So many lessons, so many questions; but so little time. Here is a recap of our 10th annual BTI Market Outlook and Client Service Review. We would like to thank the 1,682 individuals who joined us and appreciate all the feedback—especially considering how much client feedback we develop for our clients. Here are the highlights:
Uncertainty is the biggest driver in the market today. It is the reason clients are:
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Increasing spending in outside counsel
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Cutting corporate counsel’s internal spending
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Demanding more engagement from their law firm
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Paying higher rates for complex work while applying unrelenting rate pressure on their standard work
Where the Growth Is by Industry and Practice
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High Tech boasts 9 practices with premium needs and growth—more than all others
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Health Care, Pharma, and Insurance (non-defense) show 7 premium practice opportunities each
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Energy and Financial service see premium needs in 6 practices
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Telecom, Transportation, and Professional Services have the fewest premium needs
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Demand for Cybersecurity, M&A, and Private Equity leads the growth charge with IP Litigation, Class Actions, and Regulatory close behind
The BTI Client Service 30 are using these new strategies across their client base:
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Tapping into their largest clients’ needs through client feedback and customization
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Pinpointing clients’ risk before they do
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Developing tools for clients to better manage and identify risk
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Helping clients manage uncertainty
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Becoming more aggressive in business development
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Hail mostly from The BTI Client Service 30—suggesting client service gives you a better on-ramp to the most compelling client innovation and technology needs
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Tackle the most basic needs—such as historical document access and performance indicators—with scale across the client base
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Customize technology solutions for their largest clients
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Ask clients about their specific needs and then build out solutions to meet these needs
Changes in Client Service Expectations
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Your ability to deal with complexity is now a part of client service—the 17 activities clients use to evaluate law performance and hireability
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You can’t fully understand risk without understanding your client’s business
Again, this is a brief recap, watch the full recording here to gain vital insights for your firm.
The law firms delivering on all these demands across the client base are outperforming all others. This shows consistency, ability to scale, and your commitment to help—the most influential aspect of client service.
You can use these insights to improve your performance tomorrow. No law firm on the planet can tackle all these demands and changes at once, but you can prioritize, reallocate resources, and focus on the ones which make the biggest difference. You are best served by picking a small number of high-impact tactics for your firm—and scaling across clients. Rogue acts of greatness can’t compete with systematic excellence.
MBR