In The News
February 15, 2021 – ILTA NEWS
A New Survey of Legal Pricing & Project Management
This engaging segment of ILTA News discusses, in-depth, the inaugural Survey of Legal Pricing and Project Management, produced by the Legal Value Network and the Blickstein Group, created in collaboration with Intapp. The ILTA-led discussion covers a gamut of topics and key-data points.
February 11, 2021 – Bloomberg Law
Big Law Partners May Be Warming to Pricing Ideas They’ve Fought
Big Law firms are slow to change. But a survey released this week suggests Big Law partners are warming up to new ways of pricing their work. [Subscription may be required]
February 10, 2021 – Law360
Legal Ops, Firm Staff Clash On Legal Innovation, Survey Finds
The legal industry’s resistance to the utilization of technology appears to be a top challenge in further developing the pricing function, but pricing and in-house law department operations professionals disagree over the extent to which legal innovations are being leveraged, according to the results of a new survey. [Subscription may be required]
February 8, 2021 – Corporate Counsel
A Gap Persists Between Law Firm Pricing Staff and In-House Legal Ops Teams
But there are substantial opportunities to bridge the divide, say the authors of a new study. [Subscription may be required]
February 8, 2021 – Business Insider
Law firms and their clients aren’t seeing eye to eye on pricing and tech use, a new survey shows. Here’s how they can bridge the gap.
In an exclusive interview, Christopher Ende, co-founder of the Legal Value Network and Goulston & Storrs chief value officer, sees room for growth in the law firm-client relationship. [Subscription may be required]
January 29, 2021 – Law.com and Legaltech News
Don’t Blame Business Models: Firms’ Culture Likely Stalls Their Legal Tech Investments
Lawyers’ professional conduct rules and various corporate structuring options aren’t the main roadblocks dissuading law firms from investing in legal tech companies. Instead, it’s a perception that such investments don’t fit the mold. [Subscription may be required]
January 14, 2021 – Corporate Counsel
5 Challenges That Legal Departments Face While Promoting Diversity
While 2020 may have presented the United States with a major reckoning on diversity and inclusion, many legal departments will likely be continuing to reassess their own internal practices throughout the new year.[Subscription may be required]
January 6, 2021 – Corporate Counsel
Legal Departments Limited Budgets May Spur More In-house Staffing Services
Epiq announced last week that it was a launching a new supplemental staffing service geared toward corporate legal departments. Other legal vendors might be eager to follow in the e-discovery provider’s footsteps. [Subscription may be required]
January 4, 2021 – Law.com and Legaltech News
The E-Discovery Identity Crisis
The race to stay competitive in the e-discovery market is testing the boundaries of what it means to be a law firm—and how much disruption attorneys will tolerate. [Subscription may be required]
December 28, 2020 – Law.com and Legaltech News
Restrictions on Legal Services Loosened This Year. What Does That Mean for 2021?
After Arizona and Utah loosened restrictions on legal services, a few law firms and legal tech companies are considering modifying their business models. But beyond that, some question whether changes will have a broader impact. [Subscription may be required]
December 17, 2020 – Law360
Big 4, Alternative Providers Continue Their March On BigLaw
Throughout 2020, the Big Four accounting firms and alternative legal service providers continued to grow and solidify their place in the U.S. legal industry even amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read more at: https://www.law360.com/legalindustry/articles/1337999/big-4-alternative-providers-continue-their-march-on-biglaw?copied=1
December 17, 2020 – Law.com and Legaltech News
5 Things Legal Departments Want From Their ALSPs
Like many other corners of the business ecosystem, legal departments are grappling with how to improve efforts around diversity and inclusion, with the providers they rely upon being a key component. [Subscription may be required]
December 16, 2020 – Law360
Why Legal Ops Have Been Largely Unscathed By COVID-19
Most legal operations professionals who responded to a newly released survey said the coronavirus pandemic has had a minimal impact on their roles, although a vast majority also said they’re craving more innovation from the law firms they work with.
