Timothy Corcoran of Corcoran's Business Law told the Business of Law Blog at LexisNexis: 'In 2015 some of the most successful firms will relax, having seen their profits grow at a healthy pace as the economy improves. Some will begin to repeat mistakes of the past – such as hiring larger classes of new associates at ever-increasing salaries without regard to the specific market demand, and recruiting expensive laterals in the hope that clients will follow, and pursuing mergers in the quest to become larger. Others will continue to pursue what is, and has always been, a more lucrative path to profitability – namely, proactively embracing alternative fees and delivering these projects with matter budgets, and guided by the principles of project management and process improvement. The latter approach will win, inevitably, because it’s the approach most directly tied to client demand.'

More upbeat

LexisNexis has collected 25 predictions for 2015 and says it has been 'struck by one underlying theme' - that this year's predictions are 'more upbeat' overall than last year's. Source: Business of Law Blog