Law Firm Financial Management & Innovation

As AI, automation, and data analytics reshape pricing strategy and financial management, firms must rethink their approach to profitability, value creation, and client expectations. With mounting economic pressures, client pushback on rate hikes, and the increasing demand for pricing transparency, law firms must move beyond traditional financial models to remain competitive.

Law Firm Financial Management & Innovation will bring together law firm finance leaders, pricing strategists, and operational executives to explore how firms can navigate market shifts, leverage financial intelligence, and drive sustainable growth. Discussions will explore how law firms can decouple time from value, implement smarter financial strategies, and integrate real-time financial data to enhance decision-making.

This peer-driven event will feature strategic discussions, real-world case studies, and insights from top legal finance professionals—designed for COOs, CFOs, Pricing leaders, Innovation Officers and financial strategists who are shaping the future of law firm economics. Attendees will explore emerging financial blind spots, AI-driven pricing models, and the critical role of educating lawyers on business strategy and law firm economics.

Join us on June 24th at the New York offices of Norton Rose Fulbright as we explore the next era of law firm financial management, pricing innovation, and data-driven decision-making.

Confirm your place By April 30th and save $300

WHAT TO EXPECT

Key Highlights

Stay Ahead of the Pricing Curve

Gain a real-time understanding of where legal pricing stands in 2025—from rate sustainability and client resistance to how AI is reshaping pricing models and expectations.

Learn How Leading Firms Are Gaining Partner Buy-In

Discover data-driven strategies to build internal credibility around pricing decisions and become a trusted advisor to firm leadership and partners.

Unlock the Hidden Value in Timekeeping Data

Learn how law firms are rethinking timekeeping—using it not just for billing, but to drive pricing intelligence, improve staffing, and support the shift toward fixed fees.

Explore the Financial Foundation of AI Investment

Understand why cost awareness at the practice group level is essential for evaluating technology investments, optimizing profitability, and aligning firm strategy.

Bridge the Knowledge Gap Between Lawyers and the Business of Law

Get practical strategies for educating lawyers on matter economics, operational efficiency, and the financial impact of their decisions.

Connect the Dots on Data Integration and Reporting

See how leading firms are building intelligent finance systems that empower faster, more informed decisions—by unifying financial, client, and matter data.

Hear Directly from Clients on What They Want (and Don’t Want)

Join a candid conversation with corporate legal leaders on the future of legal spend—what clients will pay for, how AI is impacting value expectations, and what makes firms stand out.

The legal industry is at an inflection point. AI and automation are fundamentally reshaping the competitive landscape, altering how law firms deliver value, build trust, and collaborate with clients. The future of the firm-client relationship is no longer theoretical—it's happening now.

This keynote will explore how law firms must evolve to meet shifting client expectations, embrace transparency and trust as competitive differentiators, and lean into change with empathy. As corporate legal departments rethink their approach to legal services, law firms will need to move beyond legacy pricing models and align more closely with client business objectives. Key themes include:

A Changing Competitive Landscape : How will law firms compete for work in an AI-driven market?
Trust, Transparency & Partnership: Why law firms and clients must redefine collaboration in a rapidly evolving legal ecosystem.
Getting Better Together: How can law firms and clients co-evolve to create a new model for value-based, data-driven legal partnerships?
Historical Parallels: How generative AI is transforming legal service delivery, much like other production models revolutionized manufacturing across industries.

OVERVIEW

The goal of all law firm pricing resources is to become a trusted advisor both to firm leadership and firm partners for pricing related strategies.  This candid discussion will focus on the integration of data analytics in developing and implementing pricing strategies, emphasizing the importance of presenting data-driven insights to gain buy-in from partners.  By showcasing real-world examples and case-studies, we will demonstrate how data can be utilized to uncover hidden opportunities, optimize pricing models, and ultimately drive more informed and strategic decision-making within the firm.   The goal will be to both empower pricing professionals with the tools and knowledge needed to become strategic advisors within their respective firms, along with showcasing for partners and outside counsel how data driven approaches result in more accurate financial planning and forecasting. 

Timekeeping data remains one of the most overlooked but valuable assets in law firms—yet most firms still struggle with uncategorized, messy, and underutilized time entry data. As client demand for fixed fees and cost certainty increases, firms are being forced to rethink how they track, structure, and extract insights from timekeeping data. This dynamic discussion will explore timekeeping as a data treasure trove and how firms can leverage it.

Timekeeping as a Data Treasure Trove what’s really hidden in this dataset and how can firms leverage it? If we had clean time entry data—how would/could we make use of it?
Pricing Intelligence & Strategy:  how clean time entry data can drive more accurate pricing models, higher-fidelity estimates, and support alternative fee arrangements.
Beyond Pricing: How structured timekeeping data can optimize staffing, workflow allocation, and expertise identification.
Competitive Pressures & the Road Ahead : What are the primary drivers or incentives to moving to fixed fee work?  Discuss and debate the notion that AI will streamline processes and create powerful efficiencies that will reduce hours per matter (vs. the counter argument that firms could feasibly handle more matters).