December 16, 2020 – Corporate Counsel
Legal Departments’ Concern: Law Firms Are Stingy When It Comes to Innovation
The 13th Annual Law Department Operations Survey released by the Blickstein Group found that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t hindered corporate law’s expectations or abilities. But legal departments still lack them when it comes to enforcing diversity goals. [Subscription may be required.]
December 8, 2020 – Law.com and Legaltech News
5 Ways Law Firm ALSP Growth May Accelerate Post-Pandemic
While the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t done businesses many favors, law firms’ tech subsidiaries may be in a position to not only weather the storm but come out in a stronger position on the other side. [Subscription may be required.]
December 1, 2020 – Law.com and Legaltech News
After Sliding at Pandemic’s Start, Law Firm Subsidiaries Are Soaring
Captives focused on e-discovery, alternative staffing and automated legal expertise all witnessed clients back off amid the widespread economic uncertainty of late March and April, but interest then rebounded [Subscription may be required.]
October 20, 2020 – Above the Law
Will Remote Work Change Law Departments’ Tech Priorities?
This year’s Legal Ops benchmarking survey could reveal some major shifts.
October 19, 2020 – Law.com and Legaltech News
Baker McKenzie’s New AI Project: Knowing What Clients Want, Before They Do
Baker McKenzie announced it’s collaborating with an AI technology developer to help it predict clients’ future needs. While the software may have less-than-perfect accuracy, lawyers still see a significant benefit. [Subscription may be required.]
September 16, 2020 – Law.com and Legaltech News
4 Reasons ALSPs Aren’t (Yet) Changing Law Firms
The perceived risk is that if they save a few dollars and something goes wildly wrong, it’s indefensible, and you’re going to look bad [and] you will have to defend yourself. [Subscription may be required.]
August 13, 2020 – Law.com and Legaltech News
COVID-19 Pushes More Legal Outsourcing, but Not All ALSPs Will Benefit
Budget realities and the move to remote work movement have accelerated the use of alternative legal service providers. But not all legal departments and law firms are comfortable leveraging these new companies. [Subscription may be required.]
August 5, 2020 – Law.com
What Is New Law? The Definition Can Be Broad, but It’s All About Value
While most agree that New Law provides a large umbrella, it’s also one with a purpose: augmenting and supporting the traditional path of law with increased value. [Subscription may be required.]
April 23, 2020 – Legal Marketing Association
Data from a Decade of the Annual Law Department Operations Survey: An Update for Today’s Troubling Times
Insight from Brad Blickstein into potential changes in expectations for law department operations professionals.
March 2, 2020 – AI in Practice – Pinhawk
Solving Problems with AI: Contract Management
Part 2 of Pinhawk’s AI in Legal Practice overview by Brad Blickstein covering pre-execution and post-execution contract management.
March 2, 2020 – Law.com and Legaltech News
2020, The Year Legal Operations Finally Flourish
Now, thanks to technological advancement and consistent incubation, we are hitting that critical mass where legal ops is recognized as an important part of the legal department across industries, company size and geography. [Including data and information from the 12th Annual Law Department Operations Survey. Subscription may be required.]
February 18, 2020 – Lawyers Weekly
Just 1 in 3 LDO Professionals Thinks Their Law Firms are Innovative
Despite all the recent emphasis on innovation from private practice firms, LDO professionals think their law firms are no more innovative than they were a year ago.
February 6, 2020 – Law.com and Legaltech News
Reality Check: It’s Not About Adopting AI, It’s About Solving Problems
A Legalweek panel highlighted how companies that expect to wipe out all inefficiencies or challenges with AI are sadly mistaken. [Including comments by Brad Blickstein – Subscription may be required.]
February 5, 2020 – Law.com and Legaltech News
The Biggest Hurdle for Legal Tech Innovation? Law Firms’ Business Structure
Legal tech companies may have a hard time breaking into the law firm market, but observers say the opportunities are too great to pass up. [Including comments by Brad Blickstein – Subscription may be required.]
