MHA Legal Sector Survey Results – Fees and Profitability

In May 2020 and December 2020, the MHA Professional Practices team ran two separate surveys looking at the impact of COVID-19 on the legal sector and how it has influenced future plans.

We have analysed and compared the results of the two surveys and developed four easy-to-read infographics which go into detail about the key statistics and what it means for the sector.

The results report on the following areas:

• Fees and Profitability including the impact on fee income, best and worst billing service lines and the change in profit levels.

• Staffing including recruitment, redundancies, and office vs remote working.

• Cash flow including lock up, work in progress (WIP) and debtors. (to be released)

• Business strategy including key changes and what firms are prioritising in 2021. (to be released)

We will release these individually over the next four weeks.

You can use this information to benchmark your practice against others nationally, as well as looking at the next steps you should be taking.

Fees and Profitability:

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on fee income?

Our last survey asked Firms to estimate what impact Covid-19 was having on fees billed. Now that we are 9 months post original lockdown, Firms have reversed a “major” impact expectation to an actual “minor” impact on fee income.

View the infographic here.

Staffing:

73% of survey respondents have recruited staff since March 2020. The more flexible working practices developed during the March 2020 lockdown have opened the staff market place, and geographical boundaries and long commute times have reduced in importance.

View the infographic here.

The report from the May 2020 survey can be found here.

Contact us

If you have any questions or would like to discuss the information in more detail, please contact your usual Monahans representative or call your local office.