Data Points

The Current State of Play in Legal Innovation: A New Era of Evolution in the Making (109)

By Jae Um on August 11, 2019

Posted in Data Points, Diffusion Theory, Legal Innovation, LegalTech, NewLaw

The last decade saw a sustained uptick in funding into the legal vertical. So what is all that capital accomplishing? Quite a lot, actually.

The legal industry is full of opinions – and so it is full of noise. In 2019, 🤦‍♂️ facepalming and 🙄 eyerolling at innovation hype is still very much in vogue, and so a lot of the noise is 😒 negative 😠 in tone.

Amidst all the noise, though, I see very clear signals of meaningful change.
Continue Reading The Current State of Play in Legal Innovation: A New Era of Evolution in the Making (109)

Increasing competition (105)

By Evan Parker on July 21, 2019

Posted in BigLaw, Data Points, Leadership

Over the last 20 years, the composition of regional legal markets has changed dramatically.

The graphic above shows two decades of increasing AmLaw firm competition across 10 legal markets. The dramatic across-the-board rise presents a puzzle: What’s driving the expansion?
Continue Reading Increasing competition (105)

Workplace transparency, Part II: A roadmap for law firms (095)

By Bill Henderson & Evan Parker on May 27, 2019

Posted in Data Points, Leadership, Talent

As an industry, law firms ignore Glassdoor. So why is it such a good predictor of law firm profits?

In Part I (094) of this two-part series, we noted that within the broader economy, Glassdoor ratings are associated with strong organizational performance, such as higher sales, greater profits, and superior market returns. We…

Workplace transparency, Part I: Is it time to take Glassdoor seriously? (094)

By Bill Henderson & Evan Parker on May 26, 2019

Posted in Data Points, Leadership, Talent

After carefully reviewing the data, we think the answer is yes. This is a special two-part holiday weekend series.

How many readers find value from ratings and reviews on Yelp, Angie’s List, Consumer Reports, Healthgrades, Trip Advisor, Amazon and Ebay?
Continue Reading Workplace transparency, Part I: Is it time to take Glassdoor seriously? (094)

Using Law Firm Rankings to Measure Client Value (093)

By Evan Parker on May 12, 2019

Posted in BigLaw, Data Points, Legal Innovation

What’s client value? I know it when I see it.

The graphic above lists the law firms ranked most often in the Legal 500 2018. The longer the bar, the more the Legal 500 recognized a firm’s practice areas. Colored sections capture ranking counts within each of the six tiers, from the orange bar…

The Two Levers in the War for Talent: Money and Culture (086)

By Evan Parker on March 3, 2019

Posted in BigLaw, Data Points, Lawyer Development, Talent

The money part is simple. But how do firms win on culture?

The above 2×2 matrix provides a window on the war for associate-level law firm talent in the London-UK market. The firms in the top-right quadrant are winning. This is true for two reasons. First, they’re paying salaries at or near the top of…

Pay-hours tradeoff at London law firms and related existential issues (082)

By Bill Henderson on February 3, 2019

Posted in BigLaw, Data Points

For many of us, the most credible and reliable data comes from getting our ass kicked

In his 2006 novel, Utterly Monkey, the lawyer-turned-writer Nick Laird tells the story of Danny Williams, a young man from Ireland who overcomes his working class roots to land a job at a Magic Circle law firm. Although…

An Rx for Data Dizziness: Getting Started with Data Requires Smarter Strategy (075)

By Jae Um on December 9, 2018

Posted in Data Points, Legal Education, Legal Innovation, LegalTech, Talent

Click to enlarge / Match the data-enabled deliverable, service or product to stakeholder needs.

How should legal teams get started with data? Here’s a prescription, along with a #RealTalk diagnostic.

In Post 066, I shared that law firm and law department leaders often ask me how to get started with…

Missing in Action: Data-Driven Approaches to Improve Diversity (074)

By Evan Parker on November 25, 2018

Posted in Data Points, Diversity

Someday we’ll wonder why it took so long to use data to solve our diversity problem.

As a social scientist focused on empirical data, I believe the following three statements are true. I’d be curious how many readers agree or disagree with my assessment:
Continue Reading Missing in Action: Data-Driven Approaches to Improve Diversity (074)

Our journey to Big (067)

By Bill Henderson on September 16, 2018

Posted in Data Points, In-House Legal Departments

Big corporations are growing faster than the rest of the economy. It is not hard to figure out where this is going. Lawyer acceptance is different story.

Many lawyers and law firms claim to serve the middle market, often describing how they deal directly with owners and executives rather than in-house counsel. Although these clients…

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