January 29, 2020 – AI in Practice – PinHawk
Solving Problems with Legal AI: Insight and Predictive Tools
PinHawk launches its coverage of AI in Legal Practice with an overview by Brad Blickstein. In the first part of a two-part article, Blickstein outlines how both the business and practice of law will be impacted by the next generation of AI-assisted tools for data analytics and outcome prediction.
January 27, 2020 – Wolters Kluwer Blog
Brad Blickstein Reflects on Joining the College of Law Practice Management
We talked to Brad about his recent induction as a fellow in the College of Law Practice Management (COLPM).
January 23, 2020 – LawSites
Legal PR Firm Launches NewLaw Practice Led By Two Industry Veterans
Baretz+Brunelle’s NewLaw practice “is a soup-to-nuts advisory group that will help law firms at every step, from evaluating opportunities for improvement, to building and implementing new tools and processes, and then helping the firms take that message to the market.”
January 22, 2020 – Law.com and The American Lawyer
Baretz+Brunelle Hires Signal Industry’s ‘New Law’ Embrace
Consultant and “futurist” Brad Blickstein and law firm management and strategy veteran Beatrice Seravello will lead a new practice for the PR and advisory firm [Including comments by Brad Blickstein – Subscription may be required.]
January 22, 2020 – Legal IT Insider
Baretz+Brunelle creates “NewLaw practice” and hires Brad Blickstein & Beatrice Seravello as co-heads
Baretz+Brunelle announced today the creation of a “NewLaw practice” to be led by well-known industry executives Brad Blickstein and Beatrice Seravello, who have joined the firm as partners.This new practice group will advise law firms and others in the legal ecosystem on “ways to thrive in the modern marketplace.”
November 8, 2019 – Law.com and Legaltech News
5 Considerations to Make When Shopping for AI Legal Technology
Adopting artificial intelligence (AI)-powered software can be nerve-racking. The financial expenditure and time spent implementing the technology into a lawyer’s workflow can be fairly high. [Including comments by Brad Blickstein – Subscription may be required.]
October 28, 2019 – Mag and InHouse CommunityUS
Don’t believe what you read. AI is going to eliminate legal jobs – maybe yours.
We talk to Brad Blickstein about how artificial intelligence legal software will affect in-house departments, and the evolution of in-house work.
October 1, 2019 – Peer to Peer, ILTA’s Quarterly Magazine
The AI Hype Cycle in Full Swing
The AI story may be hype-ridden right now, but as the technology gains wider adoption it will change the way legal services are delivered and inevitably take jobs from lawyers.
October 1, 2019 – Legal IT Today
Are AI projects limited to big law fimrs with big workforces, big budgets and big data?
It may be smaller firms with more flexible staffing and billing models that benefit the most from AI.
September 30, 2019 – Above the Law
The Legal AI Efficacy Interview Series: Jim Michalowicz of TE Connectivity
Which AI tools work well and what is each tool designed to do?
July 1, 2019 – Peer to Peer, ILTA’s Quarterly Magazine
We Expect More…
AI Promise Meets Reality
June 28, 2019 – Above the Law
Livin’ In The Future
What can legal ops learn from the Inaugural IP Operations Survey?
May 30, 2019 – Three Geeks and the Law Podcast
Brad Blickstein on Legal Operations and #CLOCAfterDark
April 30, 2019 – Above the Law
I’m Going Down To Lucky Town
A wishlist for this year’s CLOC Institute.
February 28, 2019 – Legaltech News
How Effective Are Legal AI Solutions at Actually Solving Problems? This Report Wants to Find Out
The Blickstein Group Legal AI Efficacy Report, aimed at being released before ILTACON 2019, will take the approach of a skeptic to find how well legal-oriented artificial intelligence solutions are solving buyers’ problems.
April 30, 2019 – Above the Law
I’m Going Down To Lucky Town
A wishlist for this year’s CLOC Institute.
January 29, 2019 – Above the Law
The Price You Pay — And How You Pay It
The 11th Blickstein Group Annual Law Department Operations survey shows alternative fee arrangements still on the rise.
