Good News For Lawyers: Demand For Legal Services Is Up -- Especially In New York

Companies need lawyers now more than ever.

Are you a bit nervous about our precious economy that seems to be teetering on the brink of disaster? Well, there’s not much we can do to quell the feeling of impending doom, but the good news for the Above the Law audience is that people still need lawyers, now more than ever.

According to the 2018 HBR Consulting (HBR) Law Department Survey, legal demand in corporate law departments is up, and total legal spending saw a 5 percent increase. After four years of flat or 1-2 percent increases, it’s nice (for the lawyers at least) to see that legal spend is back on the upswing. And as HBR managing director Lauren Chung notes, the increased spending is in both in-house and external resources:

“The survey findings support what we have been witnessing in our consulting work with law departments: there are several factors driving the increased spending,” said managing director Lauren Chung. “The demand for legal services continues to rise and law departments are turning to internal resources, as well as external service providers, to address the growing volume of legal needs. Internally, law departments are investing in talent and technology. Externally, we are seeing increases in hourly outside counsel rates that are fueling spending levels.”

This increased demand seems to be coming from all sectors too. Nationally, 81 percent of responding companies said they saw their legal needs increase in the past year and in New York, it was an impressive 100 percent. The increase in the amount of legal spend is also higher in New York than nationally. While the 5 percent increase discussed above is the nationwide number, in NY legal spending was up a whopping 12 percent.

Another trend identified by the survey was the increased use of technology. 28 percent of respondents said they plan to have artificial intelligence technology up and running in the next few years. 49 percent are currently using legal spend analytics, and another 26 percent of participants say they will within the next 1-2 years. But contract management solutions took the crown for the most used technology, which are currently being used by 55 percent of respondents and 29 percent say they have plans to implement that tech as well.

All very encouraging trends for those in the legal industry.


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headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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