LexisNexis® CounselLink® a leading cloud-based enterprise legal management solution for corporate law departments, today announced the release of its 2021 Enterprise Legal Management Trends Report. Now in its eighth year, the Trends Report is based on more than $40 billion in legal spend comprised of almost 8 million invoices and more than one million matters.
Despite pandemic-related issues and pressures for legal departments to reduce outside counsel spending, hourly rates paid to U.S. law firms continued to increase in 2020. On average, partner hourly rates were 3.5% higher than 2019 rates. This is slightly higher than the 3.3% increase in partner hourly rates from 2018 to 2019.
This year’s report provides updates on its Six Key Metrics and is based on 2020 charges as billed by outside counsel as well as an analysis of the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. For the first time in 2021, the report includes a seventh Key Metric highlighting hourly rates billed by law firm partners located in countries outside of the United States. As with all metrics, the report pulls from highly granular subcategories to provide more meaningful comparisons. For example, median Litigation hourly rates in 2020 were notably higher in the South Korea ($720) and the United Kingdom ($649).
Other key findings include the following:
“As we emerge from the global pandemic, the high-level takeaway from a revenue perspective is that 2020 was business as usual for most law firms,” said Kris Satkunas, Director of Strategic Consulting for CounselLink and author of the Trends Report. “However, while large firms still occupy a dominant position in the marketplace, it’s notable that legal departments continue to look for new vehicles—including AFAs—to lower costs, make budgets more predictable and better manage their own capacity. Even the largest firms will be under pressure to work with clients to achieve these goals.”
The seven metrics are derived from data processed through CounselLink’s $40B benchmarking database and provide concrete examples of what legal departments are currently doing. Organizations can leverage these insights throughout the department’s decision-making process. CounselLink has earned an industry reputation for enabling corporate law departments to use data effectively as a basis for improving legal department performance and outcomes.
About CounselLink®
LexisNexis® CounselLink® is the leading cloud-based legal management solution designed to help corporate legal departments gain 100% visibility into their work, matters, and invoices. CounselLink delivers Work Management, Financial Management, and Vendor Management solutions in one easy to use platform to help you to control costs, maximize productivity, and make better decisions. Gain access to meaningful data around the work your legal team does so you can demonstrate the value your department brings to the table. For nearly 30 years, LexisNexis has been providing innovative solutions for corporate legal departments – and we craft these solutions based on insights from thought leaders, industry expertise, and customer feedback. Discover more about CounselLink online: https://www.counsellink.com.
About LexisNexis Legal & Professional
LexisNexis Legal & Professional® is a leading global provider of legal, regulatory and business information and analytics that helps customers increase productivity, improve decision-making and outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis® and Nexis® services. LexisNexis Legal & Professional, which serves customers in more than 160 countries with 10,400 employees worldwide, is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.
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