January 18, 2019 – Legaltech News
Integrating New Tech Without Old Headaches Is Easier Said Than Done
The “Technology Adoption Done Right” panel at Legalweek 2019 will explore how firms can better implement emerging technologies throughout their practice from the conceptual stage through engaging employees in a new workflow. With comments by Brad Blickstein.
December 20, 2018 – Above the Law
There’s A New World Coming
Today’s release of the 2018 Blickstein Group Law Department Operations Survey Report reveals law departments are taking advantage of #newlaw options.
December 5, 2018 – Legaltech News
Ten Years of Technology in Legal Operations: What’s Changed?
In its earlier days, legal operations and law department technology were very much intertwined. But now, there is a widening gap between technology and technology effectiveness.
December 4, 2018 – Legaltech News
Enough Hype Already: Inside Legal’s (Over?) Excitement with AI
While many in the legal industry still over hype AI technology, some are beginning to separate fact from fiction. But the hype hasn’t been all bad—or good—for the legal market. [with comments by Brad Blickstein]
November 12, 2018 – Above the Law
Become The Hand That Turns The Key
7 tips to help legal department operations professionals stay front and center.
November 1, 2018 – Legaltech News
2018’s Hot Tech Trend? User Adoption
Want to get good at change management? Brad Blickstein asked Lucy Bassli, who says that starting with the RFP process is ‘about seven steps too late.’
October 12, 2018 – Above the Law
Growin’ Up: The Legal Ops Function Matures
LDO’s top challenges are now like other business functions.
September 27, 2018 – Legaltech News
Legal Ops Increasingly Relied Upon for ‘Business Discipline’ Over Past 10 Years
The 10th anniversary Law Department Operations (LDO) Survey from the Blickstein Group Inc. shows how operations professionals’ challenges, involvement, and even salaries have shifted over the past decade.
September 27, 2018 – Legaltech News
Legal Ops Increasingly Relied Upon for ‘Business Discipline’ Over Past 10 Years
The 10th anniversary Law Department Operations (LDO) Survey from the Blickstein Group Inc. shows how operations professionals’ challenges, involvement, and even salaries have shifted over the past decade.
September 21, 2018 – Above the Law
Put Your Foot To The Floor And Don’t Look Back
Ten years of data shows enormous change in legal ops’ relationship with outside counsel
September 20, 2018 – Law360
Having Proved Their Worth, Legal Ops Pros Face New Hurdles
With comments by Brad Blickstein [subscription may be required]
August 29, 2018 – Above the Law
Law Schools Are Finally Starting to Do Their Part
Now it’s your turn, Corporate America
August 1, 2018 – Texas Lawyer
Cautious Optimism Over the Increasingly Prevalent Alternative Fee Arrangements
While we celebrate the innovation and look forward to working under alternative fee arrangements more often, the death knell for billable hours hasn’t sounded yet, with data from the Blickstein Group Law Department Operations Survey
July 24, 2018 – Above the Law
Just Another Roll of the Dice
David Cambria Gambles Big at Baker McKenzie
June 27, 2018 – Legaltech News
Law Department Operations Professionals Are Flexing Their Purchasing Power
June 26, 2018 – Above the Law
Ten Years Burning Down The Road
May 3, 2018 – Complex Discovery
Study from Blickstein Group and Exterro Shows That In-House Legal Spend Is On the Rise, While Outside Legal Spend Is Decreasing
May 2, 2018 – Corporate Counsel
Legal Departments See Cost-Controlling Value in Technology
May 2, 2018 – Above The Law
How Are In-House Counsel Spending Their Money?
May 1, 2018 – Law360
In-House Legal Budgets To Expand As Outside Spending Falls
January 2, 2018 – Law360
4 Reasons To Hire Out Your Legal Ops
December 13, 2017 – Legaltech News
There’s No Shortcut to Legal Operations Maturity
October 19, 2017 – Legaltech News
The AI Marketplace: Escape the Backward Approach to Artificial Intelligence
August 4, 2017 – JD Supra
The Death of the Billable Hour: Is Microsoft Ushering in a New Era for Law Firms?
