Briefing Database: NOVEMBER 2019

This month we turn our attention to work in Australia. How is overall demand looking for legal services, and what have firms been spending on the effectiveness of their delivery?

THE STATE OF THE LEGAL MARKET – AUSTRALIA (FY 2018–19)

WHERE ARE THEY SPENDING? AREAS OF EXPENDITURE COMPARED TO DEMAND

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Peer Monitor Perspective
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Although the last quarter of FY 19 saw the first period of demand contraction since 2016, last year both demand and revenue rose to new heights for Australian law firms overall. Firms continued to hire more lawyers, and worked rates grew at a pace not seen for some time.

Familiar challenges remained, however. Clients continue to demand more for less, alternative legal service providers (ALSPs) continue to emerge, and reliance on in-house legal departments continues to grow. Perhaps more worryingly, there was a significant drop in productivity, with the average lawyer’s billing down 37 hours on just a year ago.

Taken together, the future of the Australian legal market is uncertain. While it continues to outperform the majority of global legal markets in terms of growth, fears about reaching the ceiling persist.

In partnership with Peer Monitor

This article can be found in Briefing‘s November’s edition: Slice time