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How to Maximize Revenues in 2018 – Valuable Advice from a Legal Expert

December 11, 2017, 9:54 am CST

More than one in ten small law firms don’t track profits, and slightly more than that don’t track revenues, according to the just-released 2017 State of U.S. Small Law Firms Study. Furthermore, only one in four consider profitability the top measure of success.

This doesn’t surprise Ellen Freedman. As President of Freedman Consulting, she has spent two decades helping lawyers operate their firms as profitable businesses, and she has spoken about the subject extensively as Law Practice Management Coordinator for the Pennsylvania State Bar Association.

In the process, she has observed that lawyers don’t like discussing financial matters.

“Too often, lawyers will spend more time deciding whether to renew a $20 magazine subscription for the reception area than thinking about whether any department can be improved by upsizing, downsizing or automating,” laments Freedman.

Instead, she says they should be strategizing how to leverage resources like technology to optimize time and revenues, especially in a mature marketplace with increased mergers, finite demand, oversupply, commoditization and intense price competition.

“Frankly, firms that don’t will fall farther and farther behind,” she warns. “Right now, we’re beginning to see a wide chasm between firms that are intelligently approaching the new reality of a mature marketplace versus those that insist on doing things the way they’ve always done them.”

Many attorneys don’t realize that up to 40% of their time is spent on non-billable, administrative work. Technology can automate these non-billable tasks throughout the entire matter management process - from client intake to billing. Find out how in this Matter Management Checklist for Overworked Attorneys.

If you don’t think that’s worth the time, then consider another data point from 2017 State of Small Law Firm Report: What separates very successful from unsuccessful law firms is merely 200 billable hours per attorney per year. The report reveals that lawyers at very successful firms invest 2,900 hours per year to achieve 1,800 billable hours, while lawyers at unsuccessful firms invest 3,100 hours per year.

“It proves what I’ve espoused all along - even a single extra billable hour a day can make a remarkable difference in a firm’s bottom line,” says Freedman. “And it can be easily attained by employing better management practices, and strategically leveraging technology.”

Again, learn how technology can help you automate, and in some cases eliminate, the tedious administrative work that eats profits with the Matter Management Checklist for Overworked Attorneys.

To get more insights from the 2017 State of U.S. Small Law Firm Study you may download it here.

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