June 1, 2017 – Corporate Counsel
Inside Liberty Mutual’s Legal Tech Transformation
May 30, 2017 – Legaltech News
Don’t Forget Small Data: Inside GE Select Connect
May 9, 2017 – Corporate Counsel
Late Bloomers? Corporate Legal Lags in Tech-Related Savings, Study Finds
May 9, 2017 – Above The Law
Legal Operations Takeover? Live Conversation From The 2017 CLOC Institute
February 13, 2017 – Legaltech News
4 Key Legal Operations Lessons from This Year’s LDO Survey
December 21, 2016 – The Times of London
Survey: hourly billing not dead yet
December 20, 2016 – Inside Counsel
The Billable Hour Just Won’t Die, Report Finds
December 16, 2016 – Law 360
BigLaw Fails To Bend To GC Billing Needs, Survey Says
December 15, 2016 – Corporate Counsel
The Billable Hour Just Won’t Die, Report Finds
December 9, 2016 – Reinventing Professionals
Survey Reveals Key Developments in Law Department Operations
December 7, 2016 – Legaltech News
Anything is Game: 3 Key Cybersecurity Concerns for Department Operations Staff
November 28, 2016 – Corporate Counsel
Findings from the Ninth Annual Law Department Operations Survey
October 14, 2016 – Legaltech News
The New Law Firm Investment Opportunities
September 6, 2016 – Legaltech News
Where Is All the Data? Only the Shadow (IT) Knows
August 12, 2016 – Legaltech News
Gaining the Power of Metrics Means Looking At More than Just Legal Spend
June 23, 2016 – Legaltech News
Next Generation ELM Must Be About Process, Collaboration, Automation
Brad Blickstein provides insights from last month’s Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) on the future of enterprise legal management. [subscription may be required].
May 5, 2016 – Legaltech News
Law Firm Confidential: Getting a Grip on Your Breach Response
Law firm breaches are a wake-up call for department operations professionals. [subscription may be required].
April 7, 2016 – Legaltech News
In-House Counsel Have Long List of Info Gov Initiatives: Study
March 24, 2016 – Legaltech News
Making the Most of Your Legal Department Operations
Creating competitive advantage involves balancing tools, process and culture, including comments by Brad Blickstein [subscription may be required].
March 4, 2016 – Seyfarth Lean Consulting Blog
In-House Counsel Survey Roundup
The Blickstein Group Law Department Operations Survey was listed as one of Seyfarth Lean Consulting’s Five Favorite In-House Counsel Surveys
December 1, 2015 – Bloomberg BNA Big Law Business
Corporate Law Departments Keep Hands Off eDiscovery
Law departments are not bringing predictive coding in-house or hosting data on internal servers per the Eighth Annual Law Department Operations Survey, including comments by Brad Blickstein.
November 24, 2015 – Legaltech News
More In-House Law Departments Have Formal Metrics: LDO Survey
Legal departments are running more like a business, and the latest figures prove it, including comments by Brad Blickstein [subscription may be required]
November 23, 2015 – Blickstein Group Press Release
Law Departments Starting to Embrace Metrics and Reporting, Says Eighth Annual Law Department Operations Survey
Blickstein Group today made available the results of its Eighth Annual Law Department Operations Survey.
November 3, 2015 – Legaltech News
Quality Control: Fostering Higher Quality Data For Better E-Discovery
Read about the insourcing of enterprise e-discovery software, including comments by Brad Blickstein [subscription may be required]
September 21, 2015 – Legaltech News
Law Department Operations: What Comes Next in the Evolution of ‘For Services Rendered’?
