The survey questioned managing partners from 68 firms, with 29 being among the 100 largest firms in the US. It asked them to grade their confidence on a scale of 0-200 on a variety of topics, such as legal demand and lawyer hiring. The survey found that the leaders’ confidence in the wider economy dropped an overall of eight points compared to the previous quarter, to 103. They also expressed scepticism about the state of their own businesses, with managing partner confidence having a score of 104 overall, a six point decline from the last quarter.

Education necessary

William Henderson, a law professor at Indiana University of Mauer School of Law, said that even if law firms invest in new business models, technologies and alternative fee structures, they run risk of not being noticed by the client. ‘The client has to be educated to take advantage of that … and a lot of clients don’t want to ascend that learning curve,’ he added. Bloomberg BNA