ALM Intelligence Releases The 48th-Annual Survey of Law Firm Economics Results

The Survey of Law Firm Economics is published annually and gives the most comprehensive datasets on the economic and financial statistics of law firms

New York, NY – November 24, 2020 – ALM Intelligence has just released the 48th annual Survey of Law Firm Economics.  The 2020 edition of the survey contains one of the most comprehensive datasets on law firms’ economic and financial statistics. Published annually since 1972, the data procured through the survey enables firms to measure their performance in critical metrics against comparable firms. The broad Survey of Law Firm Economics dataset includes detailed financials, billing rates, billable hours, compensation, and staffing ratios. The survey provides a meaningful baseline against which to assess a firm’s performance and profitability relative to a cohort market.

This year’s survey was conducted from a web-based survey from late January to early October and included data from more than 2,400 lawyers from US law firms.   

“The Survey of Law Firm Economics provides key insights for law firm leaders to compare their firm on key financial and compensation metrics,” said Michelle Matroni, Research Manager, ALM Intelligence. “The respondents indicated a high level of uncertainty for 2021, increasing pressure to manage both the revenue and expense drivers effectively.”

Highlights and key takeaways from this year’s survey include:

• More than half of US lawyers surveyed are uncertain about their law firm in the year ahead
• On average, male equity partners/shareholders earn $80K more than their female counterparts
• Firms continued to generate revenue predominantly through the billable hour, with most respondents indicating non-hourly billing revenues did not exceed 25% of total revenue 
• Firms with more than 150 lawyers indicated they would be the most aggressive with hourly rate increases in 2021

“In my years working and consulting with firms outside of the Am Law 200, it seemed there was a shortage of actionable financial benchmarking data for leaders of midsize and smaller firms,” said Patrick Fuller, Vice President and General Manager of ALM Intelligence. “The data and insights contained within the Survey of Law Firm Economics serve as a critical competitive intelligence and management tool for firm leaders.”

For more information or to obtain the full version of the survey, visit: http://at.alm.com/surveyoflawfirmeconomics2020.

Legal Compass subscribers can download the full results by logging in to Legal Compass here.

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About ALM

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