Fighting back inflation: Legal Spend Management tools to navigate an uncertain economy

Last year saw aggressive law firm rate hikes, averaging at 3.9%, according to Law.com. With prominent firms increasing the associate salary scale against a backdrop of record inflation, the trend is on track to continue for the coming year.

Against the economic backdrop of a looming recession, corporate legal departments recognize this pressure alongside a continued drive to control costs and protect the bottom line.

Join us for this session when we’ll discuss the trends to be prepared for, the data you need to make informed decisions, and the tools to be armed with to combat rising law firm rates and inflationary impacts.  

Takeaways include:

• How implementing advanced technology, including AI-powered legal bill review, can drive increased compliance and cost savings
• Data-driven benchmarking and law firm panel management strategies designed to surface the right firm at the right price
• Budget management strategies that improve planning, spend management, and predictability during a time of unprecedented disruption

Expert Speakers: 

Nathan Cemenska, Director of Legal Operations and Industry Insights

Nathan Cemenska, JD/MBA, is the Director of Legal Operations and Industry Insights at Wolters Kluwer's ELM Solutions. He previously worked in management consultancy helping GCs improve law department performance and has prior experience as a legal operations business analyst.  In past lives, Nathan owned and operated a small law firm and wrote two books about election law. He holds degrees from Northwestern University, Ohio State University, and Cleveland State University.

Bruce MacEwen, President, Adam Smith, Esq.

Bruce founded and is President of Adam Smith, Esq., LLC a boutique management consultancy serving law firms and only law firms. We focus on strategic and economic issues.

We are known for our focus on data, for our starting every engagement as resolute agnostics, for deep industry knowledge, and for creative and nuanced analysis.

Bruce has written for or been quoted in: Fortune; The Wall Street Journal; The New York Times; The Washington Post: Bloomberg News/Radio/TV; The International New York Times; The American Lawyer; The National Law Journal; The ABA Journal; The Lawyer, LegalBusiness, and in numerous other media. Bruce is also the author of Growth Is Dead: Now What? (2013), A New Taxonomy: The seven law firm business models (2014), and Tomorrowland: Scenarios for law firms beyond the horizon (2017).

Ken Callander, Managing Principal, Value Strategies LLC

With over 30 years of legal and professional services operations, pricing, marketing, and BD, Ken works primarily with corporate legal departments helping them get more value and predictability from their outside counsel relationships. This includes advising not only on legal operations and process efficiency, but also in transitioning from the hourly fee pricing model to value-based fee arrangements. Clients include companies focused in technology, health care, construction and the sharing economy, along with private equity firms and large conglomerates.

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