While
everyone
was
busy
doomscrolling…
everything,
Biglaw
quietly
tightened
its
grip
on
the
legal
market.
Again.
If
you
were
wondering
how
almost
half
the
Am
Law
100
now
qualify
as
“super
rich”,
look
no
further
than
the
newly
dropped
2025
CounselLink
Trends
Report.
The
annual
deep
dive
into
client
spending
reveals
that
law
firms
with
750+
lawyers
account
for
49.3
percent
of
all
legal
spend.
That’s
a
healthy
amount
since
the
report
clocked
$67
billion
in
total
legal
spend
last
year.
The
yacht
budget
is
safe.
But
how
is
this
possible
when
legal
departments
project
a
non-stop
background
noise
of
“spend
control”
and
gripes
about
finally
standing
up
to
rising
billable
rates?
They’ve
been
telling
the
firms
—
and
anyone
else
who
will
listen
—
this
for
a
long
time.
And
how
have
the
firms
responded?
Partner
rates
rose
another
5.1
percent
on
average
in
2024,
the
second-highest
jump
on
record.
But
that
doesn’t
tell
the
whole
story
because
among
the
biggest
firms
—
the
ones
hoovering
up
nearly
half
the
legal
spend
—
the
median
partner
billed
at
a
rate
61
percent
higher
than
the
median
partner
in
the
next
tier
of
firms.
Biglaw
partners
are
billing
over
$2,300/hour,
and
the
highest
tier
of
associates
in
these
firms
are
hitting
$1,900/hour.
So
while
clients
talk
a
big
game
about
strategies
to
manage
“timekeeper
mix,”
partners
keep
sending
invoices
that
could
get
Fabergé to
host
an
Easter
Egg
hunt.
No
one
gets
fired
for
hiring
Cravath
—
or
whatever
variant
of
that
adage
you
grew
up
with
—
appears
alive
and
well.
And
the
big
firms
know
it.
For
all
the
grumbling
about
clients
getting
serious
about
spend,
when
the
company
is
at
stake,
boards
are
going
to
want
to
see
brand
name
letterhead
even
if
it
comes
at
a
premium.
And
then
they’ll
threaten
Legal’s
budget
next
year.
Circle
of
life.
As
interesting
as
Biglaw’s
dominance
is
small
law’s
steady
rise.
After
Biglaw,
it’s
the
smaller
firms
with
the
next
biggest
share
of
the
legal
spend,
at
nearly
a
quarter.
Small
law
has
slipped
slightly
since
2022,
to
the
benefit
of
the
201-750
firms
(and,
of
course,
the
inexorable
flow
of
cash
to
Biglaw),
but
these
firms
still
enjoy
an
advantage
over
their
next
bigger
rivals.
Capturing
this
much
raw
legal
spend
is
even
more
impressive
considering
how
much
cheaper
they
are.
So
there’s
a
bit
of
a
dumbbell
effect,
with
goliath
firms
on
one
side
and
specialized,
laser-focused
boutiques
on
the
other.
In
between,
there’s
traditionally
a
whole
lot
of
pricing
pressure
and
existential
angst.
Seeing
midsized
firms
tick
up
a
bit
might
be
worth
watching
over
coming
years
as
that
tier
ventures
—
belatedly
—
into
tech
adoption.
That
could
increase
the
tier’s
competitiveness
with
bigger
firms
who
leverage
tech
because
they
can
afford
it
and
small
firms
who
leverage
tech
because
they
can’t
afford
not
to.
Did
you
see
that
scientists
are
trying
to
bring
back
the
Wooly
Mammoth?
That
seems
like
a
non
sequitur
in
this
article,
but
it
sets
up
the
following
segue,
so
stop
nitpicking
and
indulge
me.
The
report
does
not
directly
address
the
Wooly
Mammoth
in
the
room:
the
role
generative
artificial
intelligence
tools
will
play
in
how
clients
distribute
future
work.
While
the
legal
tech
vendor
community
would
probably
call
it
the
elephant
in
the
room,
it’s
better
to
think
of
it
as
big,
ground-breaking,
and…
not
actually
here.
Generative
AI
brings
a
lot
of
hype,
but
it’s
not
about
to
convince
in-house
lawyers
to
swap
their
outside
counsel
yet.
But
it
just
because
it’s
not
going
to
replace
lawyers
doesn’t
mean
it’s
not
going
to
have
a
significant
impact
on
the
legal
workflow
and,
by
extension,
the
bills.
Will
it
usher
in
the
$10,000/hour
lawyer?
Does
that
finally
make
clients
balk?
Will
it
instead
spur
more
alternative
fee
arrangements
—
if
not
for
whole
matters,
then
for
predictable
work
product
at
specific
stages
of
an
engagement?
Which
firms
will
take
the
chance
to
build
a
new
model
of
billing
first?
Or
maybe
the
firms
will
just
keep
complaining
while
shelling
out
bigger
and
bigger
payments.
Why
mess
with
success?
2025
CounselLink
Trends
Report
[LexisNexis
CounselLink]
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
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