Seasonality of invoices from law firms

Do invoices from law firms flow in steadily during the year, or are there dry spells and floods? I wrote my latest column for Morrison on Metrics to try to sort out what might raise and lower the level, but in the end came to nothing conclusive. Nor do I think it even matters very much for legal departments.

A comment from John Conlon offered a perspective I agree with: “It’s often said that ‘a lawyer’s pen gets heavier as the year draws to a close.’ You need to account for the fact that many lawyers – especially in larger law firms – will look to pump up their billings as the year ends in order to meet their firm’s minimum billing requirements or get extra hours in for bonus purposes. Any realistic look at things that affect ‘seasonal’ legal billings has to consider this very real issue.”