Thompson Hine Issues Third Innovation Report, “Minding the Gaps”

79% Percent of In-House Counsel Say Law Firms Do Not Have Innovative Mindsets

Thompson Hine LLP announced today that it has released a report detailing the results of its third innovation survey, “Minding the Gaps.” According to senior in-house counsel and legal operations professionals surveyed, a wide gap remains between what clients want from law firms and the value they receive from innovation.

• 96% of respondents wish their law firms would use innovation to save them money, yet only 12% say their primary outside law firms have done so.
• The largest gap is in new technologies to improve processes or drive efficiency, which 72% of respondents want but only 15% say law firms deliver.

The need to manage within budgets and the desire to increase efficiency are consistent themes across all three of Thompson Hine’s innovation reports.

As in the first and second iterations, the latest survey found that innovation by corporate legal departments continues to outpace that of law firms. Respondents report that their legal departments use innovative technology overall more than their law firms do and that each of the innovative technologies highlighted in the survey is more commonly used in their legal departments than by their law firms.

• 80% of in-house lawyers report using legal spend analysis, yet they perceive that only 29% of law firms do.
• While 72% of legal departments use project management processes, only 31% of law firms do.

“We planted a stake in 2013 when we commenced our long-running initiative to innovate our service delivery,” said Thompson Hine Managing Partner Deborah Read, “and since then, we have continued to add to our tools and programs designed to improve the efficiency, predictability, and transparency of our services. Reliable, data-driven budgets are essential to 21st-century client service. Data drives Thompson Hine’s sustained focus on innovation. Our goal in conducting these surveys is to gather information and monitor trends to ensure our ongoing investments in innovation are relevant to our clients’ needs. Surveys like this one and regular discussions with clients, other in-house counsel, and industry professionals provide invaluable guidance as we plan our continuing initiatives in innovation.”

Read continued, “Now more than ever, it is critical that we continue to deliver high-quality services with predictable costs. Our proprietary software tools allow us to budget engagements, monitor actual spend compared to budgeted spend, and create graphic reports for clients demonstrating this performance. Long before AI was in the headlines every day, we were leveraging its power, using highly targeted data mining to improve client service by providing accurate forecasts and enhancing cost predictability. Our goal is always to deliver more certainty, efficiency, and value to our clients.”

To optimize its investments in innovation, Thompson Hine commissioned three serial studies of in-house counsel to ascertain their perceptions and needs. The most recent survey collected responses from over 100 senior in-house counsel and business executives nationwide, representing a diverse mix of industries, sizes, and locations. For the current survey, the firm expanded its targeted respondents to include more corporate legal operations professionals who, in addition to making their own legal departments more efficient, are increasingly involved in measuring the value delivered by outside counsel. The first survey report, “Closing the Innovation Gap,” was published in 2017, and the second, “The Innovation Gap Persists,” was published in 2020.

The firm also garnered recent acclaim for SmartSTHaff, its proprietary staffing application, which took home the top honor in the category “Tech-Enabled Hybrid Work Environment” during the recent ALM Legalweek Leaders in Tech Law Awards, which recognize innovation in the legal technology sector and firms and lawyers working on precedent-setting projects and initiatives in the United States. The app also was named one of the top two innovations in the “People and Skills Management” category in the 2022 Financial Times Innovative Lawyers North America awards, which celebrate the best innovations by law firms and in-house legal teams in the North American region.

About Thompson Hine LLP. Thompson Hine LLP, a full-service business law firm with approximately 400 lawyers in 8 offices, was ranked number 1 in the category “Most innovative North American law firms: New working models” by the Financial Times and was 1 of 7 firms shortlisted for The American Lawyer’s inaugural Legal Services Innovation Award. The firm has been recognized by the National Law Journal as a Legal Technology Trailblazer and featured by Bloomberg for its innovative service delivery models, which drive accuracy and predictability. The firm’s commitment to innovation is embodied in Thompson Hine SmartPaTH^™ – a smarter way to work – predictable, efficient and aligned with client goals. For more information, please visit ThompsonHine.com and ThompsonHine.com/Innovation/SmartPaTH.

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