866-448-5871
Since 2013, the annual LexisNexis® CounselLink® Enterprise Legal Management Trends Report has provided the most powerful benchmarking and analysis tool in the market. The comprehensive information in the 2021 Trends Report enables you to see how your legal costs compare, so you can make better decisions, engage in smarter negotiations, and gain control over your legal costs.
Insights in the 2021 ELM Trends Report are based on data derived from almost 8 million invoices, more than 1 million matters, and more than $40 billion in legal spending. The key metrics in the report are based on 2020 charges billed by outside counsel.
To provide an even more detailed analysis to our readers, we have expanded the 2021 Trends Report in two ways:
- We’ve added a seventh metric highlighting hourly rates billed by law firm partners in countries outside of the United States. This new international data will give legal departments additional insights into the worldwide legal market.
- We’ve divided many practice areas into subcategories to provide more specific comparisons.
Use our seven key metrics to improve your bottom line
For most corporate legal departments, big advantages often start with small refinements. The 2021 Trends Report focuses on the following seven key metrics that can help you make decisions to improve your bottom line:
- Blended hourly rates for matters analyzed by practice area and subcategory
- Law firm consolidation
- Alternative Fee Arrangement (AFA) usage
- Partner hourly rate differences by law firm size
- Partner hourly rate growth by city and state
- Partner hourly rates and rate growth by practice area and subcategory
- International partner rates for litigation and intellectual property
The 2021 Trends Report provides robust data and examples of other legal departments’ practices, which you can use to identify potential areas of improvement and benefit your bottom line. Since the data for the Trends Report is derived from detailed analyses of invoices processed through the CounselLink ELM solution, the results are richer and more accurate than information gleaned from surveys.
Compare your performance, budget, and spending to other comparable legal departments
General Counsel, legal department operations managers, and in-house counsel will find that the 2021 Trends Report offers an up-to-date assessment of the evolving legal market.
Download the 2021 ELM Trends Report to get the data you need for actionable insights.
Meet with legal industry experts for a live webinar on Legal Metrics that Matter
Join CounselLink and Hyperion Research on September 14 at 11 am ET for the latest ELM trends, and learn how to successfully prepare and launch a legal metrics program. By the end of this webinar, you’ll have the tools you need to build a legal metrics program that tracks outcomes at the highest levels.
- 2021 ELM data to inform legal metrics program
- How to successfully prepare and launch a legal metrics program
- Maturity scoring and assessment of your law department
As Director of Strategic Consulting at LexisNexis, Kris leads the team’s efforts to advise corporate legal department managers on improving operations with data driven decisions. Kris has over 15 years of consulting experience in the legal industry. Areas of expertise include benchmarking, practice area metrics and scorecards, dashboard design, matter pricing and staffing, and cost management.
Prior to joining the CounselLink team, Kris honed her legal industry knowledge by advising and consulting with leaders in large law firms. As Director of the Redwood Analytics Think Tank, she partnered with a group of industry thought leaders to develop advances in analytics and best practices that improve law firm performance. She has authored numerous articles and speaks regularly at legal industry conferences and events.