The MPF Webinar Series
Our popular MPF Webinar Series - “The Law Firm of the Future” - is presented on the third Wednesday of the month to help firm leaders look achieve long-term, proactive, forward-thinking, and strategic approaches to their firms and the business of law. These 60-minute Webinars are complimentary for our readers. The on-demand recordings and handout materials are listed below.
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The State of the US Legal Market:
Implications for Smaller and Midsized Law Firms ** NEW **
By Managing Partner Forum with Bill Josten
An MPF Webinar Originally Broadcast on January 21, 2026
For January, we invited Bill Josten to share his thoughts and perspectives on results of the 2026 Report on the State of the US Legal Market, published annually by Thomson Reuters Institute. Bill has been a primary author of this widely read annual report for many years and, during our session, we discussed its implications for smaller and midsized law firms. 120 firms participated in the live session. Here are some of the things we learned:
- Profitability for MidLaw Up in 2026. 53% of participating firm leaders projected "improved" financial performance for their firms in 2026. 42% said "about the same."
- Demand Growth for Legal Services is Strong. Bill Josten shared that overall demand growth for legal services is up on both transactional and litigation fronts...a rare event.
- Work Shift to Smaller and Midsize Firms? We also discussed a shift of outside legal work from BigLaw to smaller and midsized firms. Why? The value proposition, of course.
- "Expense Creep" on the Rise. Despite higher revenues, firm leaders report that expenses are also on the rise, especially associate salaries and investments in technology.
- Alternative Pricing Models. Only 35% of firm leaders said that their firms are experimenting with new pricing models for their services.
This was our 64th session in the series. As always, the session was fast-paced and chocked full of current benchmarking information. Registration is complimentary for our readers.
Click here for the On-Demand Recording.
Click here for the Handout Materials.
Click here for Highlights and Recap by 9Sail.