--- title: How The Legal Industry Can Prepare for Economic Hardships description: Whether a full recession or just an economic downtown is upon us, it's important for the legal industry to prepare for economic hardships proactively. image: https://www.pitchly.com/hubfs/legal%20firms%20prepare%20for%20economic%20hardship-1.png --- [![Pitchly](https://www.pitchly.com/hubfs/logo_pitchly_primary-1.svg "Pitchly")](https://pitchly.com) - [Experience](https://www.pitchly.com/experience) - [Proposals](https://www.pitchly.com/proposals) - [AI](https://www.pitchly.com/ai) - [Integrations](https://www.pitchly.com/integration-engine) - [Sign In](https://platform.pitchly.com/) Search [Book a call](https://www.go.pitchly.com/meetings/ryan367/intro-call?uuid=fe9671d5-5e46-4606-b1a2-009cd371b0ae) # How The Legal Industry Can Prepare for Economic Hardships ![share](https://www.pitchly.com/hubfs/2022/Images/blog/share_icon.png) - - - ![calendar icon](https://www.pitchly.com/hubfs/2022/Images/blog/cal.png) Sep 20, 2022 Posted by: Pitchly Professional Services Marketing ![how the legal industry can prepare for economic hardship](https://www.pitchly.com/hubfs/legal%20firms%20prepare%20for%20economic%20hardship-1.png) The U.S. economy has taken a beating over the past couple of years. Labor shortages are occurring nationwide along with continuing supply chain issues and[inflation hit a 40-year high of 9.1% in June](https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi#:~:text=US%20Inflation%20Rate%20Below%20Forecasts,below%20market%20forecasts%20of%208.7%25.). Economists are warning that the U.S. could be heading into recession based on reports that showed the economy shrank for the second straight quarter, according to[Time](https://time.com/6201205/what-is-a-recession-2022/). And while not everyone can agree if we’re in a recession currently or not, most agree that some type of economic downturn is coming. Now is the time to prepare for the unknown by making sure your legal firm is operating as efficiently as possible. The best way that the legal industry can prepare for economic hardships is by anticipating and planning ahead.   ## **Reduce Your Overhead** Your firm’s overhead includes anything not related to a lawyer’s salary. So anything from rent to supplies to technology and more is considered your overhead. There are a couple of ways to reduce those costs.   ### **Go virtual** Ditching your brick and mortar office space can reduce your biggest costs as[rent or mortgage is often the highest overhead spend of a traditional law firm](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/law_practice/publications/law_practice_magazine/2021/so21/obryan/). When your office is virtual, it can be anywhere, and you cut out the expenses associated with paying for a physical space, e.g., office supplies and utilities.  Even if firms decide to opt for a hybrid model, money can still be saved by downsizing to a smaller space.   ### **Shore up marketing expenses** Even if you adopt a virtual or hybrid working space, you’ll still have to pay marketing costs, one of a virtual office’s major expenses.  And, according to[Law.com](https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2022/05/13/after-staggering-increases-could-law-firm-overhead-continue-to-grow/), overhead expenses for marketing shot up in the first quarter of this year. Gartner’s[“The State of Marketing and Budget Strategy for 2022”](https://emtemp.gcom.cloud/ngw/globalassets/en/marketing/documents/marketing_budgets_2022_research.pdf) suggests benchmarking your marketing budget with your industry peers and reviewing how you fund your marketing’s key resources and capabilities going forward.   ### **Hire contractors** One way to reduce payroll overhead is to contract out positions that you would typically pay with a high salary.  Hiring a 1099 contractor helps reduce costs because you don’t have to pay for insurance and other benefits like healthcare and 401(k) matching. Plus contractors can be hired on a project-by-project basis, reducing payroll costs during downtime.   ## **Develop Payment Plans** Start devising options now on how your clients can pay you when times get tough. According to[Legal Management](https://www.legalmanagement.org/2022/february/features/5-ways-law-firms-can-prep-for-a-recession), developing a payment plan can help retain clients by giving them another option to pay their bills. Payment plans allow your customer to pay smaller amounts over time, instead of one lump sum. When times are tight, offering clients a payment plan can go a long way towards keeping their business. According to[United Consumer Financial Services,](https://www.ucfs.net/benefits-of-offering-payment-plans/) payment plans encourage repeat business and customer loyalty. Giving your clients affordable options to retain your services shows them you value them as customers. And payment plans help ensure your invoices get paid, helping maintain a healthy cash flow.   Learn strategies from the top firms in your industry Download our industry report, "[Accelerating Growth in Professional Service](https://go.pitchly.com/accelerating-growth-professional-services-2023-technology-as-a-tool)s"   ## **Invest in Your Technical Infrastructure** Tough economic times are a catalyst for changing how you do business. Whenever a recession occurs, businesses pivot strategies and start doing more with less and that includes staff. Many times[businesses reduce hiring, impose a hiring freeze, suspend pay raises or layoff employees](https://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/08/recession-affecting-business.asp#:~:text=Key%20Takeaways&text=Businesses%20large%20and%20small%20face,collections%2C%20and%20spur%20business%20bankruptcies.). But investing in your technical infrastructure can help make your processes more efficient, letting your use your people power more strategically. Salaries are a large expense and paying people to perform tasks that could be done by technology doesn’t make much sense. Investing in technical solutions that increase efficiency now means when an economic downturn does happen, you’ll be better prepared.   ### Automating your team's time Consider how much time it takes your staff to pull data for law firm marketing proposals, pitch reports and tombstones. Using a database management solution like Pitchly can reduce that time significantly. On average, Pitchly saves our clients 5+ hours each week by automating their [pitch content creation](https://www.pitchly.com/legal-pitch-that-seals-deals) - this is a 93% reduction in the time usually needed to sort through their data and format it. That’s extra time your worker can use to focus on strategic work that can help you win more new business. Pitchly’s data platform helps leverage your data through integrated warehouse-to-worker processes. These processes include a data pipeline, data workspace and data productivity. For example,[Pitchly Data Productivity](https://www.pitchly.com/product/data-productivity) quickly automates a content library of tombstones, case studies and team CVs that can be integrated with most proposal software providers to streamline proposal preparation. Quality data is accessible from one place to all of your employees. [Schedule a demo](https://www.pitchly.com/solutions/industries/legal) to learn how Pitchly can help upgrade your technical infrastructure, helping you better prepare for what’s to come. [Check Out Our Product Briefing on Legal Tech Hub](https://www.legaltechnologyhub.com/contents/lth-product-briefing-pitchly/) Share this blog on: - [![facebook share](https://www.pitchly.com/hubfs/2022/Images/blog/facebook.png)](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http%3A//www.pitchly.com/blog/how-the-legal-industry-can-prepare-for-economic-hardships) - [![twitter share](https://www.pitchly.com/hubfs/2022/Images/blog/twitter.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://www.pitchly.com/blog/how-the-legal-industry-can-prepare-for-economic-hardships&text=How%20The%20Legal%20Industry%20Can%20Prepare%20for%20Economic%20Hardships&via=) - [![linkedin share](https://www.pitchly.com/hubfs/2022/Images/blog/linkedin.png)](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.pitchly.com/blog/how-the-legal-industry-can-prepare-for-economic-hardships&title=&summary=&source=) [Previous](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/how-data-enablement-can-boost-dei-initiatives-in-executive-search) [Next](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/interview-with-the-ceo-the-early-days-of-pitchly) ### Post Categories - [Professional Services Marketing](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/tag/professional-services-marketing) - [Innovation & Technology](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/tag/innovation-technology) - [Efficiency & Productivity](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/tag/efficiency-productivity) - [Data Enablement](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/tag/data-enablement) - [Pitchly Client Stories](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/tag/pitchly-client-stories) - [Pitchly Experts](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/tag/pitchly-experts) - [Using Pitchly](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/tag/using-pitchly) - [Pitchly Product](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/tag/pitchly-product) - [The Pitchly Story](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/tag/the-pitchly-story) [![report](https://www.pitchly.com/hubfs/Industry%20Report%20Sidebar%20Graphic.jpg "report")](https://go.pitchly.com/accelerating-growth-professional-services-2023-technology-as-a-tool) ## [More to Explore by [Pitchly](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/author/pitchly) on Oct 1, 2024 [Intapp and Pitchly Announce Strategic Partnership to Streamline Pitchbook and Document Generation for Professionals](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/intapp-and-pitchly-announce-strategic-partnership-to-streamline-pitchbook-and-document-generation-for-professionals) [Read More](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/intapp-and-pitchly-announce-strategic-partnership-to-streamline-pitchbook-and-document-generation-for-professionals) ![share icon](https://www.pitchly.com/hubfs/2022/Images/blog/share-icon.png) - - - Innovation & Technology by [Pitchly](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/author/pitchly) on Oct 1, 2024 [How Marketing Technology Helps Professional Services Firms Adapt to Change](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/marketing-technology-professional-services-firms-adapt-to-change) [Read More](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/marketing-technology-professional-services-firms-adapt-to-change) ![share icon](https://www.pitchly.com/hubfs/2022/Images/blog/share-icon.png) - - - Efficiency & Productivity by [Pitchly](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/author/pitchly) on Oct 1, 2024 [Eliminate Data Silos With Data Enablement](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/eliminate-data-silos-with-data-enablement) [Read More](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/eliminate-data-silos-with-data-enablement) ![share icon](https://www.pitchly.com/hubfs/2022/Images/blog/share-icon.png) - - - ](https://go.pitchly.com/accelerating-growth-professional-services-2023-technology-as-a-tool) ##### Solutions - Content automation - Data management - Platform integrations ##### Industries - Banking and Finance - Law Firms - