This article appeared in Marketing the Law Firm, an ALM/Law Journal Newsletters publication reporting on the latest, and most effective, strategies for Chief Marketing Officers, Managing Partners, Law Firm Marketing Directors, Administrators and Consultants.

The competition for outside legal services has never been more intense. 50% of buyers have adjusted their law firms in the last 12 months, and that will continue through 2023. See2023 Thomson Reuters State of the Legal Industry. Shrinking demand translated into a productivity loss totaling, on average, a $98,000 loss in fees per lawyer as compared to a similar lawyer in 2007.

Add to this an expanded playing field of competitors that now include an array of midsize law firms, boutique and specialty firms, accounting firms, new law companies, and the proliferation of other, well-funded alternative legal services providers who are taking significant client and market share away from traditional law firms. See2023 Alternative Service Legal Providers Report from Thomson Reuters.