Category Archives: Law Firms

2024 US Legal Market Growth Trends

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Each year, I watch for the Thomson Reuters Report on the State of the US Legal Market. No entity has a broader look at the legal market than Thomson Reuters. This report is the best source for data on growth and trends in the US legal market.

Here I focus the report’s data on law firm economic performance and demand data.

Legal market historical demand growth

After the roller coaster since COVID, legal saw two years in a row of growth. In 2024, demand growth was up 2.6%, which is strong. From 2007 to 2023 annual demand growth averaged 0.1%. The 2024 increase is on top of the 0.8% growth in 2023. The strongest year in recent history was 2021 at 3.7%. Of course, the 2021 growth was in part due to the negative demand growth of -1.6% in the peak pandemic year of 2020.

Practice demand growth

Nearly every practice group saw an improvement in demand. Bankruptcy saw the largest decrease in demand. The counter-cyclical practice of Litigation lead with 3.3% year-over-year growth. The other large practice, Corporate, experienced a recovery with 2.0% growth while Labor grew 1.9%. Litigation, Corporate, and Labor are the three largest practices in US Legal. Their growth helped to float the overall market.

Worked rate growth

Ah, yes, the annual law firm billing increase. Law firm billing rates increased by an average of 6.5%, which is the fastest growth rate since the fiscal crisis of 2009 to 2010. Am Law 100, Am Law 200, and mid-sized firms all experienced bill rate growth. This is real growth, beyond the rate of inflation.

Per TR, the increase in rate growth may be related to a recent hiring trend. For the past two years firms have focused more on hiring experienced laterals and less on new associates. An increase in the percentage of non-equity partners and decrease in the percentage of associates may account for some of the growth. Changing law firm composition is an interesting topic throughout the report which I do not cover fully here.

Profit per lawyer growth

One of the most prized metrics in legal is Profit per Lawyer (PPL). 2022 was a poor year for PPL. Firms stopped the pain in 2023. In 2024 firms returned to nearly the same PPL as during the transactional practice boom of 2021. In the report, TR says that PPEP (profit per equity partner) was even higher, above 11.6% YOY growth.

2025?

You will not find predictions for 2025 from me here. We know that 2025 will be a year of not only change, but of surprises. At best, we may benefit from this 2024 growth trend in the first few months of 2025. Beyond that, I am not wagering. But I will see you here in a year after the next Thomson Reuter’s annual report.

-Maureen

Register to download the Thomson Reuters 2025 Report on the State of the US Legal Market. This well-researched report is produced by Thomson Reuters in conjunction with the Center on Ethics and the Legal Profession at Georgetown Law.

App Authentication Gets Easier with Intune

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Remember the early days of MDM (Mobile Device Management)? You know, that company-mandated thing which black-listed your apps, tracked your movements, and monitored which websites you browsed?

We’ve come a long way from those days. Recent developments from Microsoft make authentication and data management easier for both users and for IT admins. Let’s take a look at these newer offerings from Microsoft and how you can benefit from them with our LINK App.

Integration with the Intune SDK and Microsoft Authentication Library

We have integrated the Microsoft Intune SDK and the Microsoft Authentication Library (MSAL) into our LINK App. If you are either an Azure Entra ID user, an Intune user, or both, our integration offers a simpler experience for users and IT alike.

Fewer sign-ins for both frequent and occasional LINK users

Integrating MSAL into our LINK App allows LINK to leverage Microsoft Authenticator as an authentication “broker.” This means that LINK employs the familiar federated sign-in process used by the Office apps from Microsoft. If you are signed-in to Office, you are signed-in to LINK without any additional password prompts. From the security and policy perspective, LINK supports all of your conditional access policies, including:

  • MFA requirements (either with MS Authenticator or a 3rd party such as Duo)
  • Device requirements (e.g., requiring Intune deployment)

Focused security of your data with MAM policies

LINK’s integration with the Intune SDK adds another layer of security and simplicity to managing and securing LINK. In addition to the standard MDM policies and management tools, Intune supports a different type of policy known as Mobile Application Management (MAM). These MAM policies apply to all apps that support the Intune SDK, including the Microsoft suite of apps and 3rd party apps like LINK. Many MAM policies are particularly focused on the careful treatment of corporate data.

