Legal benchmarking

Our benchmarking service aims to optimise your financial performance, including income, profitability and cash flow. We can analyse your firm, identify its strengths and weaknesses and show where performance can be improved.

We have compiled and written the Law Society’s Leadership and Management Section Financial Benchmarking Survey since 2009. The survey is widely regarded as one of the leading annual health check reports for mid-sized practices. It provides financial comparisons, against which firms may measure their own performance - an invaluable way for them to identify where they might improve and ultimately generate more profit.

View the full 2024 survey

Alongside this, we collate financial information for the 200 or so firms that we work with, allowing us to compare firms on a true like for like basis.

Profitability advice

A primary objective of every firm is to improve their profitability.

Our knowledge and experience of the legal sector means we can help you set realistic targets and introduce robust internal controls, by analysing key metrics such as:

Fees per fee earner
Productivity and recovery rates per fee earner/team
Profit per partner
Cost of employing a fee earner
Fee earner gearing
Return on capital employed
Fee earner breakeven point
Lock up

Managing working capital

Strong cashflow is vital to support the growth and profitability of any business. Law firms in particular have large expenditure on people, resources and insurances, and often lengthy timescales for new matters to turn into fees and eventually money in the bank.

Anticipating the pinch points in cash flow and keeping lock up to a minimum is essential. The cost of funding capital will have a significant impact on the overall profitability of the practice. We will work with you to ensure that funding is obtained in the most economical way and strategies are put in place to keep borrowing as low as possible without restricting your business development.