Law Firms Confidence Increasing over Long-Term Workload

It may come as a surprise to some that a recent report has suggested that, even in this difficult economic period, a third of law firms remain confident about their future workloads. These firms believe the coronavirus pandemic will increase their workload and boost their financial prospects across both the short and long term (according to the 2020 LexisNexis Bellwether Report).

These results display a slightly different outcome to research conducted at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. However, many law firms have managed to implement working from home quicker and easier than other sectors which have enabled them to continue to operate at their usual capacity in some areas. But even though some law firms seem confident they will see an increased workload, 44% are worried that they do not have sufficient cash flow to meet their current costs which have resulted in many taking on additional debt.

38% of firms view coronavirus as a critical threat. However, the survey suggests firms tend to be more pessimistic about their client’s prospects than their own.

Perhaps not unexpected is that the survey shows that firms have gone to extreme lengths to cut costs with many cancelling subscriptions, cutting staff hours and delaying any potential investments. Despite many firms cutting staff hours only 4% of firms have made redundancies in order to survive.

The question remains then that although the report suggests some confidence is emerging for the future, is this justified or not? Perhaps we are still in the eye of the storm and the true fallout is yet to come or was this exaggerated in the media? The truth is that only time will tell, however, access to legal services will always be in high demand and those firms that can adapt and be proactive will no doubt continue to perform well.

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