We've collected some data on the US legal landscape.
Data: Litigation in the United States in 2021
44.4M cases in progress in the 1st Instance;
1.3M federal cases in progress;
58,000 cases are in Pre Trial in New York.
Litigation volume: The American justice system does not have a public competition structure. Magistrates are appointed by Authorities and this volume of cases is proportional to countries with different structures (as in Brazil).
Bureaucracy: Even the Pre Trial requires bureaucracy and litigation services. Litigation is handled in stages and this creates the impression of little litigation, but this is not true. The discovery work and other phases follow a formal procedure.
Amicable Resolution: The figures do not include amicable solutions from the Pre Trial, which would exponentially increase the information, as American lawyers encourage agreements.
Services: Legal Operations or Paralegal services are in high demand and there are free courses or certified training to meet the demand, which has grown by 62% according to CSP.
Case Management: Law firms have litigation software with the same specifications as the ones we know.
Some fields and flowcharts are left out because legal operations have been a reality since the 1990s.
However, the same concerns about agendas, deadlines, publications, internal tasks, reports, financial circularizations exist and are present in the life of a law firm.
ALSP: Along with legal departments, there are internal and external legal operations. Most legal departments have a lean structure and are made up of corporate and contract lawyers. In order to deal with matters related to litigation, in addition to the offices there are alternative legal services (ALSP) which function as an agency for paralegal, financial and structural matters with the aim of generating administrative security for the operation.
Lawyer's hourly rate: 600 dollars is the average hourly rate for a senior lawyer in a medium-sized firm for civil and/or federal matters.
OPS Salary: 7,000 dollars is the averagesalary for a Paralegal (Legal Operations) in Legal Departments at Full level.
Costs: 830 dollars and can vary depending on the state.
Did you already know these figures?