ALMResearchBlog

Data Content 09

I've just returned from a conference called Data Content 09 run by Infocommerce Group.  To oversimplify, the gist of the two day conference is how companies can use data to create new products, improve current products, collect additional data or license existing data for others to use.

Being in the research and marketing business - content is king.  I know you've heard that before, so have I.  What made me actually pay attention this time is the new ways companies are using different forms of data to enhance their businesses.  User generated content, was a big topic.  Customer reviews and self-submitted profiles continue to grow - and as one participant pointed out - as they grow, the volume of information that gets collected makes them more valuable, and actually drives more user generated content.  Mobile was another big topic.  It's amazing how many iphone apps exist, and even more amazing how many people pay for them and use them.  The question of the day was not "should we develop an iphone app?  it was "what iphone app should we develop?"

How does content relate to your law firm competitive intelligence and business development? 

Well think about your CRM system;  Are you using it to it's fullest?  Capturing as much information as possible on each contact and centralizing that data so that others in the firm with the same contact can append their info? Making them all search-able by practice area, geography, company, industry etc?

How about billing and collections?  Do you know what your realization rates are?  By practice?  Or office?  That information is available in the market to benchmark and compare.  (Full disclosure:  yes, that is a survey that we sell.)

Compensation is another area. And as the market continues to be difficult, many firms are looking at aggressive compensation plans based on performance metrics other than just hours billed. 

Bottom line is that there are plenty of places to look within a law firm, or company, to find information that will either help you run more efficiently, or will create new opportunities for business.

Just released: Survey of Billing Rates at Small and Midsize Firms and Solo Practices

The ALM Research Survey Report on Billing Rates and Practices should not be confused with the recently published National Law Journal Billing Survey. While NLJ's survey focuses on the large firms (the NLJ 250), the ALM Research survey studied billing rates and trends in small and midsize firms and solo practices.

This is our first-ever syndicated survey of billing information for this segment of the legal industry; over 5,000 lawyers responded. The report includes analyses of billing rates and alternative billing practices based on firm size, geography, practice area, client industry, number of years in practice, and gender. Pricing information and further details are available for the full report (print and PDF file) or just the PDF file. Contact Chuck Lowry, director of client relations for questions about the survey.

Just Released: 2007 NLJ Billing Survey

The 2007 NLJ Billing Survey is now available in spreadsheet format through ALM Research Online in the Lists & Rankings section. The National Law Journal's survey of billing rates of the largest law firms in the U.S. provides the high, low, average and median billing rates for partners and associates, and this year also includes associate class billing data, and firmwide average and median billing rates. This spreadsheet product is available free to subscribers, and for $295 to non-subscribers. A report of the survey appeared in the Dec. 10th issue of The National Law Journal.

Survey: In-House Counsel Require More of Their Outside Counsel

According to an Associated Press report about the 2007 ACC/Serengeti Managing Outside Counsel Survey counsel have become more systematic in the ways that they manage their work with outside counsel and are applying basic vendor management practices in their evaluations.” Another major change during the past three years, according to the report, has been the increase in resources spent on compliance issues, “including periodic reporting on legal spending and developments.” Benchmarks from the survey available free through SerengetiLaw.com. The full report is $500 for ACC members, and $750 for non-members.

The Billable Hour – and the Alternatives

First, we read on the Law Marketing Blog that $1,000 hourly fees “are not out of the question, if it is a ‘bet the company’ type matter,” which blog author Tom Kane then acknowledges is a rare situation. And then we read in The National Law Journal that firms are learning to cope with alternative billing plans, which “create their own sets of challenges in dealing with outside counsel.”  The article noted that “more than 85% of in-house counsel are testing out alternative billing arrangements, according to a recent survey sponsored by Chicago law firm Butler Rubin Saltarelli & Boyd. Sixty percent of the 162 in-house counsel who responded to the online survey on managing litigation expenses also reported success with fee arrangements other than the traditional hourly billing method.”

We follow such news with interest for two reasons. One of our most popular products in the ALM Research Store is the annual NLJ Billing Survey, which canvasses NLJ 250 firms for their high, low, and average hourly rates for partners and associates, as well as their alternative billing practices. Secondly, we’ve just concluded the first-ever ALM Research Billing Survey of billing rates and practices by lawyers at small and midsize firms and solo practices across the U.S. The full report will be available later this fall. (If you want to be notified when it is available for sale, send an email to almresearch@alm.com.) There were over 5,000 respondents, and all that data is still being analyzed. But we can say that 88% of the responding lawyers said that they offer alternative billing methods. And only a few said that their highest hourly billing rate exceeded $1,000.

