Planning for 2021

2020 was an unpredictable year to say the least. It made longer term planning much more difficult. Toward the end of November, we surveyed over 500 firms to find out how they are planning on operating early in 2021.

While there is still uncertainty surrounding reopening guidelines, many firms have worked on initial plans. Below are some of the results.

Which best describe how your firm is currently functioning?

In the aggregate over 44% of firms already have all their employees in the office full time. However, when you look more granularly, the results do change by size of firm.

75+ Attorneys – Only 10% are in the office full time. Over 63% have employees coming in on an as needed basis. And almost 17% continue to be all/mostly remote.

5-74 Attorneys – 34% are in the office full time and 48% have employees coming in on an as needed basis. Only a little over 11% remain all remote.

Under 5 Attorneys – 54% are in the office full time and only 11% remain all remote.

Which best describe how your firm is planning for 2021?

In the aggregate almost 49% of firms plan on having all their employees in the office full time. Again, this varies by size of firm.

75+ Attorneys – Only 20% are planning for full time in office employees. Almost 57% will have employees continuing to come in on an as needed basis. And almost 17% plan to continue to be all/mostly remote.

5-74 Attorneys – 40% are planning for full time in office employees and a little over 42% will have employees continuing to come in on an as needed basis. Only a little over 8% plain to remain all remote.

Under 5 Attorneys – Almost 58% are planning for full time in office employees and only 10% remain all remote.

How are your attorneys meeting with clients?

Firms have had to adapt how they reach out to and meet with clients. As expected, online video meetings were used much more in 2020 than in previous years. 100% of responding 75+ attorneys said they are using video meetings while only 33% met in person. 95% of responding 5-74 attorneys said they are using video meetings and over 56% held in-person meetings. Firms with under 5 attorneys held the most in-person meetings (67%) and only 65% of respondents using online video meetings.

Given the lack of in-person events, how is your firm adapting your business development activities?

This was an open-ended question, but many of the answers held recurring themes.

1. Focus on current clients for satisfaction and cross-selling
2. Updating website and focus on more traffic online via advertising
3. Online speaking engagements and one-on-one meetings
4. No business development activities

What are your plans for 2021? How will your firm and your business development activities differ from 2020 or even 2019?

If you are just starting on your planning or need a partner to help you navigate these new waters, please reach out to your account manager. We are proud to have been able to serve our customers throughout 2020. And we stand at the ready to continue to support you!

Until then, here are a few ideas for increasing your personal touches in this new virtual world.