Magic circle firms in the money

No sign of a slump at the top end of the legal sector! The Times online today reports an increase in revenues and profits for 'magic circle' firms in London.
Clifford Chance heads the list of high performers reporting record revenues of £1.3billion and profits per equity partner last financial year of £1.15million. To read the Times' report, click here

Escaping the Billable Hours Trap

The crusade against the billable hour continues. This week Jeff Bleich, President of the State Bar of California added his name to the list of advocates who want to get rid of the billable hour in the California Bar Journal The point of this debate is neatly summed up in the conclusion to his article:

"The point is that as a profession, we need to start finding billing methods that will reduce distrust and damage to our client relationships, that will refocus young lawyers on being problem-solvers again, and that will remind us of — rather than distract us from — why we are lawyers in the first place."

And so say all of us. Well, nearly all. Ron Baker of the Versage Institute has a few words words to say here.

Legal Department Benchmarking Report 2008

What are the largest organisational users of legal services in Australia and New Zealand spending..and on what?

What are the most pressing issues facing legal department leaders?

What are General Counsel looking for from their external legal providers?

What do they think of hourly billing?

What are the barriers to changing law firms?

The answers to these and other questions are contained in the recently released Legal Department Benchmarking Report 2008. This report contains detailed information from than 125 corporate and government organisations that could help save millions of dollars in legal costs. Plus there's a wealth of information for law firms on what in-house counsel are looking for from their external providers and on how they select and manage law firm relationships.

To order your copy, click here