Research Report Evaluates 17 Legal Technology Solution Providers and Makes Recommendations for In-House Legal Departments to Understand the Dynamics of the Market and Inform their Technology Choices
Apperio, a provider of legal spend analytics and matter tracking, announced it has been named as a Representative Vendor in a new report titled, “Market Guide for Corporate Legal Spend Management and E-Billing*,” which was published on October 4, 2021, by Gartner, Inc. which delivers actionable, objective insight to executives and their teams.
“The corporate legal spend management and e-billing market is an established one. However, shifting customer expectations, new flexible delivery models, functional consolidation and innovation opportunities for new entrants suggest it will remain diverse and fast-changing,” wrote Gartner analysts Chris Audet, Jim Murphy, Nikos Drakos, and Zack Hutto in the report. “Further, the clear value proposition makes it ideal as an initial foothold from which vendors can offer related legal technology products and services.”
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“The report highlights that legal spend technology should help build a collaborative relationship with outside counsel rather than adversarial one.”
The report makes several recommendations to corporate in-house legal teams including the following:
1) “Align investments with business goals by meeting with legal stakeholders to prioritize desired outcomes and end-user requirements.”
2) “Accompany spend management and e-billing initiatives with a change management program to ensure new capabilities for decision support and stakeholder collaboration are used effectively.”
3) “Foster collaborative rather than adversarial relationships with outside counsel by sharing objectives, identifying mutual benefits and sharing performance information.”
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“We are pleased to be recognized as a Representative Vendor and believe this report helps articulate the critical role legal technology has in bringing transparency and predictably to legal costs,” said Apperio Founder and CEO Nicholas d’Adhemar. “At the same time, we interpret that the report highlights that legal spend technology should help build a collaborative relationship with outside counsel rather than adversarial one.”
Having worked as a lawyer in both a law firm and as in-house counsel, Mr. d’Adhemar spotted a business opportunity several years ago when employed as an investment manager working for a private equity firm. The investment team was highly reliant on outside counsel to close deals but was frequently surprised by invoices that exceeded estimates.
He knew, based on his experience, that the law firms were not merely running up the bill, but rather both sides lost track of the work. The investment team was relying on invoices to manage legal spend, which means they were never aware the legal team was over budget until they received an invoice.
Apperio helps in-house teams see spend ahead of the invoice because it plugs directly into the practice management systems at law firms. This way the clients can see the status of WIP and accruals in real-time as it happens. Clients can see when a matter is headed over budget and proactively manage costs rather than reacting to a higher-than-expected invoice.
Law firms are also finding this level of ultra-transparency is proving to be a competitive advantage. It’s facilitating contemporaneous time-entry amongst their billing attorneys which improves data hygiene. In turn, those firms find they can produce more accurate invoices with less time and effort. As a result of transparency, a surprise invoice becomes a rare exception and, in turn, the law firm is paid faster and more likely to be paid in full.
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