Welcome to "The PERSUIT!"

Hi there,

In case you missed last week's edition, yes, today’s newsletter looks a bit different. 

Since it seems that AI has gone and (almost) killed the bill(able) hour 🤺 , we decided it was the perfect time to shift the focus of our weekly newsletter.

From now on, we'll be highlighting more of the valuable data 📊, expertise 🧠 , and peer benchmarking👂 that PERSUIT has amassed in our work with over 1,200 firms, 60+ of the world's largest corporate legal departments, and nearly $10 billion in proposals submitted on the PERSUIT platform since our start in 2016. 

And also, even founders like to take a vacation every once in a while, which is hard to do when you’re penning new insights each week (and just maybe my team said I had to let some others in on the gig here 🤷‍♂️). 

So enough about what “Jim thinks” (but don’t worry, you’ll still hear plenty from me here, just a bit less frequently) and more from the thought leaders, industry experts, and nowhere-else-to-be-found data that sets PERSUIT apart from the rest. 

Introducing “The PERSUIT.”

Today’s inaugural edition features:

• Fresh data on firm participation in competitive RFPs pulled from our latest data report
• Smashing insights from our deep bench of legal pricing experts on how to get more out of your firm panels 
• More about how PERSUIT is helping teams integrate AI into their legal ops with our Proposal Analyzer tool
• A chance for you to weigh in: Some are saying they’re ready to move beyond the AI “hype.” Are you? (Scroll down a bit to cast your vote 🗳)

Enjoy, and Cheers!

Jim

Jim Delkousis

Founder and CEO  

PERSUIT

DATA REPORT

5 Data Benchmarks to Use When Firms Ask: “How Can We Win More of Your Business?”

Imagine you're an in-house attorney or legal ops professional and you own several relationships with external law firms.

A partner at one of your firms has asked for a lunch meeting.

You know what he's going to ask, the same question you've been asked many times before:

"How can we deepen our relationship — and win more of your work?"

For many working in-house, the best answer they can give when asked this question is: "Keep doing good work!"

But what if you transform that conversation from subjective (and uncomfortable!) to objective — and actionable?

This week, our data team released a brand new report showing you exactly how to use data to have better conversations with your law firm partners.

In it, we've included exclusive benchmark data from the PERSUT platform showing the real numbers for:

1. How often top firms reply to requests for proposals.
2. How many firms are considered by clients when awarding work.

3. How price varies for big firms vs. smaller firms.
4. The average feedback scores given to firms after the submit a proposal.
5. The average win rates for firms when competing for work.

Examples of the benchmark stats you'll find in the report include:

1. In-house teams invite an average of between 3 and 4 firms when using an RFP process to select a law firm.

2. The higher the expected value of the work, the more likely top firms (Global 1-100) will submit a proposal when invited.

3. Firms ranked outside the top 100, by contrast, actually submit proposals less often for higher-value matters than they do when invited to matters valued below $250,000.

You can find these numbers and a lot more in the full report: 5 Data Benchmarks to Use When Firms Ask: “How Can We Win More of Your Business?"

Jordan Weinstein

VP of Data & Product

PERSUIT

FIRM PANEL SELECTION

Treating Outside Counsel Like Partners — Refreshing Your Organization's Philosophy and Approach to Panels

The number of Panel RFPs in PERSUIT has doubled year-over-year since 2020. 

Is this a trend reflected more widely in the industry? 

We're not yet sure. But we do know that as technology continues to build efficiencies and unlock automation in the delivery of legal services, the value of those services is starting to shift away from time and effort, to impact and outcomes.

The most strategic-thinking in-house teams are

thinking differently around how they use their panels — moving away from only using them to discount rates and converge panels — to driving more value from the process.  

Here are the seven things you should be thinking about to drive more impact and outcomes with your panel firms.

1. Are your law firm partners aligned with your company values and helping you execute your business strategy?
2. Are you using your firm partners to hedge against the risk of a shallow bench?
3. Are your relationships with your firms helping drive your ESG objectives?
4. Do your panels encourage your lawyers to become better stewards of outside counsel spend?
5. Do your panel firms have an outcome-driven approach to spend?
6. Are your law firms uniquely positioned to deliver better outcomes?
7. Are you successfully harnessing the "brain trust" of your panels' most senior partners?

Read Laura's full take on how to get the most from your panel relationships here.

Laura Spalding

Director of Legal Advisory

PERSUIT

SEEN AND HEARD

Jim's not the only crazy (🤷‍♂️) who thinks Gen AI will kill the billable hour...

“Clients have been clamoring for new pricing models for some time, and generative AI — which can produce answers in seconds instead of hours — could well be the inflection point...”

Canadian Lawyer Mag quoted David Cohen, Senior Director of Client Services Delivery at Canadian firm McCarthy Tetrault, in a recent article examining firm and in-house use of AI.

Doesn't seem unreasonable for clients to expect more when they're already leveraging the technology themselves to find new efficiencies.

General counsel at Telus reports using ChatGPT to create internal bulletins, distilling training sessions into "Cliff's note" versions for quick review, and retroactively analyzing suppliers' terms to identify contentious issues and scope out versions of limited liability provisions tailored to the suppliers' risk appetite.  

Then again...

As we recently heard from one of our clients:

“May I share that I am already fatigued by the AI topic? We are early in our maturity in so many areas and struggling to keep our focus on the areas where we can make immediate impact.” 

But let's hear it from you (and don’t worry, this isn’t a thinly-veiled sales pitch…no one will be reaching out to you if you click a button).

In-house teams, which category do you fall into?

1. "We're already on-board the AI train!" 🚂
2. "We're curious about AI and trying to figure out our next steps." 🤔
3. "Enough about AI already; we'll get there but there's enough to do here and in the areas where need to make immediate impact." 😖
4. "Wait, what? The robots are coming?" 😲

Tune in to next week's newsletter for an anonymized tally of the results!

PRODUCT UPDATES

And for those of you already on or ready to catch the "AI" train...

We'd be remiss to not share a preview of our ChatGPT-powered Proposer Analyzer, which became available to clients just last week.  

Instead of trying to compare pricing items and strategic responses firm-by-firm, in just a few minutes Proposal Analyzer provides you with a summary of each proposal— Expertise, Diversity, Strategy, and Price — and highlights key differences between each. All broken down by matter phase. 

Cinch your earbuds and turn up the volume for this preview of Proposal Analyzer in action. Or read more about it here. 

UPCOMING EVENTS

Where's PERSUIT? 

Here's where you can find us this month:

• PERSUIT Summer Picnic, Hyde Park, London, August 10 — Details here.
• Roundtable, Innovative Legal Leaders, Pittsburgh, August 16 — By invitation.
• WEBINAR: AI-Driven Legal Transformations; Navigating the Future of Corporate Counsel and Outside Counsel Relations, August 17 — Register here.
• Roundtable, Innovative Legal Leaders, Minneapolis, August 23 — By invitation.