Looking over the columns for the year, several key themes emerge, such as how firms can best move past the constrictions of the global pandemic and begin to address other challenges like evolving technology and the shifting world economy. Other columns offers firms pathways to improving firms鈥� practices, increasing efficiency, and becoming a true partner to their clients; while others offered key takeaways, gathered from top legal clients, on the overall legal market.

Thriving in a post-pandemic world

As 2022 began, it seem that the worst of the global pandemic was behind us and law firms and their corporate clients were moving toward what could be seen as a more normal, or at least traditional, way of doing business.

Several Insights in Action columns explored these developments, looking at how chief talent officers within law firms were dealing with the hot labor market, especially around issues such as securing associate retention and staying on track for return-to-office plans.

In fact, several best practices emerged as to how to better retain key talent, including: i) clearly defining how the lawyer鈥檚 role fits with the firm鈥檚 goals and what lawyers need to achieve to ensure their own progression; ii) offering lawyers more control and flexibility as to what, when, and how they work; and iii) supporting lawyers鈥� well-being, including offering training and health-related programs.

In fact, concerns over talent continued to resound within the legal industry (and elsewhere) throughout the year. As such, several columns addressed how firms can best utilize or leverage the resources they have to provide the kind of training, work/life balance, and employee well-being for which many lawyers and staff members were clamoring.

How to address key challenges

One column published in October detailed how law firms can best address the reasons that younger associates and others leave the firm they鈥檙e currently with to go elsewhere, either to another law firm or in-house to a corporate law department. While being provided with opportunities for career development and growth was cited by many lawyers as strongly related to the satisfaction they feel with their current firm, surprisingly, compensation was not cited as such a strong correlation.

Other concerns, such as being treated with fairness and respect; feeling confident in the firm鈥檚 overall strategy and in firm leadership; and having the support of higher-level colleagues, such as partners all were ranked as more important than compensation in lawyers鈥� decisions to either leave or stay at their current firms, the column noted.

And that is good news for law firms because addressing those concerns is much less costly than simply increasing compensation, even if it can be a bigger challenge. However, throughout the year Insights in Action didn鈥檛 shy away from the bigger challenges that law firms were facing and instead offered ways firms could best overcome these hurdles.

For example, a recent column described how offering clients quality legal services is no longer a differentiator that law firms can count on to separate themselves from their competition; rather, offering quality legal service has become an expectation on the part of clients.

That means, as Rachel Heathcote of 成人VR视频 Market Insights, pointed out, is that clients are looking for more from their outside law firms, and the data shows that such issues as responsiveness, expertise, and business-savvy all have increased as firm differentiators in the minds of clients.

鈥淲hat it shows to me is that everybody is doing service really well, so nobody is standing out for their service 鈥� it鈥檚 not a differentiator, it鈥檚 just table stakes,鈥� Heathcote explains. 鈥淪o what we have to be careful about if you鈥檙e a law firm is that if you are delivering poor service, then there鈥檚 a danger of losing out to competitors that are delivering high service.鈥�

Again, the data shows that clients may be seeking more active business value out of their law firm engagements rather than simply a good client service relationship, she adds.

What the legal market revealed in 2022

One of the key values of the Insights in Action columns were their take on the legal market overall and the insights law firms could gain from the market data and client surveys.

For example, one mid-year column addresses the seeming disconnect between clients and those lawyers they designate as a stand-out performer as to where they see the value in their relationship. The column expanded on a survey that had queried clients on what qualities in those stand-out lawyers makes them truly stand out; and, querying the stand-out lawyers themselves, on what they think clients value in them.

While clients rated lawyers鈥� expertise and technical acumen as top qualities, the lawyers themselves cited their service and close relationship with the clients as their top draws. Clearly, as the column noted, there is room here for law firms to shore up what their lawyers can offer by focusing on what clients are saying is most valuable to them.

Other columns explored other critical subjects, such as how clients are exhibiting growing optimism about their future legal spending, despite the current economic pessimism; and how law firms based in the United States have managed to gain market share in the United Kingdom鈥檚 legal marketplace.

Looking ahead to 2023 and beyond, the 成人VR视频 Institute鈥檚 Insights in Action column will continue to offer data-driven analysis and market-revealing insights that can greatly help law firms navigate the often-choppy waters of the global legal market.

If you’re interested in learning more about some of the research used in our monthly Insights in Action column, and .

Further, UK law firms are seeing the legal needs of their corporate clients shift and evolve as well, a process that started even before the pandemic crisis. Indeed, even as the pandemic crisis ebbs, law firms need to demonstrate new skills and levels of efficiency to meet clients鈥� increasing demands.

A new report, State of the UK Legal Market 2022, from the 成人VR视频 Institute, examines the UK legal ecosystem and sees how many of the main trends and developments that occurred in 2021 were 鈥� not surprisingly 鈥� strongly client-centric and client-driven, from a move toward increased legal spending to what clients want to see from their external firms in terms of expertise, tech-savviness, and efficiency.

UK clients are willing to spend

In terms of legal spending, the report shows that the UK legal market is experiencing its highest level of spend optimism of the last five years. Indeed, the percentage of UK legal buyers saying they鈥檙e anticipating growth in their overall legal spend in the coming months saw a huge increase, especially in practice areas like regulatory.

That means, the report advises, that UK law firms need to target their service offerings to clients to best address the areas in which clients are indicating they most need assistance in order to capture a larger share of this spending.

After having bounced back strongly in 2021, the UK legal market is poised for continued growth this year, even as challenges for law firms remain and their clients鈥� legal needs continue to evolve, the report shows.

In fact, the report shows that legal demand among global law firms with operations in the UK (admittedly, just a slice of the overall UK legal market), grew 8.7% in 2021 compared with 2020, and was even up 6% compared with 2019 鈥� the last pre-pandemic year. Given this, UK law firms would be wise to keep a strong focus on their clients鈥� strategic priorities, engage those drivers that most impact client favorability, and meet client expectations in the delivery of legal services, the report explains.

For example, the report shows how UK-based corporate law departments are primarily concerned with helping their organizations recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, staying on top of the rapidly changing regulatory landscape (due mostly to Brexit), and leveraging a digital strategy in order to work more efficiently. To this end, UK law firms need to present themselves as capable, proactive partners that can help these law departments deliver on these goals.

As the report illustrates, UK legal buyers continue favoring those outside law firms that demonstrate a deep understanding of clients鈥� businesses and advanced technical acumen. Not surprisingly, client satisfaction rests on the ability of outside law firms to provide this kind of consistency and innovation.

The report also discusses the environment of new law firms or alternative legal service providers and how their use has grown within the UK legal market. That means traditional UK law firms need to be wary of this development and demonstrate their own ability to handle clients鈥� work efficiently and effectively.

鈥淎fter having bounced back strongly in 2021, the UK legal market is poised for continued growth this year,鈥� says Lucinda Case, head of Legal Professionals Europe for 成人VR视频, adding that businesses are anticipating an increased need for legal services such as regulatory work, mergers & acquisitions, and labor & employment. 鈥淭hose UK law firms that emphasize a holistic approach that focuses on thoroughly understanding a client鈥檚 business and applying proactive legal service supported by efficiency-enhancing technologies are likely to be most sought after by clients.鈥�

The State of the UK Legal Market 2022 report combines research of more than 265 senior corporate counsel and the financial results of 29 global law firms operations within the UK.

You can see the full digital version of the 成人VR视频 Institute鈥檚 State of the UK Legal Market 2022 report here.