Apps with MAM policies can be used together to enable secure workflows. For example, MAM policies allow our LINK App to share a document from a Document Management System to the Word app for secure, yet uncomplicated, editing.

MAM is a great way to ensure the security of your corporate data without asking users to give up any control of their personal devices.

Image Source: Microsoft

LINK for Intune

To add MAM support to LINK, we have released a new app – LINK for Intune. Deploying LINK for Intune offers the same functionality as the “regular” LINK app, and it adds in a deeper integration with Intune so that policies can be applied to LINK even when the device is not MDM-managed.

With these recent developments from Microsoft, we think that the optimal path going forward is:

  • Use the Microsoft Intune SDK and the Microsoft Authentication Library (MSAL) to simplify authentication
  • Advance from “managed devices” to “managed apps” using Intune MAM policies

Are you considering moving to these newer approaches? What questions or observations do you have? You may download our Intune brief here.

-Seth

Seth Hallem is the Mobile Helix CEO, Co-founder, and Chief Architect

Mobile Helix makes the LINK App which is used by attorneys and knowledge professionals to review, edit, annotate, compare, and email documents from a single, secure app.

Cybersecurity: The Workforce Gap & the Career Opportunity

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Recently, I came across a LinkedIn post from a friend who was #Hiring for a cybersecurity role. It got me thinking – just how challenging is it to find and crucially, to retain, experienced cybersecurity staff? According to my friend, it is very challenging. Intrigued, I decided to take a dive into the numbers.

World Economic Forum

71% of organizations are currently unable to fill cybersecurity positions, leading to a concerning skills gap in the workforce. This issue has been highlighted by The World Economic Forum, which warns of the potential impact on infrastructure and society as a whole.

2023 Global Cybersecurity Workforce Gap – ISC2

Globally, there is an estimated 4 million person cybersecurity workforce gap. According to ISC2, the shortfall in the United States alone amounts to half a million roles.

Per Fortinet’s 2023 Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report, 68% of leaders agree that cybersecurity skills shortages create cyber risks for their organization.

An overwhelming 90% of leaders show a strong preference for hiring individuals with technology-focused certifications per the Fortinet report. Their study also brings encouraging news that 90% of leaders are willing to invest in their employees by covering the costs of certification. In alignment with this, the World Economic Forum advocates for the crucial processes of “reskilling and upskilling,” emphasizing the importance of narrowing the cybersecurity skills gap.

So, the next question is, what does it take to obtain an affordable cybersecurity certificate? This option seems promising: Google offers a Cybersecurity Certificate through Coursera suitable for these roles:

  • Cybersecurity analyst
  • Security analyst
  • SOC analyst
  • Information security analyst
  • IT security analyst
  • Cyber defense analyst

According to Google, this course can be finished in six months with less than 10 hours of part-time study per week. After a free 7-day trial, Coursera charges a monthly fee of $49, resulting in a total cost of just under $300 for the certificate.

If you’re considering a career change, be encouraged by the fact that the demand for cybersecurity professionals is high. There are even relatively low cost ways to achieve a Cybersecurity Certificate.

Good luck!

-Maureen

P.S. – Google says that the median salary in cybersecurity (with 0-5 years of experience) is $115,000 per year. 🙌

Okta Businesses at Work 2024 – Legal Applications are the Growth Leader

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Okta has application usage data which you simply will not find anywhere else. This year’s report draws data from their anonymized 18,800 global customer base. Okta is a leader in identity and access management products. You may download the full “Okta Businesses at Work 2024” report here.

Growth in app categories: Legal software is the leader in customer growth

Source: Okta (My Annotations) – Growth in App Categories

Okta kicks off this year’s report with a spotlight on Legal applications, which was the leading app category in growth of number of customers.

“There’s no time for deals or
contracts to get hung up in legal. So, as we look
across the most popular app categories, it’s no
surprise that legal tools have locked up a win,
claiming by far the highest growth by number
of customers (35% YoY) and substantial 34%
YoY growth by number of unique users. Apps
including Ironclad, LexisNexis, and LegalZoom
drive this remarkable growth story. (Fun fact:
Ironclad contract management software was
our eighth-fastest-growing app in 2022.)”

