Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions’ Nathan Cemenska said he was surprised to discover that one in three corporate legal departments has seen yearly spending fluctuations of over 90% over the past five years. He had long known unpredictability in budgeting was an issue, but the statistic was nonetheless sobering.

“Legal spending variations are more volatile than most people appreciate, and it is not just because of the pandemic,” Cemenska said. “Our data shows that the past is a good future predictor in the short term, but not necessarily the long term.”