Legal Industry in Transition

Survey released at the ABA Tech Show reveals that 74% of participating legal professionals feel recent legal industry changes will be permanent. 

A study conducted by attorney and author Ari Kaplan was released at the ABA Tech Show.  It notes that leaders from a cross section of the legal industry agree that a sweeping evolution is underway, resulting in permanent changes to law firm billing structures, firm organization and client expectations.   The survey evaluated the opinions of 30 practicing attorneys, representatives from legal education, in-house counsel and CEOs in order to evaluate impressions about shifting law firm culture, client expectations and the best way to prepare law students for the business of law.  

The ABA Journal reports that a large number of participants noted instances where corporate clients refused to pay for work on their cases that was done by first year associates. Billing structures and alternative billing are a key focus of the study. One expert quoted in the survey noted, "lawyers just do not understand how business works and law schools are not doing a great job of closing that gap."  The complete survey can be accessed through this link.

The survey's finding parallel the results of the LexisNexis "Future of the Legal Industry" study,  reported previously on the Lexis Hub and available by clicking this link.