-Okta (my bold type)

Let’s look at those three applications:

Ironclad – Offers Contract Management software, which includes moving sales contracts through the processes of review and sign-off to speed the business process.

LexisNexis – Provides legal, regulatory, and business information and analytics, now including Generative AI. LexisNexis is a premier product in legal research.

LegalZoom – Its online platform for business formation helps entrepreneurs by providing legal, tax and compliance products and expertise.

With that promising look at the growth in Legal applications, let’s take a look at four more charts in the Okta report.

Growth of the 50 most popular apps

Source: Okta

There are two leaders here. 1Password is the fastest growing application by number of customers at 39% YoY. Amazon Business with the fastest growing by number of unique users at 89% YoY growth. Law firms are ramping up usage of password managers like 1Password as one of the essential tools to prevent phishing and social engineering exploits.

Not to be missed by law firms is the growth of KnowBe4 at over 20%. KnowBe4 is a Security Awareness Training product, with a focus on phishing awareness. In 2022 I cited that KnowBe4 was the leading Security Awareness solution used by 62% of law firms surveyed in the International Legal Technology Association’s 2022 Technology Survey.

Most popular apps

Source: Okta

It’s easy to see the trend of law firms in the “Overall” ranking. Microsoft 365 is rapidly being adopted, as firms migrate from other Microsoft on-prem products. Number five, Zoom, and number eight, DocuSign, are nearly ubiquitous at law firms. Number ten is KnowBe4, the Security Awareness training SaaS application.

Fastest-growing apps by number of customers

Source: Okta

Data compliance applications make a first time appearance in the fastest growing app ranking by number of customers. Vanta holds the number one position with 338% YoY growth. Drata ranks number six, with 91% YoY growth. Data compliance software is growing at law firms as firms are subject to regulatory and client requirements.

Most popular security tool categories

Source: Okta

Okta entitles this section: “The perimeter shifts.”

They observe that VPN/firewall continues to lead the security tool category, as it has since 2020. However, deployment of VPN/firewall grew 12% last year versus 31% in the prior year. 57% of customers have deployed VPN/firewall tools.

The second fastest growing category in security tools is Endpoint Management and Security, deployed by 43% of customers. This category has grown consistently since the emergence of work-from-home.

For those interested in legal or enterprise technology there is much more in the Okta report worth looking at in detail. You may find the report here.

– Maureen

2024 Report on the State of the US Legal Market – My Four Favorite Charts

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The catchy take-away from the Thomson Reuters “2024 Report on the State of the US Legal Market” is that law firm leaders who don’t respond to the shifts in the legal market in the past 15 years may share a destiny with Pan Am.

The US airline, Pan Am, was the largest international carrier in the mid-20th century. Pan Am filed for bankruptcy in 1991, after decades of tremendous growth in air travel. For those who recall Pan Am, it’s a vivid illustration. You will see the tie-in below.

Looking at today’s legal market, the Thomson Reuters report is full of data and graphs which quantify recent trends.

Key Trends:

  1. There is a shift from the “Transactional Decade” of the 2010’s. Money was easy to borrow and transactional practices, including Corporate, M&A, and Real Estate climbed.
  2. More recently, the majority of growth is in counter-cyclical practices such as Litigation, Bankruptcy, and Labor & Employment.
Practice demand growth in 2022 & 2023, Thomson Reuters

3. The past few years have seen an aggressive increase in law firm rate growth. “In 2023, the rates clients agreed to pay law firms for new matters grew by more than 6%…”

Worked rate growth, Thomson Reuters

4. At the same time, the collection rate on those fees is down. Clients are are moving tiered legal work to lower cost firms. This is where the Pan Am lesson comes in – respond to the market or get left behind.

Collected realization against worked rates, Thomson Reuters

While we are devouring graphs, let’s not stop there. If you are brave, take a look at a perennial favorite, profit per lawyer. The growth seen in the pandemic year of 2020 and the pandemic recovery year of 2021 have have not been repeated in the past two years.

