A Handy Reference Guide to 6 Legal Industry Studies

by | Dec 18, 2014

A Handy Reference Guide to 6 Legal Industry Studies

Regular readers know we spend a lot of time reviewing and writing about legal industry studies on these pages.  Perusing these pages will show we published more than 30 individual posts in 2014 – about both qualitative and quantitative research.

Some of this research stems from projects we developed – others are derived from projects from across the industry, including law firm surveys and law department benchmarking reports.  We look at both data focused on law firms and also that which is focused on corporate counsel.

As 2014 draws to a close, here’s a look at six studies — a quick reference guide to legal industry studies — conducted by the LexisNexis software division with links to additional resources and downloads for those interested in digging deeper.

1.  Law Department Optimism Rises

This survey of 95 legal professionals working for U.S.-based legal departments found that 70% of believe this year (2014) has been better than the last year (2013).

2. Future of eDiscovery in Large Law

This independent survey of 125 U.S. law firms was commissioned by LexisNexis and conducted by The Cowen Group.  Overall the study found large law firms anticipate a 6 to 8 percent increase in their spending next year in eDiscovery software products.  This research was not release public in its entirety since it was specifically designed to validate some of our internal market assumptions.

3. Billing and Strife in Small Law

This survey of 309 U.S.-based law firms found that more than 73% experience past due accounts. Yet for many lawyers, asking a client for money they earned is embarrassing, uncomfortable and for some, even “distasteful.”

4. Trends in Enterprise Legal Management (ELM)

The LexisNexis ELM Trends report is not a survey – it’s a report based on actual law firm invoices processed through our systems.  While the sample size continues to grow, this particular study is based on more than $15 billion in legal spend and 3 million invoices, representing 450,000 matters gathered over the past 5 years. Key findings noted that M&A billings almost doubled as a percentage of legal spend in 2013 – and that activity has mostly benefited the “Second Largest” law firms.

5. Law firms and File Sharing

This survey of 282 U.S.-based law firms demonstrated a disconnection between expressed security concerns and the measures law firms employ to project themselves and clients. Some 73% of law firms say file sharing grew in importance year-over-year, yet un-encrypted email remains the most common means of collaboration.

6.  Rise of the Law Cloud

This study of 279 practicing attorneys in the U.S. gave us an indication that use of the cloud would grow over the course of 2014.  A majority – 72% said their law firms were more likely to use the cloud this year.  Has it proven to be true?

* * *

We are interested in your thoughts – what aspects of the legal industry would you be interested in learning more about next year?  Perhaps we can consider conducting another survey.

Photo:  Flickr; JD Hancock; CC BY 2.0

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:
25-Plus Predictions for the Legal Industry in 2015

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