Source: Reuters by Karen Sloan
Law firms will need to adjust staffing and billing approaches to thrive in what has become a buyer’s market for legal services, according a new report analyzing the state of client demand, firm finances and shifts in the legal market since 2009.
The 2024 Report on the State of the U.S. Legal Market, released on Tuesday, said lackluster demand for transactional work, ongoing efforts by clients to reduce spending, and the rise of artificial intelligence will create intertwining challenges for law firms this year.
Clients could use AI to perform more work in house, or it could enhance efficiency and profits for both clients and firms, the report said.
“The fundamental shifts in the market that we have seen over the last 15 years are really coming home to roost,” said lead author James Jones, a senior fellow at the Georgetown center.
Counter-cyclical practices including litigation and bankruptcy saw demand growth in 2023, while transactional demand continued to slow, according to the report.
“For 2024, I think it’s going to be a fairly volatile year,” said William Josten, manager for enterprise legal content at the Thomson Reuters Institute, noting that election years are often unpredictable. “I don’t know that we can count on there being another ‘stable year’ for several years to come.”
Read full article: https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/law-firms-face-volatile-2024-amid-demand-staffing-ai-risks-report-2024-01-09/