Read about shifts in how law firms offer and deliver services, including comments by Brad Blickstein [subscription may be required]
April 28, 2015 – Corporate Counsel
Measuring Legal Department Success: 3 Key Metrics
Read about Key Performance Indicators, including comments from Brad Blickstein [subscription may be required]
October 1, 2014 – InsideCounsel
Self-service legal: Give the people what they want: Part 2
By Brad Blickstein
The business people in your company have a disdain for the expense and inefficiency of calling the law department for every little thing and so should you.
August 22, 2014 – InsideCounsel
Self-service legal: Give the people what they want: Part 1
By Brad Blickstein
Why not give the people what they want? By leveraging today’s technology, some companies allow businesspeople to write their own contracts and other documents with no intervention from the law department. The trend is called “self-service legal.”
July 24, 2014 – InsideCounsel
Calculating ROI to drive change
By Brad Blickstein
Consider a compliance system that identifies potential Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations. Its value may be hard to quantify without a statistician and a lot of assumptions, but it is substantial and should be considered in some fashion.
June 27, 2014 – InsideCounsel
Need benchmarking? Take the 2014 LDO survey
By Brad Blickstein
Now in its seventh year, it is the only survey dedicated to benchmarking the operations of legal departments in areas including staffing, technology, e-discovery, cost management, metrics/reporting, and relationships with outside counsel.
May 22, 2014 – InsideCounsel
Predictive coding: It’s not just for discovery anymore
By Brad Blickstein
Predictive coding can be extremely useful and powerful in a discovery context by dramatically reducing the size of review sets. But the tools can be used in many other ways, and law departments would be wise to start considering them.
April 23, 2014 – InsideCounsel
Ten years down the road
By Brad Blickstein
On QuisLex’s 10th anniversary, Ram and I sat down to discuss how the legal industry has changed, specifically how technology has been spurred by and resulted from those changes.
February 24, 2014 – InsideCounsel
Future horizons: The outlook of technology in law
By Brad Blickstein
The International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) recently published Legal Technology Future Horizons Transformational Forces, its leadership study on the future of technology in law.
January 27, 2014 – InsideCounsel
End of a trend and the shifting of LDO functions
By Brad Blickstein
In the years since 2008, the operations function has gained respect and many general counsel expect their “LDO” (an abbreviation that did not exist when we started) to deliver process, efficiency and cost savings to the law department.
December 13, 2013 – InsideCounsel
Bottom line remains top of mind
Five years after the beginning of the financial crisis, the bottom line remains top of mind for legal department operations managers and their teams, including comments from Brad Blickstein.
November 22, 2013 – InsideCounsel
What managers and GCs should know about technology in the law department
Though the survey targeted numerous practice areas, some of the most important findings revolves around the assessment and implementation of technology, including comments from Brad Blickstein.
November 22, 2013 – InsideCounsel
Why collaborating on technology is important for in-house counsel
By Brad Blickstein
Perhaps the biggest benefit of communication technology—from the printing press to the Internet—is the democratization of information.
March 26, 2013 – InsideCounsel
Strategies for leaner legal departments: Part 2
How to cut external costs and get the most from your service providers, including comments by Brad Blickstein.
February 26, 2013 – InsideCounsel
Strategies for leaner legal departments: Part 1
How your department can maximize internal efficiency and resourcefulness, including comments by Brad Blickstein.
February 23, 2013 – Crain’s Chicago Business
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act isn’t new – but beefed-up enforcement is
FCPA, which stands for the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, has been one fine acronym for law and consulting firms benefiting from stepped-up enforcement of the law, including comments by Brad Blickstein.
June 2011 ILTA’s Peer to Peer
New Competition for Your Clients’ Work
By Brad Blickstein and Michael Bell
Read Brad Blickstein’s Peer-to-Peer article on the growing role of legal process outsourcers.
January 26, 2011 – E-Discovery Zone
Special Report Audiocast
Hear Brad Blickstein on the archived E-Discovery Zone Special Report Audiocast on E-Discovery Marketing.
February 1, 2011 – InsideCounsel
10 Tips To Strengthen Relationships with Outside Counsel
Read “10 Tips to Strengthen Relationships with Outside Counsel” including comments from Brad Blickstein.