Before law firms can effectively invest in AI, optimize pricing models, or drive financial innovation, they must first answer a fundamental question: What does it actually cost to deliver legal work?  Too often, firms focus on what they charge rather than what they spend, leading to inefficient pricing, unprofitable matters, and misaligned AI investment decisions. Without a clear, data-driven understanding of costs, firms risk making strategic financial decisions based on instinct rather than intelligence.  In this session, Frederick J. Esposito, Jr., COO at Rivkin Radler, will break down how firms can educate attorneys and firm leadership to move beyond intuition-based financial decision-making and adopt empirical, data-driven strategies that support profitability, pricing innovation, and AI investment decisions.

Join us as we explore:

The Role of AI in Law Firm Economics - From pricing to cost management: Why firms cannot have informed discussions about AI investment without a granular understanding of what currently drives profitability at the practice group level.
Matter Intake & Strategic Alignment - Why not all work is “the right work” and how firms can use financial intelligence and data-driven insights to assess client selection, scope matters, and improve intake decisions.
Building a Cost-Aware Firm Culture - How firms can educate attorneys and leadership on the importance of understanding costs as a strategic imperative for pricing, profitability, and investment decisions.

For law firms to thrive in today’s evolving financial landscape, lawyers must develop a stronger grasp of business strategy, financial intelligence, and operational decision-making. Yet, many lawyers receive little to no formal education on law firm economics, matter management, or the financial impact of their work. This session will explore how firms can close the knowledge gap—ensuring lawyers at all levels understand the cost of legal work, the role of data in pricing strategy, and the efficiency gains that drive profitability and client value.

This discussion will explore how firms can close the knowledge gap and empower their lawyers to:

Improve Matter Profitability & Pricing Strategy: When lawyers understand the financial impact of their work, they can make smarter, more strategic decisions about matter management, staffing, and resource allocation.
Enhance Client Value & Strengthen Relationships: Lawyers who grasp the economics of legal services can engage in more informed pricing conversations and better align firm value with client expectations.
Drive Operational Efficiency & Strategic Growth: By applying financial intelligence and matter oversight, firms can reduce inefficiencies, improve cost predictability, and build a culture of data-driven decision-making.

This session will offer practical strategies and real-world insights from legal finance and professional development leaders—helping firms train their lawyers to think beyond the billable hour and contribute to the firm’s long-term financial health and competitive positioning.

Law firm finance professionals are the gatekeepers of some of the most critical data that law firms hold. And in today's fast-paced business landscape, financial data integration and modern reporting are crucial for informed decision-making and strategic growth. Law firms must navigate a sea of financial information efficiently, ensuring that financial insights are accurate, timely, and actionable. This session explores the importance of integrating financial systems for real-time reporting and will highlight a comprehensive framework for law firms to maximize their financial data's potential, ensuring they remain agile and competitive in a rapidly changing industry.

Key Discussion Points:

Financial Data Integration: Explore the challenges and opportunities of integrating various financial systems within law firms. Understand how consolidating financial data can enhance operational efficiency, reduce errors, and improve forecasting accuracy.
Lawyers and Financial Data:  Gain insights into how lawyers consume financial data and what they need from modern reporting systems to support their strategic objectives. Discuss how tailored reporting can enhance collaboration between finance professionals and legal practitioners.
Vision for Future Reporting: Engage in a forward-thinking discussion on what a modern reporting system should look like. Explore how integrated platforms can provide lawyers with actionable insights that align with their work patterns and decision-making needs.
Best Practices and Success Stories: Hear from industry leaders about real-world examples of successful financial data integration and reporting systems. Identify key takeaways and best practices for implementing modern reporting solutions within your firm.

Driven by a confluence of economic pressures and technological advancements, value-driven legal services are at the forefront of client expectations, with the potential to reshape the economics of legal service delivery. Corporations are demanding more than just legal expertise; they want strategic business partners who can provide holistic solutions, prompting law firms to invest in industry-specific knowledge and technology-enabled services that deliver tangible business value.

As clients adopt emerging AI tools themselves to streamline legal work in-house, how will this shift impact law firms' pricing models, service offerings, and long-term client relationships? As we move further into 2025, the relationship between client expectations and legal spend will continue to evolve. Join us for a deep dive into the financial realities shaping the client-law firm relationship in 2025—and hear directly from clients on how firms must adapt to rising demands for pricing transparency, efficiency, and AI-driven value as we endeavor to answer some of the most pressing questions of the day, such as:

Pricing Expertise Over Hours: AI amplifies an existing challenge: if efficiency improves, how should firms charge for judgment, insight, and strategy rather than just time spent?
The Impact of AI & Automation: Assuming AI reduces billable hours, what are the broader economic implications for law firms, and how should pricing and service models evolve?
Client Data and AI: As firms seek to leverage AI, how should they treat client data responsibly? What concerns do clients have about how their data is used?
What Clients Truly Want: What specific innovations in service delivery and pricing structures are clients demanding from law firms, and how are firms responding to the push for greater transparency, efficiency, and cost predictability?
Aligning Firms & Clients: How alternative fee models, client-facing technology, and AI-driven collaboration can enhance value.