Profit per lawyer growth, Thomson Reuters

I encourage you to download the report. The Thomson Reuters “2024 Report on the State of the US Legal Market” has 20 graphs and charts, including staffing, expenses, and, as you might expect, “Reaction to AI in the legal profession.”

Whether you are in a law firm, corporate legal, or legal tech, there is timely data here which you won’t find anywhere else. I’m sure that there are a couple of graphs which will be helpful in your next ops review.

-Maureen

Litera: The Legal Tech Juggernaut Takes a Breather

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Remember 2021 and 2022? Litera was buying so many companies that at times it was hard to keep track.

In August of 2022, I was at the ILTACON conference at National Harbor, Maryland. Litera had acquired two companies in the previous week, business intelligence company, BigSquare, and talent management software company, Micron Systems. These followed the substantial acquisitions of Foundation Software, Prosperoware, Workshare, and Kira Systems. Per Crunchbase, 15 acquisitions in the past 5 years.

I attended the Litera session, which was in a ballroom. Standing room only. The sense that something special was taking place was palpable. Litera’s new CEO, Sheryl Hoskins, introduced herself, mentioning her active duty in the Army. She was impressive .

Historically at ILTACON the companies with a big presence have been Thomson Reuters, Intapp, iManage, and NetDocuments. But in 2022, Litera had the momentum. They also had the ample pockets of Hg. And Hg was looking for growth.

A lot has changed in the economy in the past six months. The threat of a recession has loomed large. Interest rates are up. Law firms have laid-off associates. Many of the big tech companies have laid-off thousands of people.

From where I stand, legal tech appears to be holding strong. Very few legal tech dedicated companies are public, so we don’t get a quarterly window, or even an annual window, into revenues and profits. However, layoffs in legal tech have been limited thus far. At least two e-discovery companies have had layoffs. On the other hand, Exterro just acquired e-discovery rival Zapproved. Several legal tech firms, including NetDocuments, iManage, Aderant, and Litera are actively hiring.

It makes sense for Litera to take time to work on integrating all of the solutions which it has acquired in the past three years. Keep an eye on Litera. If we manage to have a soft landing, look for Litera and Hg to lead the way again.

-Maureen

2023 Report on the State of the Legal Market by Thomson Reuters

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Each year I look forward to the State of the Legal Market report in order to get a more granular look at the past year in legal services.

In 2022, the demand for transactional law firm services declined, most notably in Big Law. But law firms continued to hire apace. The result was a drop in productivity and profits. Profit Per Equity Partner growth was down in 2022. But PPEP is still at a healthy level compared to pre-pandemic.

That is the top line view from the new 2023 Report on the State of the Legal Market by Thomson Reuters with the Georgetown Law Center on Ethics and the Legal Profession.

The following three charts illustrate the slow down in demand and PPEP growth as well as the fact that profit per lawyer is still good compared to 1Q 2020.

This report is a one-of-a-kind. It has has 22 more charts, Including associate compensation, expenses per lawyer, lawyer turnover, collection realization, and more. If you work for a law firm, or if, like me, you provide solutions to law firms, there is certain to be data which will round out your view of 2022 and give you a picture of what 2023 may bring.

You can register for a free download of the full report here:

https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/posts/legal/state-of-the-legal-market-2023/

– Maureen

What is Workflow Automation in Legal? A High School Internship

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This fall I have been fortunate to mentor an internship with Blake and Joaquin, two juniors at Design Tech High School, “DTech,” in San Mateo, California. The subject of this internship was Workflow Automation in Legal. Blake and Joaquin did the research, wrote the copy, and created the graphics. They did an outstanding job.

Take a look. Do you now know what Workflow Automation in Legal is?

What is Workflow Automation?

Workflow Automation is the use of process improvement and software to increase productivity and efficiency.

What is Workflow Automation in Legal?

Workflow automation in legal is the use of software to automate legal processes,

“Workflow Automation in legal is the automation and optimization of the legal team’s workflows to maximize efficiency, eliminate errors, and provide more value to the law firm or legal department.”

Jake Link, bryter

What are Examples of Workflow Automation in Legal?

