The annual Law Firms in Transition survey from Altman Weil is one of the best of the many surveys out there. While there are few surprises in the new version, released late last year, there are, as usual, some nuggets that suggest the state of inside-outside counsel relations is not quite what one would hope. Here are a few data points to consider:
Q. How serious are law firms about changing their service delivery model to provide greater value to clients (as opposed to reducing rates)?
A. Not very. For at least seven straight years, managing partners and other firm respondents scored a tepid median of 5 on a scale of 0 (not at all serious) to 10 (doing everything we can).
Q. Why isn’t your firm doing more to change the way it delivers legal services?
A. For the most part, firms blame clueless partners being resistant to change. To a lesser extent, they blame clients for not asking, and the robust economy for not exerting its own pressure.
Published February 5, 2020.
