Top 5 Trends in
Ebilling
Leah Beckham, CEO
Beth Thompson, Director - Business Development
There’s a new sheriff in town…
Post Recession
Pyramid
Business Model
Crushed
Trend #1
Client Demand for Value Post recession
Rise of
Alternative
Providers
Aggressive
Pricing
Pressure
ACC Value Challenge
The ACC Value Challenge focuses on
providing resources and training —
for law firms as well as law
departments — on these key value
levers:
• Aligning Relationships
• Value-based Fee Structures - i.e.
not based on the "billable hour"
• Staffing and Training Practices
• Budgeting
• Project Management
• Process Improvement
• Use of Technology
• Data Management
•
•
Knowledge Management
Change Management
Trend #2
Increased
Accountability of
CLOs
Growing Demand for
Ebilling
The Big Squeeze
Greater
Complexity of
Guidelines
Increased Time
Entry Scrutiny
Trend #3
Big Data
Increased Use of
Big Data
By Clients
& Law Firms
Where Does the
Data Come From?
Ebilling
How Did We Get Here?
LEDES: Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard
In 1995 Price
Waterhouse, LLP
convened a
consortium of
leading legal
industry time and
billing system and
case
management
system vendors
in order to define
a standard
electronic billing
format for use by
the legal industry
ABA UTMBS Codes
•
•
•
Task
Activity
Expense
The Uniform TaskBased Management
System (UTMBS)
enables lawyers to
budget and bill by
litigation task, aiding
client and counsel in
understanding,
managing and
conducting litigations.
LEDES & UTMBS
Foundation of Big Data
1995
Technology &
Content
Standard
Ebilling
Data
Collection
Organization &
Analysis
Business
Intelligence
Trend #4
Applied Business Intelligence
• Business
Intelligence
• Compare &
Select Business
Partners
• Control &
Predict Legal
Spend
• Design
Alternative Fee
Models
LegalVIEW®
Facts
>$44 Billion in legal spend
>398 M hours of legal
services
>105 M activities captured
>17,000 law firms and
vendors
>286,000 individual billers
and time keepers
Are you looking for ways to
immediately save on outside
counsel?
Download our complimentary
white paper,
"A Better Approach to
Managing Legal Rate Increases"
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Sky Analytics
Sky Analytics
Sky Analytics
Big Data Flow
Law
Firm
Big
Data
Law
Dept
Ebilling
Trend #5
Metrics
Transparency
(Internal/External)
LexisNexis®
MedMal Navigator℠
• Customer Testimonial
“Now attorneys can access medical research
materials in one place, even those materials
that are much harder-to-find. Attorneys can
also determine in 20 minutes versus 20 days
if a case is worth taking on.”
How Many Law Firms
Are Using Data?
• How many of you work in law firms that use an
outside source of big data?
• How many of you have developed internal Metrics
or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) mining data
within your law firm data?
• How many use it for Marketing?
ABA Journal
May 5, 2013
• ABA Article: “How lawyers are mining the
information mother lode for pricing, practice
tips and predictions”
ABA Journal, May 5, 2013
Metrics Every Law
Firm
Should Know
Timekeeper Analysis
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–
–
–
–
–
–
Cycle Time per Lawyer
Average Fees per Lawyer
Average Fees per Case
Average Fees per Client
Average Hours per Lawyer
Average Hours per Paralegal
Average Cuts per
Timekeeper
Client Portfolio
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Total Fees
Total Hours
Timekeeper Average Rate
Timekeeper Staffing Ratios
Blended Rate
Write-offs/Realization Rate
Resource Costs
•
•
•
•
•
•
Metrics Every Law
Firm
Should Know
# of Invoices Per Month
# Ebills & Dollars
# Email & Dollars
# Paper & Dollars
# of Bills Per Billing Staff
# of Client Cuts &
Dollars
• Time to Collect
• Dynamic Reporting
–
–
–
–
Client
Lawyer
Timekeeper
Ebilling Vendor
Now What?
Education
&
Training
Coupled with
Applications/Technologies
Time to Roll Out the Doughnuts
…or Pizza
Audience
Segments
• Executive
• Timekeeper
• Billing & Accounting
Process Makes Success Repeatable
Executive Level
Increased $ in Ebilling Channel
•50-60% of Revenue (US)
Data Collection
• Used to Determine Law Firm Future
Timekeeper Level
Guideline Compliance
•Quality Assurance & Data Input
Time Entry Test
•Does This Task Require Legal
Training?
Billing & Accounting
Level
Submit Ebills Quickly
• Time Limits & Cash Flow Impact
Consistency
• Develop Ebill Submission & Tracking
Protocols
•Who - When - How Much?
Law Firm
Vulnerability
Decades of
Immunity
• Law Firm Leadership
Denial
• Lack of Commitment to
Processes
• No Exposure to Basic
Business Concepts
• Immature Technology
• No Technology
Education
Is it time to update your technology?
Process Makes Success
Repeatable