Salaries: Judicial Compensation

The American College of Trial Lawyers recently released a study of judicial salary called Our Judges Must Be Fairly Paid. Their report shows average judicial salaries for various levels and courts, and then does a side-by-side comparison with equivalent positions in Canada and England. The U.S. doesn't stack up so well.

Billing Rates: $11,000 an Hour?

Carolyn Elefant, writing on the Law.com Blog Network, drew our attention to an article in which a litigator's fees were calculated to amount to $11,000 an hour. litigator According to Elefant, litigator Willie Gary is seeking $93.1 million in attorney fees, or an hourly rate of $11,000, for his representation in a $10 billion trade secrets case against Motoroloa that ended in a mistrial. claimed that the mistrial resulted from Motorola's violation of the court's sequestration order preventing witnesses from reading or hearing other witness testimony before taking the stand. At least one lawyer, plaintiffs attorney Walter "Skip" Campbell, testifying for the plaintiff, said is worth $11,000 per hour because of his status as one of the country's top litigators. But another attorney conceded that he was not aware of any attorney paid $11,000 per hour for a case that ended in a hung jury.

And by the way, if you're interested in good, hard data on real-world billing rates at the largest firms, ALM Research Online has the 2006 NLJ Billing Rates and 2006 Associate Class Billing Rates survey reports available online in searchable spreadsheet format. Reports are free to subscribers and for-fee for non-subscribers.

Billings: Going Rate 2007

Each year, the Fulton County Daily Report publishes a report on metro-Atlanta and Georgia lawyers’ and paralegals' billing rates, based on data culled from court records. In past years, the Daily Report was able to report billings information for about 800 lawyers. This year, however, they more than doubled the number and decided to put the report online in a searchable database, Going Rate 2007. For now, access is free and records may be searched by lawyer name (first, last), city, firm, job title, and range of hourly rates. In addition to the database, several stories accompanied the report, as well as a methodological description.

For the curious, the top biller in the survey this year is Kirkland & Ellis’ London partner Lyndon E. Norley, who bills at $975 an hour. No one else reported billing at more than $900, but 47 said they bill between $800 and $875. The average for all 783 partners, members or shareholders in the Daily Report’s data, was $518 an hour. Molly F. Stockley of Debevoise & Plimpton’s New York office had the highest associate hourly rate, at $565 an hour, The average associate billing rate for the 753 counted was $310. The top-billing paralegal was O’Melveny & Myers’ Keith Whitman at $275 an hour. The average paraprofessional or support staffer charges $159.

2006 NLJ Billing Survey

Firms are steadily increasing hourly billing rates across the board, according to the 2006 NLJ Billing Survey. The report, which appeared in the December 11^th issue of The National Law Journal , said that billing rates for law firm attorneys show a steady increase from last year for both partners and associates, though increases are due in part to inflation, as well as to supply and demand.

Washington-based McKee Nelson reported this year's highest rates across the board for partners and associates. The highest rate billed out by a partner at the firm is $875 an hour, which is low compared to last year's $1,000 rate billed out by Benjamin Civiletti, who specializes in internal investigations and corporate defense at Venable of Washington.  Venable did not participate in the billing survey this year,but last year said the rate was used only for the most "extraordinary work." Among the lowest reported partner and associate rates this year were those at Philadelphia-based Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin.  Associates bill out at $130 to $275, and partners between $145 and $350 This is still an increase from last year, when associates billed between $130 and $230 and partners, between $140 and $275.

 

The complete data set for the 2006 NLJ Billing Survey is available in spreadsheet format, free to subscribers and for-fee for nonsubscribers. The data for participating NLJ 250 firms includes high and low partner principal billing rates; high and low associate principal billing rates; firm billing alternatives; associate & Partner billing averages and medians; firmwide billing averages and medians.

2006 NLJ Billing Survey Now Available

The National Law Journal's survey of billing rates of the largest U.S. law firms was published recently in ALM's national newspaper. According to the report, billing rates for law firm attorneys show a steady increase from last year for both partners and associates. This year, 139 firms responded to the survey, which was sent to 300 firms. The firms provided low and high rates for partners and associates. Of these firms, 104 provided low and high rates last year also, with 88 of those reporting an increase in the partner high rate; eight decreased it, and eight kept it the same.

    

A searchable spreadsheet of the 2006 NLJ Billing Survey is available through ALM Research Online in the “Lists & Rankings” section. The spreadsheet includes high and low partner principal billing rates, high and low associate billing rates, firmwide billing averages and medians principal billing rates, associate and partner billing averages and medians, and firm billing alternatives. The Billing Survey is free to subscribers, and costs $275 for non-subscribers.