{"id":10790,"date":"2024-02-19T10:18:36","date_gmt":"2024-02-19T10:18:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clio.com\/uk\/?p=10790"},"modified":"2026-02-27T23:56:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T23:56:07","slug":"mid-sized-law-firms-highlights-2024-legal-trends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clio.com\/uk\/blog\/mid-sized-law-firms-highlights-2024-legal-trends\/","title":{"rendered":"2024 Legal Trends for Mid-Sized Law Firms Report: The Highlights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since 2016, legal experts have turned to Clio\u2019s yearly <\/span>Legal Trends Report<\/span><\/i><\/a> for an unbiased and thorough examination of trends in the legal field.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the most comprehensive analysis of the legal industry, the <\/span>Legal Trends Report<\/span><\/i><\/a> consolidates vital information on law firm performance while illuminating the influential factors driving changes in legal practice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For mid-size law firms, we provide unique insights with our annual <\/span>Legal Trends for Mid-Sized Law Firms<\/span><\/i> report. We\u2019re thrilled to announce the recent release of the <\/span>2024 Legal Trends for Mid-Sized Law Firms <\/span><\/i>report<\/span><\/a>, which looks at mid-sized law firms across multiple perspectives\u2014including performance trends, strategies for improving payment collections, and attitudes towards artificial intelligence (AI).<\/span><\/p>\n

Below, we\u2019ll dive into the high-level takeaways from this year\u2019s report\u2014but be sure to check out the <\/span>2024 Legal Trends for Mid-Sized Law Firms <\/span><\/i>report<\/span><\/a> for a comprehensive overview of the trends shaping mid-sized law firm practices today!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tWhat is a mid-sized law firm?\n\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t
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Though the definition of what constitutes a mid-sized law firm can vary, we typically accept firms with 21 or more employees to be \u201cmid-sized\u201d.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Thus, this report defines mid-sized law firms as those with 21 or more employees. Throughout the report, we compare these firms to \u201csmaller firms\u201d (those with 20 or fewer employees).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Where does the data come from?\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

The <\/span>2024 Legal Trends for Mid-Sized Law Firms <\/span><\/i>report<\/span><\/a> uses a range of methodological approaches and data sources to deliver the best insights about the state of legal practice and strategies for future growth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Aggregated and anonymised Clio data\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

We\u2019ve analysed aggregated and anonymised data from tens of thousands of legal professionals, segmented based on firm size, to observe differences in usage patterns among mid-sized firms and smaller firms. This data provides important insights about how technology is being used by legal professionals, as well as its impact on firm performance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Survey of legal professionals<\/span><\/h3>\n

We surveyed 1,446 legal professionals, segmented based on firm size, to distinguish and compare responses between mid-sized firms and smaller firms, from May 31 to July 20, 2023. The legal professionals we surveyed included lawyers as well as support staff\u2014such as paralegals and administrators\u2014who are engaged in the management side of their practice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Survey of the general population<\/span><\/h3>\n

We surveyed 1,012 adults in the U.S. general population from June 13 to June 22, 2023. This survey was designed to gauge attitudes, opinions, preferences, and behaviours regarding the legal profession among individuals who have hired lawyers in the past or who may become potential legal clients in the future. This sample is representative of the U.S. population by age, gender, region, income, and race\/ethnicity based on the most recent U.S. census statistics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mid-sized firms are capturing more billable hours and collecting more money than ever, yet still struggle with realisation and collection performance\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Despite generally taking on fewer new files compared to 2016, mid-sized firms are capturing more billable hours and collecting more money than ever. Coupled with steadily increasing utilisation rates, it appears that lawyers in mid-sized firms are effectively capitalizing on existing legal work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A different story emerges when we look at how efficiently mid-sized law firms are billing and collecting payment for their legal services. While mid-sized firms were closing the gap between their realisation rates and the leading rates enjoyed by smaller firms, more recent data suggests that this performance may be stalling. Likewise, while mid-sized firms enjoyed a lead on collection rates against smaller firms in the past, since 2020, smaller firms have surpassed mid-sized firms on collection rates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

Mid-sized firms see better realisation lockup performance, but poorer collection lockup performance, than smaller firms<\/span><\/h2>\n

Law firms must pay close attention to how <\/span>quickly<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>consistently<\/span><\/i> they are getting paid. Far too many firms find their revenue held in \u201clockup\u201d\u2014the period in which billable work has either not been invoiced or collected.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lockup consists of three components (measured in days):\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n