2024 Trends and Growth Areas in Industry Spending and Practice Focus

The latest BTI Practice Outlook reveals significant trends in legal spending and top growth areas in legal practice. Despite uncertainties, client spending remains robust due to evolving business models, digitalization, regulatory challenges, and emerging technologies like generative AI, according to an article by Attorney at Work. Notably, 56% of clients intend to increase legal spending, while 30% maintain historically high levels from the previous year.

Six industries stand out for increased legal spending in 2024:

• High-Tech: Driven by generative AI, regulatory scrutiny, and copyright/IP issues.
• Pharma: Seeking to rebuild pipelines and navigate pricing issues, especially with direct-to-consumer sales through telehealth.
• Financial Services: Facing new regulations and fintech challenges, requiring deep regulatory understanding.
• Health Care: Undergoing restructuring and capital needs amid significant changes, with scrutiny on acquisitions.
• Private Equity: Flush with capital, driving demand for deals and legal support.
• Food/Agritech: Restructuring and innovation fuel legal needs, particularly in IP and litigation.

Top growth legal practice areas in 2024 include Labor & Employment, Cybersecurity, Commercial Litigation, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Class Actions, and IP Litigation. These areas respond to regulatory changes, technological advancements, and evolving business landscapes.

Reflecting on 2023, industries such as Private Equity, Family Offices, Technology, Life Sciences, Big Pharma, and Health Care witnessed substantial increases in legal spending. Private Equity, in particular, capitalized on record levels of capital, while Family Offices emerged as a significant segment in private equity investing.

The top growth legal practice areas in 2023 included Labor & Employment, Data Privacy/Cyber, Investigations, Litigation, and Class Actions, responding to changing regulatory environments, increased litigation, and cybersecurity concerns.

In 2022, Media, Biotech, Tech, Big Pharma, Food/Agritech, Private Equity, Financial Services, Health Care, Investment Banking, and Banks were among the industries showing increased legal spending. M&A, Data Privacy/Cybersecurity, Investigations, Labor and Employment, Litigation, and Class Action were the top growth legal practice areas in 2022.

Despite market uncertainties, legal spending remains robust across various industries, with specific practice areas experiencing significant growth in response to evolving regulatory, technological, and business landscape challenges.