Over
the
first
three
posts
in
this
series,
I’ve
talked
about
the
shrinking
ownership
of
law
practice
management
technology
for
solo
and
small
firms
—
how
most
of
the
major
contenders
in
the
market
have
all
come
to
be
owned
by
just
six
overarching
ownership
groups.
I’ve
shown
you
who
those
groups
are
and
which
products
they
own.
I’ve
covered
what
we
know
about
their
market
share
and
what
we
can
expect
as
they
each
seek
to
expand
their
customers
and
revenues.
For
this
final
post,
I
thought
it
would
be
useful
to
just
wrapup
some
of
the
key
market
trends
I’ve
covered.
-
Ever
since
Clio
launched
the
first
commercial
cloud-based
practice
management
platform
in
2008,
lawyers
have
steadily
and
increasingly
moved
to
cloud-based
platforms. -
Although
practice
management
technology
pre-existed
the
cloud,
the
ease
of
adoption
and
ease
of
use
of
cloud
software
has
increased
lawyers’
use
of
practice
management
software. -
While
some
legacy
on-premises
platforms
remain
in
the
market,
their
customers
are
increasing
switching
to
cloud
platforms,
and
even
their
owners
are
encouraging
customers
to
move
from
their
on-premises
systems
to
cloud
systems. -
Also
driving
greater
adoption
of
these
systems
is
lawyers’
greater
awareness
of
them.
In
part,
this
is
due
to
effective
marketing
by
the
companies,
but
it
is
also
attributable
to
two
other
factors.-
One,
I
believe,
is
the
ABA’s
promulgation
of
the
duty
of
technology
competence
and
states’
adoption
of
that
duty,
which
has
driven
lawyers
to
be
more
mindful
of
the
benefits
(and
risks)
of
technology. -
The
other
factor
is
the
pandemic,
which,
of
necessity,
accelerated
lawyers’
need
for
cloud-based
systems
to
manage
their
practices.
-
One,
-
In
the
early
years
of
cloud
practice
management,
the
success
of
companies
such
as
Clio,
Rocket
Matter
and
MyCase
inspired
a
surge
of
similar
practice
management
startups. -
Beginning
around
2018
and
continuing
through
today,
those
companies
began
to
be
consolidated
through
acquisitions
by
investment
groups. -
That
led
us
to
where
we
are
today,
with
just
six
ownership
groups
having
control
over
the
majority
of
practice
management
platforms. -
Clio’s
recent
record-setting
raise
of
$900
million
—
the
largest
ever
for
a
legal
technology
company
of
any
kind
—
establishes
it
as
the
leader
in
the
practice
management
field,
at
least
in
terms
of
size
and
reach. -
As
all
of
these
companies
seek
to
continue
to
grow
and
expand,
there
are
three
likely
ways
they
will
do
this:-
Horizontally
across
their
target
market,
seeking
to
expand
the
numbers
of
solo
and
small
firms
they
serve. -
Vertically
into
specialized
practice
areas,
seeking
to
better
serve
solo
and
small
firms
in
areas
such
as
immigration,
personal
injury
and
bankruptcy,
to
name
just
a
few.. -
Up
market,
seeing
to
acquire
customers
among
larger
law
firms
in
the
mid-firm
range. -
Geographically,
going
after
customers
in
other
countries.
-
Horizontally
-
To
make
themselves
more
appealing
to
these
expanded
markets,
practice
management
companies
will:-
Continue
to
enhance
their
core
practice
management
features. -
Develop
new
products
and
capabilities
using
generative
AI. -
Expand
their
platforms
into
“practice
adjacent”
areas
such
as
litigation
support,
e-filing,
service
of
process,
e-discovery,
and
more. -
Expand
the
financial
services
they
offer.
-
Continue
Please
Share
Your
Feedback
I
am
eager
for
your
feedback
on
this
series.
What
have
I
overlooked?
What
do
I
have
wrong?
What
else
is
going
on
here?
Based
on
the
feedback
I
receive,
I
plan
to
revise
and
update
these
posts,
and
possibly
expand
them
into
a
single
report.
You
can
send
me
your
thoughts
by
emailing
me
at
ambrogi@gmail.com.
Here
is
the
full
series: