Lawyers Bill Fewer Hours Than a Decade Ago: Report

One figure jumps out of a new Georgetown law school report on the legal industry: $74,100. That’s the amount per lawyer that a law firm loses annually, according to the research that found an average attorney bills 156 fewer hours than was charged just a decade ago.

Flat client demand, declining profit margins, weaker bill collection and lower market share due to alternative legal service providers are undermining firm profitability, the “2018 Report on the State of the Legal Market” concludes. Despite this underwhelming climate, rates edged up.

Firms also overestimate the strength of the demand for their services, and ...