BigHand Reports on Key Changes Reshaping Legal Industry

BigHand is proud to announce the release of its latest research report, Emerging Trends in Law Firm Talent Management. The comprehensive report provides an in-depth analysis based on responses from 835 senior legal professionals across the UK and US of the challenges law firms face in navigating the rapidly shifting landscape of talent management and client expectations. The report focuses on optimising workforce efficiency and meeting client demands for value-driven legal services, highlighting key trends reshaping the legal industry.  

Key statistics include: 

• Client attrition: 96% of firms have lost clients in the last 12 months, with 34% citing a reduction of the number of firms clients have on their panels as the main reason and 33% confirming clients found cheaper legal services elsewhere.  

• Work allocation: 84% struggle with manual task delegation between remote and in-office support staff, and 36% say partners picking resources based on preference is challenging. 

• Actionable data: 41% of firms have no or only partial access to data relating to the different skillsets of each associate, and 33% have equally poor access to data about the types of tasks sent from lawyers to support staff. 

• Law firms are facing growing client pressure to prioritise equitable work resourcing while maintaining cost-effective legal services. This shift is intensifying competition, with many firms losing clients due to cost concerns or inadequate diversity efforts.

The research highlights how high attrition rates from equity partners to support staff pose significant operational and financial challenges. As partners plan their retirement or move to other firms, succession planning has become a significant challenge, with many firms unprepared for the expected turnover. Firms face disruptions to client relationships, underscoring the need for better talent development programs and visibility into skillsets so there is no loss of knowledge or expertise from lawyers and support staff. 

“To provide value-add, data-backed insights for our clients and the wider industry, BigHand gathers market intel around key challenges facing law firms each year. The findings of this report make it clear that law firms must adapt to retain talent and clients in an increasingly competitive market. BigHand’s technology surfaces actionable data for better decision-making around talent management, work allocation and enables them to provide transparency to clients over how their matters are resourced from partners to support staff,” comments Briana McCrory, CMO at BigHand.

The research sheds light on the role of technology in law firms' strategic plans to address key talent management and operational challenges facing the industry today. By leveraging advanced tools like BigHand, firms can streamline work allocation, ensuring that tasks are delegated to the right resources at the right cost, enhancing efficiency and profitability—the data-driven insights provided by technology support firms in facing the challenges revealed in the research.

The full report, Emerging Trends in Law Firm Talent Management, is now available for download on BigHand’s website.

BigHand Wins Enterprise Award at the American Legal Technology Awards 2024 

BigHand is proud to announce its win in the Enterprise category at the prestigious American Legal Technology Awards 2024. 

Described as the Oscars of legal innovation, the American Legal Technology Awards annually recognise pioneers in legal technology, honouring individuals, companies, and products that advance and modernise the legal industry. 

The award recognised the impact of several of BigHand’s innovative products, including BigHand Resource Management, BigHand Matter Pricing, and BigHand Impact Analytics. With features such as real-time visibility of team skillsets, availability and costs, AI-enabled timecard analysis, and matter budget tracking, BigHand’s solutions enable firms to make informed decisions that drive efficiency, enhance client service, and support their growth objectives. 

Tom Martin, Co-Founder of the American Legal Technology Awards, emphasised the significance of BigHand's win, stating, "BigHand made bold statements about the product’s use of AI to help law firms manage profitability, enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and optimise resource allocation, and BigHand included metrics, customer quotes, and specific examples as evidence of the product’s success." 

BigHand CEO Sam Toulson also commented on the achievement: “Winning this award is a testament to BigHand’s dedication to developing innovative solutions that empower law firms to meet the challenges of today’s legal landscape. We are incredibly proud to be recognized for our efforts.” 

This award follows another major win for BigHand in 2024 after Catherine Krow was honoured with the Champion in Diversity Award at the LegalWeek Leaders in Law Tech Awards earlier this year.