MHA’s legal sector COVID-19 survey report

Karen Hain at MHA walks through the results of its summer 2020 COVID-19 survey report and its impact on the legal sector.

Towards the end of May 2020, whilst still in the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown period, MHA undertook a survey of the legal sector focusing on the impact of coronavirus, how this is affecting law firms, and the influence on future plans.

Headline results were shared mid-June 2020, and we thought it would be useful to add a short commentary to our survey which we hope you find of interest.

The severity of impact on law firms is connected to the firms’ service lines. Typically, the severity is categorised into three levels:

Busy (17% of firms) – this covers a wide scope of impact on revenue, from up to a 5% reduction in fees, through to over 30% increased revenue being seen. Business is still going well, but with disruptions to the way firms operate. In some cases, demand is even increasing. Examples include private client and employment law.

Low to moderate impact (64% of firms) – grouped as 5% to 30% reduction in income with uncertainty and short-term impact. Typically, multidisciplinary firms fall into this category with their range of services spreading the risk and avoiding excessive impact to fee income.

Significant impact (19% of firms) – more than 30% reduction in revenue and in some cases business has stopped. This is symptomatic of firms with a heavy bias towards property or corporate work.