  • Client Billing
  • Scheduling Appointments
  • Client Intake
  • NDA Generators
  • Employment Contract Generators

What Companies Provide Solutions for Workflow Automation in Legal?

  • ActionStep – cloud-based, legal practice management and billing and accounting software
  • Centerbase – cloud-based, legal accounting, billing, and practice management software
  • Clio – cloud-based, legal practice management and billing software
  • Rocket Matter – cloud-based, legal practice management and billing software
  • Zapier – used to connect different applications and integrate their workflow into a single application
  • BRYTER – development platform for legal, procurement, and compliance to automate workflows, build applications, and digitize contracting
  • Matter Suite – cloud-based legal practice management software
  • Mobile Helix – encrypted mobile app for document workflows for lawyers

Why is it Important for Legal Teams to Engage in Workflow Automation? 

Legal teams should engage in workflow automation because of the major impact it can bring to a firm, especially when it frees up the lawyers to bill more hours with clients. In addition, with workflow automation, lawyers and other employees can engage in higher level work which leads to greater job satisfaction and less stress.

Is Workflow Automation a Good or Bad Thing? 

It’s definitely a good thing as it enhances the efficiency of a firm to allow for increased profits.

Blake and Joaquin made a one minute video about the internship.

Authors: Blake and Joaquin

If you like this post, please let us know at contact at mobilehelix.com.

-Maureen

Resources

“Legal Workflow Automation Explained: Examples, Benefits, and Solutions”. Bryter. Jake Link. April 13, 2022. https://bryter.com/blog/legal-workflow-automation-transforms-legal-departments/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic   

  1. “Workflow Automation in legal is the automation and optimization of the legal team’s workflows to maximize efficiency, eliminate errors, and provide more value to the law firm or legal department.”
  2. Its benefits are increasing time and productivity for the workers that normally have to deal with manual paperwork/data processes. Examples of workflow automation tools are legal intake tools, automatic NDA generators, and data breach reporting, and client billing. 

“Everything You Need to Know About Legal Workflow Automation and Why You Should Have It”. Centerbase. Chelsea Huss. Apr 5, 2022. https://centerbase.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-legal-workflow-automation-and-why-you-should-have-it/   

  1. Basic overview of workflow automation along with a list of legal practice management software that includes workflow.
  2. “Workflow itself is defined as the sequence of industrial, administrative, or other processes through which a piece of work passes from initiation to completion.”

“Why Legal Workflow Automation is Important to Law Firm Success”. Mattersuite. July 27, 2021 https://www. mattersuite.com/blog/why-workflow-automation-important-to-law-firm-success

  1. Goes more into the ROI and the positive worth it brings to a firm, especially down the line in use of automation. Includes useful graphics that may be used for inspiration for future graphics or to source a quote from Mattersuite.
  2. “Legal automation is designed to streamline the law practice operations smoothly. Automating document management to gaining more clients, everything can be achieved with legal automation.”

Your Network Has Been Locked: What I Learned at ILTACON 2022

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It was wonderful to meet with you all! Last week was the first fully in-person annual educational conference of the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) since 2019. ILTACON is truly an event of peer-to-peer sharing. Many of the members have relationships dating back decades. Having an in-person event again was fantastic.

Security was one of the most in-demand topics. There were sessions on phishing, ransomware, breaches, and solutions. Here are three takeaways from sessions which I attended on what to do when a breach occurs. Note: I am not a cybersecurity expert. These are commonsense points which anyone can learn from.

Darkside Ransomware Email – Source: Acronis
  1. First Call

At 10 PM on Saturday night, Asher in Support gets a call from an attorney who says, “I’m looking at a screen which says, ‘Your network has been locked!'” Asher was educated to escalate any such messages immediately. Let’s assume that this message gets to the CIO within minutes.

Who does the CIO call first?

  • Is it a contracted or pre-vetted cybersecurity services provider?
  • Is it the cybersecurity insurance carrier?

In a session which included both a panelist from a top cybersecurity services provider and a panelist from a major cybersecurity insurance carrier, each argued that they should be the first call. Each may have distinct objectives.

