Check out this post on Law.com. Brenda Sandburg of The American Lawyer reports that amongst the Amlaw 200:
• Billing rates will continue to go up. Fifty-three percent of respondents expect to increase billing rates by 5 percent or less; 46 percent anticipate raising them by more than 5 percent.
• Profits will keep rising, too. Sixty-eight percent of respondents expect profits per partner to grow more than 5 percent; 27 percent think profits per partner growth will be 5 percent or lower.
Its amazing—99% of law firms “expect” to raise rates, nearly half by more than 5%. Did they ask their clients? Are their clients raising their prices? How many of their client legal departments are facing cut-backs or cost constraints?
At the same time, profits per partner are going up. More than 2/3 think the PPP will go up more than 5%. I wonder how their clients feel about that.
I will say that this might be misleading, akin to a peacock showing off its tail feathers. Impressive, but not relevant. How many of these firms will be offering discounts that more than offset the increase? How many “negotiate” the bill on top of the discounts?
As I have said before, the system is phony. Maybe this is the year some clients will wake up and smell the coffee.
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