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.

Law School Hiring Stats

As part of its annual NLJ 250 survey, the National Law Journal surveyed the firms—including the ones that didn’t make the top 250 firms list—about their hiring: which law schools they hired from and how many were hired from each law school. That information is now available from ALM Research Online in the Lists & Rankings section as the 2007 Law School Hiring Survey. As a bonus, firms also contributed information about how many associates were elevated to partnership in 2007.

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.

Technology: Too Much?

A report of a recent survey of 115 lawyers at “multinational firms” and their uses of technology appeared recently on the Inhouse Blog, noting that the majority (56.1%) of respondents reported that technology led to longer working hours, but 46.5% said “technology made their working life more satisfying despite the longer hours, ad many were allowed to work from home.” The survey was conducted by law firm Kemp Little and the PLC Law Department magazine.

On a related note, the results of the Legal Technology Market Assessment Study, conducted by Cogent Research  and published by ALM Research are now available by topic—case management, document management, CRM, electronic discovery, and online research. The “LTMAS” Survey measured user satisfaction and brand loyalty to a variety of products within each product genre. The full report also covers budget and purchase plans for the coming year. For more information about this survey and the various reports, contact Chuck Lowry, director of client relations at [email protected].

Head of NLJ 250 Largest Firm Interviewed by WSJ

It was news about a week ago when the 2007 NLJ 250 list was published, and a new firm, DLA Piper, with 3,600 lawyers, including 800 partners, appeared at the head of the list. Reporter Nathan Koppel, formerly with The American Lawyer, interviewed Frank Burch, the joint CEO of the firm, for the Wall St. Journal’s Law Blog. They discuss DLA’s growth pace, quality control, the seeming disconnect between the firm’s size and its brand awareness, and how the partners get to know each other.

Minority Associates Survey

The Minority Law Journal’s fall issue carries a report of the Minority Associates Survey, including stories about The Woman Question – why female associates of color are less satisfied with life and work at large firms than male associates of color -- and Exit Strategies – why minority lawyers say goodbye to their firms. The MLJ on-line magazine is available with free registration.

Survey of Summer Associates: Size Matters

According to The American Lawyer, in reporting on the results of its annual Summer Associates Survey, “small is beautiful.” Only four of the top 20 firms had summer programs with more than 100 summer associates, while nine of the top 20 hired 30 or fewer. Still, the firms in the top five spots were not exactly boutiques: Nutter McClennan, Fox Rothschild, Buchanan Ingersoll, Morgan Lewis, and Mintz Levin.

Subscribers to ALM Research Online should note that this survey is one of the few not archived in our on-line database. However, in-depth management reports of a firm’s survey results—including, for instance, a comparison of the results from each of the firm’s participating offices—are offered through ALM Reprints.

Surveys: 6th Annual Plaintiffs’ Hot List

According to the editors of National Law Journal’s sixth annual Plaintiffs' Hot List, plaintiffs' attorneys racked up impressive verdicts and settlements in the usual areas like securities fraud and products liability since last year, while exploring fresh ground against self-serving managers and controlling shareholders in corporate deal-making. Hot plaintiff’s firms are not your usual suspects: Berger & Montague; Bernstein Liebhard & Lifshitz; Bernstein Litowitz; Coughlin Stoia; Grant & Eisenhofer; Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro; Korein Tillery; Labaton Sucharow; Lieff Cabraser; Phillips & Cohen; Schiffrin Barroway; Seeger Weiss; Whatley Drake & Kallas.

Just Released: Report of Practice Group Management Survey

Altman Weil and ALM Research have just released a report of their survey of Law Firm Practice Group Management, which surveyed law firm leaders across the U.S. about their practice group operations and management. Key findings include the fact that, despite the time and money invested in their practice groups, more that half of law firm managing partners and executive directors surveyed rated overall practice group performance as average or worse. When asked to rate their groups on the ability to market, develop new business and cross-sell other practices, fewer than 20 percent of firm leaders rated their groups as “excellent” or “very good” on any one of those measures.

The report includes data and information about practice group structure, performance, operations, leadership, administration, and marketing. It is the first formal benchmarking survey of law firm practice group management to be published in the U.S. In addition, the report leverages the extensive expertise of Altman Weil, to provide actionable recommendations for improving and increasing the overall effectiveness of Practice Groups. The report is available through ALM Research Publishing.