Legal IT Professionals (March 8, 2021) – Recent research has shown that professional services firms face a variety of pressures surrounding pricing, competition, and client expectations. In the 2020 Law Department Operations Survey, 75% of respondents revealed their companies are actively trying to save costs by bringing more work in house. The recent Legal Pricing and Project Management (LPPM) Survey also pointed to a client-driven innovation trend, with firms implementing new processes for budgeting, proposals, and fee arrangements driven by the LPPM function and partner-led change management. 

As the competitive landscape changes, firms need to be more creative in providing and communicating value to clients as a means to secure new engagements. At the same time, firms need to hit profitability targets while keeping clients satisfied.

This means firm leaders must take a more sophisticated, analytical, and data-driven approach to pivotal strategic decisions around profitability and client development efforts. By improving processes and investing in AI-enabled software, firms can deliver better service to current clients and also analyze various factors to determine whether to take on new clients and matters.