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.

Marketing Salaries: North American Firms Pay 24% More to Their Managers

According to a recent “snapshot survey” on marketing salaries by PM Forum, North American firms pay 24% more than U.K. firms to their managers an directors, though they pay similar amounts to junior marketers. Global firms pay the highest, as do firms with headcounts of between 1,000 and 10,000.

The survey, which had 470 marketing respondents in professional services firms worldwide, also found that law firms pay 12.3% more to marketers than accountancy firms. A free report is available by click here .

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.

Independent Law Firms in Europe

Legal Week’s annual publication reporting on Independent Law Firms in Europe is now available. The report covers legal markets from Ireland to Ukraine, and features a detailed survey of independent law firms' plans for 2008, interviews with leading independent lawyers across the European Union, and analysis of individual jurisdictions from Legal Week's journalists.

New “Success Kit” for Business Development

Not that we make a practice of promoting anyone else’s products and services, but Jim Hasset of the Legal Business Development Blog has developed the “Legal Biz Dev Success Kit,” and reviews—all positive—are popping up on a variety of sites, such as this one by Tom Kane on the Legal Marketing Blog, and this one by Kate Daisley on  Amid the Noise and Haste. A demo of  the modular course is available here. Check it out.

Survey: Corporate Counsel Costs Up 7 Percent

According to this report in The National Law Journal of a new survey from Altman Weil and LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell, corporate law department internal spending climbed by 7 percent while outside spending edged up by 1.4 percent at American companies with more than $5 billion in revenue. The increase translates to costs of $346,497 per lawyer, driven chiefly by an average 19.2 percent bump in lawyer compensation and benefits. Outside expenditures now average $616,519 per lawyer, ranging from above $1 million in the chemical manufacturing industry to $251,405 per lawyer in the insurance industry. The survey data, collected from 144 companies in the spring, reflects fiscal year 2006 spending.

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.

Poll: U.K. Lawyers Over-Confident on Client Service

Lawyers—barristers, that is—in the U.K. rate the quality of service they provide far higher than those who receive it, according to a new poll commissioned by the Bar Standards Board (BSB), according to a recent report in Legal Week . According to the findings of the MORI poll, which surveyed solicitors, prisoners and members of the public as well as barristers between December 2006 and August 2007, 89% of barristers said they were satisfied they spent enough time with their clients. However, just two-thirds (66%) of solicitors agreed – a proportion that dropped to 57% among members of the general public. By contrast, 96% of participants in the survey said barristers are honest, act with integrity and provide ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ advice and guidance. The survey, which will be conducted on a regular basis every two to three years, is in line with a BSB pledge to make evidence-based regulation a cornerstone of its regime.