Our newest infographic, Control legal costs, advance legal operations excellence, provides a clear, simple summary of the challenges legal departments are facing with economic forces that make the future difficult to predict. It also presents an overview of the reliable strategies available to tackle those challenges.
A majority of general counsel expect to face strained legal department budgets. The FTI Consulting 2023 General Counsel Report found that more than 75% of general counsel say their departments are coming under pressure to continue performing despite staffing challenges and smaller budgets.
Meanwhile, law firm rates are increasing, according to the 2022 Blickstein LDO Report, making now a particularly important time to carefully manage spend and find every opportunity for savings. Specifically, in the past year, almost 80% of law firms have had rate increases. And almost 82% of legal departments anticipated law firm rate increases in the next 12 months.
In addition to these external forces, internal challenges also make it more difficult to keep legal spend under control. These common limitations cause legal departments to miss out on opportunities for savings:
- Increasingly complex billing guidelines
- Incomplete visibility
- Lack of data insights
This significant price pressure must be addressed if legal departments are to meet their goals. Fortunately, there is technology designed to do exactly that. Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions’ total spend management approach helps legal departments address their pain points by combining the best characteristics of e-billing and advanced technology – including artificial intelligence – to improve performance.
With total spend management, legal departments have achieved:
- Up to 10% savings on legal spend
- Up to 20% improvement in billing guideline compliance
- Faster and better decision-making with improved outcomes
- Increased efficiency, including the ability to free up attorneys’ time for more value-added work
To learn more about Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions’ comprehensive approach to total spend management, download our whitepaper: A better approach to spend management.
