Top LA & OC Law Firms Weigh In on Reducing Non-Billable Expenses

Expense Reduction Analysts (ERA) leads panel discussion with major legal firms in Los Angeles and Orange Counties

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Jan 28, 2011, 11:05 ET

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Premier law firms were invited to participate with Expense Reduction Analysts (ERA) to discuss the value of inventing a new legal-paradigm for reducing non-billable expenses. The goal, since there are about two-dozen-cost categories, was to examine how the legal market perceives and interacts in expense management, budgeting, and expenditure reduction.

With the economic slowdown, most firms are operating with fewer people. A smaller staff means less time is available to examine non-core costs. And according to the American Bar Association Journal—"Lower billable averages suggest more staff layoffs ahead." The American Lawyer forecasted that, "2011 could still be a year that sees firms struggling not to lose ground," according to the 2011 Client Advisory recently released by consultants at Hildebrandt Baker Robbins and the Citi Private Bank division of Citigroup, Inc."

Third-party consultants, like ERA, can help fill the gap without the accompanying cost of salaries and benefits.

Marylou Garcia, ERA managing director of Los Angeles & Orange Counties, opened up the discussion by asking, "Is your law firm paying too much for overhead expenses?" By asking their opinions, beliefs and attitudes about savings and lost profits, the panel discussed openly how to meet these challenges. Garcia substantiated the proven benefit of ERA by providing working solutions and case studies common to law firms. "Law firms are unique in terms of the types of expenses they have specific to their business requirements and approach to non-billable expenses," said Garcia, "and these unique needs require a carefully crafted and specific approach to this market."

The objective for the dialogue was to determine directly from the legal market how THEY perceived and interacted in the area of expense management, financial budgeting and expenditure reduction. Outcomes from the work today will be the basis for our survey being released industry-wide on February 7th, and the results will be published in a White Paper the first week of March.

Sheila Okabayashi of Integrated Solution Design (ISD) produced today's event. Blending a diverse palette of technical, creative, and business consulting expertise, ISD is dedicated to helping clients realize integrated, common sense marketing and business solutions that match their mission, culture and industry. "We were pleased to be able to move forward with our marketing research with the Expense Reduction focus group panel for the legal market," said Sheila Okabayashi.

About Expense Reduction Analysts (ERA)

Expense Reduction Analysts (ERA), founded in 1992 and privately owned, is based in Carlsbad, California. Since its inception, ERA has grown to include 30 countries and performed more than 14,000 successful cost-reduction projects, and helped find an average savings of 20% in non-core expenses. ERA continues in confidence to serve a broad range of industries: professional services, manufacturing, retail, healthcare, non-profits, education and government. Satisfied (pleased) customers include Smashbox Cosmetics, IKEA Systems, NutriSystem, Conde´ Nast (France), Pfizer (Mexico), Aqua-Chem, Goodwill of the Heartland and Girl Scouts Citrus Council.

http://expensereduction.com/

SOURCE Expense Reduction Analysts