Demand for legal services in the US remains flat

Demand for legal services in the US has remained steady in the third quarter, despite falling stock prices and the battering from super-storm Sandy. An analysis by Peer Monitor, a division of Thomson Reuters’ Hildebrandt Institute, reported that litigation demand fell this quarter, evening out earlier gains to remain flat. Deal work continues a downward trend, with corporate down 1%, bankruptcy down 2.6% and real estate down 2.7%. Demand was up 2.5% for labor and employment but growth in this area is in fact at its slowest pace in the past two years. The report, which is based on data from 125 large and mid-size US law firms, concluded: “The law firm market continues to struggle. Weakening demand and low rate growth are challenging any meaningful top line growth while expenses, although moderating, continue to run ahead of revenues. Productivity continues to decline as capacity exceeds demand.”

Demand for legal services in the US remains flat blogs.wsj.com Thu, Nov 8, 2012