Local legal firms to benchmark profitability in new legal survey
Legal firms from throughout the central North Island are being invited to participate in a new profitability survey that will enable them to compare how they stack up against their competitors.
The new survey will include results from legal businesses in Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, New Plymouth, Taupo, Wanganui, Palmerston North, and Horowhenua.
While the legal practitioners' performance survey is new these regions, it has been undertaken in the Auckland marketplace for the past six years and is seen as a valuable benchmarking tool.
Initiated by the legal business development unit of the Markhams Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors group, the confidential survey has been extended to encompass the central North Island area, with a separate survey also being undertaken in Christchurch.
"We know that Auckland firms use the information to compare themselves and to look for ways to improve their operations. It is also widely used to assist with salary reviews and incentives," says Hamish Pringle, Markhams Hawkes Bay principal.
"Legal firms are businesses as much as any other and they haven't escaped the recessionary times we are in. They need to identify where they can improve practice profitability."
Participants will be provided with a concise and informative report with results presented on a 'per partner' basis, about the current state of their marketplace. A full report detailing all responses (recorded anonymously) will also be included. In addition, valuable remuneration information will provide an insight into various staff salaries in the marketplace.
The survey closes on 21 February and the full report is due out late March.
13 February 2012
