2017 Report of the Economic Survey

AIPLA Report of the Economic Survey 2017

LIABILITY INSURANCE  The typical firm reported maximum total liability coverage in 2016 of $4,000,000 (median) – the same as reported for 2014.  The maximum total coverage per claim in 2016, 2014 and 2012 was $3,000,000 (median), higher than it was in 2010 ($2,750,000).  The median total deductible in 2016 was $25,000, unchanged from the figures reported for 2014 and 2012. The median per claim deductible in 2016 was also $25,000, also reflecting no change from previous surveys.  Liability insurance cost per attorney in 2016 was a median of $4,775 – higher than reported in 2014 and 2012 ($4,420 and $4,427, respectively).  The typical firm had a median of one liability claim for IP matters in the past five years, and .045 claims for IP matters per attorney in the past 5 years, and .071 claims for IP matters per IP attorney in the past five years. TRAINING & MARKETING  On average, firms spent 2.1% of gross revenue in 2016 on outside providers of attorney training and external training programs.  Similar to 2014, most often formal training was provided for practice skills (e.g., claim drafting, case law review, etc.), with 38.0% of firms saying they provided this type of training, followed by business development (27.8%).  Four in 10 responding firms reported that they have dedicated business development personnel on staff. All firms with 101 or more attorneys indicate having this type of personnel.  On average, the marketing budget as a percentage of gross revenue in 2016 was 3.8%. Most often, the budget was allocated to travel (27.5%), followed by event sponsorship (18.3%), and advertising (15.7%).  Most firms (84.6%) do not give associates “billable hour” credit toward their billing requirement for time spent marketing and participating in bar associations or other professional organizations.

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