Citi Private Bank Law Firm Group and Hildebrandt Consulting Issue 2020 Citi Hildebrandt Client Advisory
December 11 2019 - 6:35AM
Business Wire
U.S. Law Firm Industry expected to see revenue
growth of five to six percent in 2020
Citi Private Bank Law Firm Group and Hildebrandt Consulting
today released their 2020 Citi Hildebrandt Client Advisory, which
establishes the broad landscape for the law firm industry, how
firms are responding to industry challenges and their best
opportunities for growth in the year ahead.
The Client Advisory finds that 2019 was a good year for the law
firm industry, with an expected revenue growth of 5.5 to 6.5
percent by year-end, and projects that the industry will grow in
the range of five to six percent in 2020.
In the first nine months of 2019, billing rates had the highest
growth rate since before the recession and were the primary driver
of revenue growth for firms, growing by an average of 4.7 percent.
By contrast, demand grew far less than in 2018 at a rate of 0.9
percent. The most significant impact on revenue growth was the
continued trend of a lengthening of the collection cycle, which was
largely driven by clients delaying payment of their bills.
An additional key finding from this year’s Client Advisory is
the increasing anticipation of a recession among law firm leaders.
Although Citi Private Bank does not anticipate a recession in 2020,
a small majority of the industry’s leaders predict a recession will
occur by 2020 and a larger majority predict a recession by
2021.
“Although 2020 is expected to be a positive year for the law
firm industry, it is an opportunity for firms to ensure they are
well-positioned should there be a downturn in the market,” said
Gretta Rusanow, Head of Advisory Services for the Law Firm Group at
Citi Private Bank. “Despite the ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty
and volatility, and a challenging talent market, we expect the most
successful firms will continue to expand and innovate in 2020. For
those firms, expansion will be closely aligned to the firm’s
business strategy – more so than pursuing opportunistic
growth.”
Another defining trend in 2019 was an active lateral recruitment
market. This trend remains the primary driver of consolidation in
the U.S. legal industry and is expected to continue in 2020, in
addition to dispersion across and within market segments and market
volatility. Additionally, the average industry profit per equity
partner growth is expected to be in the mid-single digit range.
“As we expect to see further consolidation of the law firm
industry in 2020, we are advising firms to look for growth
opportunities,“ explained Brad Hildebrandt, Chairman of Hildebrandt
Consulting. “For many firms, this means taking steps to do more
with existing clients; broaden their client base; focus on growth
practices, industries and regions; and introduce further
efficiencies in the way they deliver legal services.”
The 2019 Citi Hildebrandt Client Advisory draws on data
collected from a sampling of primarily US-headquartered law firms
by Citi Private Bank, as well as conversations with law firm
leaders. For firms headquartered outside the US and third-party
providers of legal services, our information is mostly anecdotal.
Sources include the “Citi Annual Survey Database” of 228 US and
UK-headquartered firms, including 43 Am Law 1-50 firms, 40 Am Law
51-100 firms, 57 Am Law Second Hundred firms, and 88 additional
firms; 166 firms from the “Citi Flash Survey”, including 37 Am Law
1-50 firms, 30 Am Law 51-100 firms, 49 Am Law Second Hundred firms
and 50 additional firms; the “Citi Law Firm Leaders Survey” of 53
large firms headquartered in the US, UK, Australia, China and
India; and the “Law Firm Leaders Confidence Index” which reports
the forward-looking opinions of law firm leaders from 157
firms.
The full report can be accessed via the Citi Private Bank
website here.
About Citi Private Bank:
Citi Private Bank is one of the world’s fastest growing private
banks; dedicated to serving worldly and wealthy individuals and
families, providing customized private banking across borders. With
approximately $460 billion in global assets under management, the
franchise includes 48 offices, serving clients across 116
countries. Citi Private Bank helps clients grow and preserve
wealth, finance assets, make cash work harder, preserve legacies,
and serve family and family business needs through objective advice
and a truly open architecture investment platform. The firm offers
clients products and services covering capital markets, managed
investments, portfolio management, trust and estate planning,
investment finance, banking and aircraft finance, as well as art
and sports advisory and finance.
About Citi:
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million
customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and
jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments
and institutions with a broad range of financial products and
services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and
investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and
wealth management.
Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com |
Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog:
http://blog.citigroup.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi |
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi
About Hildebrandt Consulting:
Hildebrandt Consulting is continuing its long and distinguished
history as the preeminent global consulting firm in the legal
profession. With clients in over 15 countries, Hildebrandt has
built up unmatched expertise in every aspect of professional firm
management. Our reputation for helping firms arrive at strategic
solutions comes from our knowledge of the interdependent elements
that contribute to overall business performance.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191211005422/en/
Media: Patricia Tuma +1
212.793.7682 patricia.tuma@citi.com
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