Law firm surveys

• The Law firm statistical survey (LFSS): The LFSS is produced annually and provides benchmarks on important operational issues such as administrative staffing and costs, office management and also to identify overall trends on the profitability of the firm.
• The Billing rate and associate salary survey ^plus (BRASS ^plus): Produced on a bi-annual basis, the BRASS ^plus provides participants with hard-to-find benchmarking data on timekeeper billing rates by office and by practice group.

For over 50 years, the PwC law firm survey group has provided premier law firms with the most comprehensive information on the broad range of management issues that confront executives.

On August 18, 2008, the PwC law firm survey group released the materials for participation in the 2008 BRASS ^plus mid-year "Lite" release.

This new mid-year "Lite" release will only contain metrics relating to timekeeper billing rates, and the realization thereof.

Don't miss out on the opportunity to participate in the 2008 surveys!

What makes the PricewaterhouseCoopers law firm surveys unique?

• Our surveys provide automated and streamlined data collection tools that make it easy to participate.
• The data submitted undergoes a thorough review and validation process that ensures the comparability, accuracy, and integrity of the published results of the survey.
• We have a dedicated survey team with over 50 years combined experience in the survey process.
• Our survey reporting is compliant with all current antitrust laws.
• Our security measures maintain participant anonymity and data security, which remain our top priority.

Billing rate & associate salary survey ^plus (BRASS ^plus):

• Introduction of the Mid-Year "Lite" Release: We reduced the amount of information collected during this mid-year release. We continue to collect metrics on all three distinct billing rates, and the corresponding realizations.
• Seven new practice groups: Participants can now obtain benchmarking data for 26 distinct practice groups. A description of the type of law for each practice group collected can be found in the Instructions document.
• Two additional columns of data input: The 'average standard rate' for a 12-month period will be used in calculating our billing rate realization metrics. The 'promoted / terminated' column will streamline the process for the review and validation of data submitted to PwC.
• A new participation fee schedule: The new pricing is designed to provide discounts to law firm participants that purchase volumes of comparison groups.
• Survey report review webcasts: These new webcasts will be scheduled in July and October 2008 and are designed to walk-through our standard Survey reports to showcase the multitude of statistics provided to our participants.

Law firm statistical survey (LFSS):

• Significantly reduced participation fees: All firms, regardless of size, will receive a base participation fee of $1,500 for one comparison group.
• Earlier distribution of Survey results: Results from the 2007 LFSS will now be distributed electronically on or before May 30, 2008.
• Two new 'Hot Topic' areas: The following two new pages of data input have been added - 1) Cost Recovery Information; 2) Technology Spending Policies and Outsourcing.
• Survey report review webcast: This new webcast will be scheduled in June 2008 and is designed to walk-through our four standard Survey reports to outline the array of statistics provided to our participants.

2008 BRASS ^plus Participation benefits:

• Access to billing rate data collected from the nation's largest, most profitable law firms. Last year over 80% of the AmLaw 200 participated in this survey.
• More robust reporting: The 2008 final report will contain several additional pages of statistics derived from the existing data input.
• Three distinct billing rate benchmarks: Participants will receive benchmark data for three distinct billing rates: Standard rate at a point in time, average worked rate and average effective rate for a twelve-month period of time.
• Ability to 'customize' comparison groups to fit your firm's needs: Many participants create custom comparison groups from a list of their peers or competitors to fit their individual firm needs.
• A win-win time investment to cost proposition: Our data extraction application further reduces the time investment to participate. Law firms who participated in the 2008 BRASS ^plus initial release are eligible for significantly reduced fees for their 2008 mid-year participation.

2007 LFSS Participation benefits:

• A comprehensive view of the operational metrics used by law firms: Profitability, cost management, staffing ratios, productivity, cash management, leverage, and capitalization.
• Reduced base participation fees and earlier distribution of Survey results.
• Our data extraction software streamlines the time required for data preparation, and incorporates the detailed expense worksheets to allow for additional expense benchmarking.
• Ability to obtain office and practice group benchmarks that provide a valuable measure in managing the changing face of your business.
• Four audience-specific reports that include two boardroom style reports with high-level reporting trends and two more detailed reports intended for the CFO/Controller. Sample pages from the specific reports are included on this website.
• Ability to 'customize' comparison groups to fit your firm's needs: Many participants choose to create custom comparison groups from a list of their peers or competitors to fit their individual firm needs.