Bridging the Gap in Law Firm Performance Data: An Industry Call to Action
By Dwayne Hermes
The Claims and Litigation Management (CLM) Study in 2023, conducted by Taylor Smith and Suite 200 Solutions, paints a vivid picture of an industry that urgently needs innovation and improvement. The findings indicate that while 89% of law firm participants are willing to share performance data about their firm, a substantial 86% feel that firms do not request this information sufficiently. Fortunately, albeit gradually, this trend seems to be changing.
The Challenges and Reasons for the Data Gap
The reasons for this critical information gap are multifaceted. The industry struggles from a lack of common benchmarking standards, as noted by Taylor Smith at the inaugural CLM Symposium on Litigation Management. Despite this revelation, progress in this area remains stagnant. Law firms and carriers are often left without readily accessible benchmarking data, and any existing data is unstructured, cumbersome, and costly to collect manually.
Adding to these challenges, defense firms have seen their profit margins erode over the past decades, leaving them with few resources to invest in structured data. This financial situation is further exacerbated by a lack of collaboration or financial incentives from the insurance industry for law firms to invest in addressing this issue. Additionally, neither law firms nor carriers possess the in-house competencies to build tech tools that can readily address these challenges. The current billable-hour compensation model further deters investment in non-billable efforts.
A Path Forward: ClaimDeck and Hermes Law
In response to these systemic challenges, Hermes Law and ClaimDeck have forged a new path. ClaimDeck, a next-generation litigation management tool, offers a tech-enabled solution to the data gap. As a cloud-based SaaS product for co-working between claims professionals and defense counsel, ClaimDeck enables the collection of robust benchmarking data, with over 500 categories of structured data and over 1500 data points per litigated matter. This data is easily exported, visualized, and analyzed- and can be effectively anonymized - using tools like Power BI, thus facilitating effective communication between carriers and defense counsel. With ClaimDeck, what is currently happening only 14% of the time can potentially become an industry norm.
Hermes Law, a Texas-based insurance defense firm, is an early adopter of ClaimDeck. The firm's usage of ClaimDeck evolved from the Hermes Law Case Architura (HLCA), a suite of manual litigation planning reports, custom budgeting and case valuation tools, and risk management reports created with Excel and PDFs.
The firm's adoption of ClaimDeck has supported resounding success, with firm growth exceeding 60% in less than a year.
Hermes Law's Commitment
Hermes Law plans to further leverage the capabilities of ClaimDeck by providing detailed performance data to its clients in quarterly reports. Accompanied by an invitation to discuss these results, the firm plans to engage in a comprehensive review of the data, trends, and performance comparisons. Hermes Law is committed to identifying what works, where improvements are needed, and the return on investment delivered.
Ultimately, these discussions can lead to expanded relationships, including exploring other lines of business, additional geographic areas, justified rate increases, and informed alternative fee arrangements.
Conclusion: A Call to Action
The CLM study's findings serve as a catalyst for change in an industry that's been stuck in its ways for far too long. With Hermes Law and ClaimDeck leading the charge, the path to improvement is clearer than ever before. We call upon carriers and law firms to engage in open discussion around performance data, thereby fostering a new culture of transparency, collaboration, and innovation. The potential financial benefits and opportunities for remuneration serve as strong incentives for this transformation.
It's time we move forward, together.
As an industry, we can and must bridge this gap, ushering in a new era of mutual growth and success.
ClaimDeck™ eliminates claims litigation leakage for carriers while driving process into the law firm, modernizing the litigation process.
Contact Dwayne at dwayne@claim-deck.com.
Follow Dwayne Hermes, ClaimDeck, and Hermes Law on LinkedIn.