Billing & Pricing

COO & CFO Forum: The legal industry is learning to do hard things

The COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis that ensued has dramatically altered how law firms have done business over the past eight months, and law firms…

Gregg Wirth October 29, 2020

Successful law firms protect productivity with savvy and strong teams, according to the 2020 Dynamic Law Firms Report

What drives a successful law firm? Often, the answer involves learning from the success of other law firms. Lawyers are steeped in a culture that…

Thomson Reuters Institute October 22, 2020

Alternative fee arrangements in the legal industry: Recognizing firms that excel

While the popularity of alternative fee arrangements (AFAs) seemed to have plateaued in recent years — at least in terms of AFAs as a percentage…

Bill Josten September 28, 2020

Understanding how the client’s business makes money: A critical step for all lawyers

Amid the current pandemic crisis, the impact felt by law firms and their clients has been great; and this pressure has ratcheted up the necessity…

Nancey Watson September 24, 2020

PMI Q2 analysis: Top of market law firms largely driving rate growth

The second quarter of 2020 was marred by near unprecedented global uncertainty. The COVID-19 pandemic was still in its infancy, and no one at the…

Joe Blackwood September 17, 2020

Why collaboration is (usually) doomed to fail — and how to buck the odds

The economics are straightforward: Those law firms that are able to serve corporate legal buyers in more work types and across more geographic areas can…

Jen Dezso August 24, 2020

The Am Law 200: “Envy and its Discontents”

This 3-part series was written by Bruce MacEwen and Janet Stanton of Adam Smith, Esq. In the previous installment of this three-part series analyzing the recently…

Thomson Reuters Institute August 19, 2020

Law Firm Partner Profits: What really stands in the way of profit growth?

Even before the onset of the global pandemic, law firms of all sizes were concerned about how to continue growing their bottom line into the…

Bill Josten August 17, 2020

How will legal operations teams shape the “New Normal” for legal?

The “new normal” is something more to be guessed at than completely understood at this point, as there remains a high degree of uncertainty around…

Bill Josten August 11, 2020

Amid COVID-19 pandemic, legal demand drops in Q2, impacting PMI

The first quarter of 2020 was able to stay strong in the face a COVID-19 pandemic that was still in its infancy in the United…

Thomson Reuters Institute August 10, 2020

Law department procurement: Is buying legal services the same as buying laptops?

For years now, corporate law departments have been asked to work with their companies’ procurement or purchasing departments. Most general counsel (GCs) and chief operating…

Audrey Rubin July 29, 2020

Law firm billing in a crisis: No time for a free-for-all

I’ve written recently about the need to be cautious about how your law firm approaches discounts to clients in crisis. The same pricing leaders from…

Bill Josten July 01, 2020