Legal industry surveys demonstrate the complexity of defining “value” in the legal industry. The exact meaning depends on who you ask, when you ask and the nature of the circumstances. Fundamentally, the quality of provided services represents one significant indicator of value. However, clients view the cost of those services as an important component of value, which has specific and increasing importance during our current challenging economic times.

Informed by strategies that date back to the Great Recession of the previous decade, clients are understandably focusing on lowering their legal expenses and looking to mid-market law firms to achieve it. Simply put, it is a win-win — clients find more attractive billing rates by shifting Big Law work to mid-market firms, and mid-market firms are increasingly in a strong competitive position.