The cybersecurity insurance carrier will immediately send in their SWAT team. This expertise may be quite welcome at the law firm. A good carrier will bring great expertise to bear. At the same time, law firms report that when the insurance carrier team arrives, they lose control of the process. The firm IT team may be sidelined, by contract. The insurance company may have as its top priority forensics. One of their objectives is to discover if the law firm were out of compliance with the policy.

The cybersecurity services company will also send in their SWAT team and bring great expertise and experience to bear. If the firm has vetted the services company their objectives should be aligned with the law firm’s.

Objectives include stopping exfiltration of firm data and business continuity. Law firms will want to safely get back to business-as-usual as quickly as possible.

2. Breach Counsel

One of the first things that the cybersecurity insurance carrier will do is to get their breach counsel engaged in the process so that communications are privileged. Law firms are uniquely positioned to get their own attorneys involved. Whether it is the insurance carrier’s attorney or a firm attorney, involve an attorney on all communications immediately. There will be public communications following the breach and perhaps legal action. Need I say more?

3. CIO Fiat to Shut Down Systems

When there is a breach, time is of the essence. Data may still be exfiltrating. While no law firm wants to do so, the best action may be to shut down all systems immediately. The moment when the firm’s data is flowing out to the hackers is not a good time to educate and negotiate with the firm’s executive team regarding shutting down systems. The CIO should have clear authority in advance to shut down systems.

Bonus: Have a Plan

Your firm is a target. Services, like Dark Utilities, make it easy for hackers to to set up a command center (C2) for malicious operations. Prices for C2-as-a-Service start at EUR 9.99. Easy, inexpensive tools mean that firms of any size are a target for “drive-by” attacks.

Even while your full incident recovery program is in development, it’s time well-spent to have a plan for the three points above in order to respond quickly.

One of the benefits of ILTACON is that we learn what has worked for other law firms in real world settings. Each firm should assess their own response plan.

See you in Orlando at #ILTACON23!

-Maureen

The Modern Lawyer Report from Above the Law and Litera

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How Technology, Mobile Devices, and AI Are Shaping the Legal Industry in 2022

In February of 2022, Above the Law interviewed 500 attorneys on their views on technology, mobile devices, artificial intelligence (AI), and more. Of those 500, Associates made up 32%, Partners were 26%, and in-house counsel were over 12%. Above the Law and Litera have published their findings in The Modern Lawyer Report.

Over 58% over these lawyers consider themselves to be slightly ahead of the curve or a trendsetter in terms of use of technology. The lawyers who agreed to participate in this technology survey appear to be more tech-savvy than the general lawyer population.

Above the Law / Litera

Mobile Device Usage

Roughly 57% of attorneys reported that they can do “many things” or “everything” on mobile devices. From our vantage point this seems high, but consider the point above, that the majority of the attorneys who responded self-report that they are ahead of the curve in using technology. From our view of law firms, the third option, “I can follow email on mobile but that’s about it,” is the the common state of the art in law firms today.

Above the Law / Litera

Document review and approval is certainly the greatest need which attorneys and legal professionals have on mobile devices. Our clients tell us that the ability to review, annotate, compare, sign, and email documents in order to have complete workflows is their goal.

Above the Law / Litera

What is delaying mobile device adoption?

The report cities, “One partner stated, “My vision is too poor to work on such small screens,” while an in-house respondent noted that “security risks preclude the ethical use of mobile for most legal tasks.”

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence or AI is a somewhat amorphous term, granted. Over 60% of these advanced technology users consider AI to be valuable to business success in legal services.

Above the Law / Litera

One of the conclusions of The Modern Lawyer Report is that, especially with respect to mobile devices and artificial intelligence, lawyers are not taking advantage of technology’s full capabilities. There is plenty of opportunity for them to adopt these technologies further.

Update: Here is a link to register and download the report from Litera.

If you have questions or comments, I’d like to hear from you. Write to: contact at mobilehelix dot com

-Maureen

Maureen Blando is the President and COO of Mobile Helix, the makers of the LINK encrypted app for lawyers. LINK provides simple workflows for Document Management and Email in a single, secure app. Note: the LINK App offers font sizes up to XXL. (See above. for relevance.)