allison Guidette, managing director of Large Law Firms
You don’t have to talk to too many law firm leaders these days before you get the sense that 2012 is shaping up to be a challenging year. While the recent headlines on the overall economy show some welcome rays of optimism, you get the sense that things in the trenches are not bouncing back in some pockets as quickly as one would like to see. The latest Peer Monitor Index showed law firm demand fell in the fourth quarter, and was up a scant 1.0% for all of 2011.
Competition seems to be heating up, not only as firms fight for more business, but also as clients seek greater demonstrated value for work performed, increasingly pushback on rates, and use more competitive bidding and convergence.
All this makes it imperative that firms find ways to improve efficiency and productivity. A recent Serengeti survey found that while the most cited reason that firms are not retained was (not surprisingly) fees, 51% of clients said that inefficiency was also a factor.
Friction points that lead to inefficiencies can pop up at multiple points in matter management, client management and firm management. And technology can provide key solutions to ease some of those friction points.
Many of those solutions are being unveiled, demonstrated and discussed this week at LegalTech New York, including new mobile solutions such as the WestlawNext iPad app and ProView eReader app, MatterSphere for integrated matter management, and Westlaw Drafting Assistant – Transactional integrated drafting tools and content for transactional attorneys, to name just a few.
The new year always starts off with hope for a better year, and excitement around new technologies. And we look forward to talking with you, not only at LegalTech, but throughout the year to find out more about how your needs are changing in a rapidly evolving marketplace, and how we can hopefully help meet those needs.
