Many of us spend our Sunday afternoons at this time of year marveling at the deft tactical maneuvers and well-timed evasions of our favorite receivers and running backs. Running head on into a fray of beefy opponents intent on squashing any efforts at forward progress, these players display agility and practiced skill. They leap over fallen teammates, duck beneath barreling chests and swerve around hulking obstacles.
“Leap. Duck. Swerve.” is BTI’s new mantra for the 2012 legal market.
BTI’s newest research with more than 240 of the world’s top-spending corporate clients unveils a veritable obstacle course of pitfalls and hurdles in the market ahead. BTI’s Premium Practices Forecast 2012 predicts tremendous variance in legal spending growth for 2012, with individual practices sinking by up to 13.2% while others comparatively soar at 4.2%.
Rarely does the legal market forecast ring with such discord. The net result of the divergence in practice-specific spending expectations moves BTI’s projection for the 2012 legal market into slight, though decidedly negative, territory at -0.3% the biggest downer coming from a slump in general litigation spending.
Law firm progress and growth in the coming year will be reserved for those firms who leap, duck and swerve. Swift action, bold moves and new directions will tackle corporate clients’ shifting needs – and establish the game plan for success. What maneuvers do you have in store for 2012? It’s your move.