Get the benchmarking data you need to make informed decisions about the best way to control your legal department costs. Review leading benchmarking data and analytics pulled from over 8,000 anonymized law firm invoices to gain powerful insights into what specific matters cost and how long they take. Turn insights into action with LexisNexis® Counsel Benchmarking.

1. LexisNexis® Counsel Benchmarking
Get the benchmarking data you need to make informed decisions
about the best way to control your legal department costs. Review
leading benchmarking data and analytics pulled from over 8,000
anonymized law firm invoices to gain powerful insights into what
specific matters cost and how long they take. Turn insights into
action with LexisNexis® Counsel Benchmarking.
I CUT LEGAL SPEND. BUT I DON’T CUT CORNERS.
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2. The first place to go to control
your legal department costs using
powerful benchmarking analytics
The pressure to contain law department costs continues while the number of matters corporate counsel handles
grows. LexisNexis® Counsel Benchmarking is the first place to turn for leading benchmarking data and analytics
that provide insights to help control legal spend and create efficiencies—as well as illustrate your department’s
value to the company.
Pulling data from 2.3 million anonymized invoices of 8,000 law firms covering 360,000 matters and 145,000
timekeepers, Counsel Benchmarking can help you understand typical hourly rates, matter costs and alternative
fee structures. Further filtering provides analyses by firm size, staff title, geography and more. Make smarter
decisions about the legal services you need with LexisNexis Counsel Benchmarking.
Scenario 1: Cost pressures
Andrea needs to lower outside counsel rates by 5% by finding efficiencies. She sees that employment colleagues
at her firm have been using primarily large firms for their outside employment work. Andrea decides to explore
options to reduce costs.
What’s it like to use Counsel Benchmarking?
Here are a few situations from the perspective of Andrea, a hypothetical director of legal departmental
operations for a company with $50M/year in outside counsel spend and 20 in-house attorneys.
Andrea consults the hourly rates comparison in
LexisNexis® Counsel Benchmarking and looks
at rates for employment work. She is able
to compare rates by law firm size and sees
the difference between firms with 100 – 200
attorneys versus firms with 750+ attorneys.
Bottom line: Andrea discovers that additional
savings may be achievable by moving
appropriate employment matters to more
right-sized firms. She brings this insight to the
in-house team to discuss opportunities to seek
savings by shifting some of the work between
firms of different sizes.

3. Scenario 2: Proposed rate increase
The company’s law firm for M&A work, a member of The Am Law 100®, has proposed a blended rate of $850/hour
for partners and $550/hour for associates. The firm has included its standard rate increase of 5%. Should Andrea
accept the rate and the increase?
Bottom line: Andrea determines that both the rate and the increase are higher than the average, and shares
this with management. In fact, she reports, a rate decrease of 5% on both partners and associates would equate
to a savings of approximately $150K/year and would still pay the company well above the median rate for firms
of its size. Andrea suggests that perhaps it’s time for renegotiation.
Andrea turns to Counsel Benchmarking, where
she looks up the rates for firms with 750+ attorneys.
She sees the median and 75th percentile rates for
partners ($665 and $760 respectively) and associates
($426 and $545).
Then, by looking at the average annual rate increase
for these types of matters, Andrea learns that rates
increased by only 2% – 3% for partners and associates.
4
Scenario 3: Alternative fee arrangements
Andrea is convinced that alternative fee arrangements—great for lowering costs and increasing cost predictability—
are an underutilized tool in her company’s legal department. However, she doesn’t have the real data to support
her point of view.
Andrea decides to investigate employment matters.
She looks in the LexisNexis® Counsel Benchmarking
Alternative Fee Arrangement (AFA) tab and discovers
that 15% of employment matters are done under AFAs.
Her team does not currently use any.
Bottom line: Andrea proposes a trial period during
which 5% of matters are handled under a fixed fee.
She can monitor the trial and stay current with changing
trends across matter types. Going forward, she can work
with her in-house team to refine AFA best practices as
needed.

4. Drive departmental efficiencies
Make decisions based on real data from real firms. Know you’re paying the right amount, and using
the right teams for the right work.
Control your legal spend
With the insights you gain from LexisNexis® Counsel Benchmarking, you have increased power to negotiate
with firms based on multiple cost drivers. You can view customized comparisons of rates across matter types,
industry and law firm size, as well as turn matter statistics such as blended hourly rate or expense percentages
into cost-savings for your law department.
Improve your value and your organization’s performance
You’ll demonstrate greater efficiencies and improved legal spend management to your executive team
when you leverage key trends to:
• Cut costs, save time or continue your current course
• Set annual budgets and forecast future spend based on industry data
• Manage spend by selecting the right law firm for specific matters
LexisNexis® Counsel Benchmarking + LexisNexis® Verdict & Settlement Analyzer
Gain insights into both the cost of legal counsel and the value of a case.
With today’s Lexis Advance® research platform, you can access multiple analytical tools to develop more powerful insights to meet today’s unprecedented challenges. LexisNexis® Verdict & Settlement Analyzer provides analyses of similar case outcomes, including award and settlement trends. When combined with the analyses of cost trends for similar legal matters from Counsel Benchmarking, you can make advantageous, cost-effective decisions for your company—including whether to defend or settle.
If you decide to defend, you can make more informed decisions about the right firm and the right cost. If settlement is your
best option, you’ll know how long the matter should last, and what it might cost.
Turn insights into action
with more essential litigation tools from LexisNexis. Explore our complete portfolio.
lexisnexis.com/litigation-research
See for yourself!
Go to www.lexisnexis.com/counselbenchmarking
Or contact us today at 1.888.253.3901.
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