Expense growth may have outpaced revenue growth for the law firm industry during the first quarter, but there was plenty of good news about how 2018 began.
Demand growth surged in the industry in the fourth quarter of 2017 and much of this work was still in inventory as the year ended. In fact, 2018 began with the strongest inventory growth figures that we’ve published since 2007. Further, demand growth continued into the first quarter of 2018, adding to those strong inventory levels. However, collections slowed, suggesting that first quarter revenue growth could have been stronger, and perhaps outpaced expense growth.
