LFL Charts
| A Bullish Outlook | |
|---|---|
| Firm leaders predict slight expansion for the economy as a whole but strong growth for their own firms. | |
| How do you expect the U.S. economy to perform in 2007? | |
| Grow rapidly | 4.2% |
| Grow slightly | 76.8 |
| Flat growth | 12.7 |
| Decline slightly | 4.9 |
| Decline sharply | 1.4 |
| Looking ahead to 2007, with respect to your law firm, are you: | |
| Optimistic | 90.9% |
| Uncertain | 9.1 |
| With respect to profits per partner, in 2007 do you expect they will: | |
| Grow by more than 5% | 66.2% |
| Grow by 5% or less | 30.9 |
| Stay flat | 2.9 |
| What will you be doing with billing rates for 2007? | |
| Increasing by more than 5% | 52.2% |
| Increasing by 5% or less | 45.6 |
| Holding them flat | 2.2 |
| Staying Strong | |
| Despite an uptick in dealmaking, the litigation boom continues. | |
| In which practice area do you expect to see the most growth in 2007? | |
| Litigation | 35.2% |
| Corporate | 32.4 |
| Intellectual property | 19.7 |
| Bankruptcy/restructuring | 4.9 |
| Real estate | 2.8 |
| Other | 4.9 |
| A World of Work | |
| Respondents expect international billings to rise, even though few plan new overseas offices. | |
| In which of these locations does your firm expect billings to increase by more than 10% next year? (Check all that apply.) | |
| London | 63.5% |
| China (excluding Hong Kong) | 52.4 |
| Paris | 27.0 |
| Hong Kong | 25.4 |
| Russia | 17.5 |
| Japan | 14.3 |
| Latin America | 9.5 |
| Eastern Europe (excluding Russia) | 7.9 |
| Going Public | |
| Respondents saw a chance that American firms could one day take on nonlawyer shareholders—if the British take the plunge first. | |
| The British are considering allowing nonlawyers to take equity positions in law firms. If the British make such a change, how soon do you think the United States would do the same? | |
| Less than five years | 7.6% |
| More than five years | 55.7 |
| Never happen | 36.6 |
| Meeting and Greeting | |
| Less than 13 percent of respondents said they met with more than half of their firm's top 20 clients in the past year. | |
| In the last 12 months, how many of the firm's 20 top-billing clients have you met with to discuss the client's satisfaction with your firm's performance? | |
| All 20 | 2.9% |
| 16-19 | 5.1 |
| 11-15 | 4.4 |
| 6-10 | 34.1 |
| 5 or fewer | 45.7 |
| None | 8.0 |
| Keeping Talent | |
| Most respondents do not regard associate defections as a problem. | |
| How much of a problem is associate retention for your firm? | |
| A major problem | 32.6% |
| A minor problem | 56 |
| Not a problem | 11.4 |
| No Merger Mania | |
| Less than a third of respondents said their firm is actively looking to merge. | |
| Is your firm looking for a merger partner? | |
| Yes | 29.3% |
| No | 70.7 |
| Repeat Business | |
| More than half of respondents said their firms picked up no new clients with annual billings exceeding $5 million in 2006. | |
| How many new clients with annual billings exceeding $5 million did your firm pick up in 2006? | |
| None | 53.4% |
| At least one | 45.7 |
| Don't know | 0.9 |
| Of the new clients your firm picked up in 2006, how did the one with the largest annual billings come to your firm? | |
| Beauty contest | 35.0% |
| Referral from a current client | 30 |
| Came with a lateral hire | 11.7 |
| Our firm had done business with its general counsel at another company | 8.3 |
| Other | 15 |
| (The American Lawyer, December 2006) | |
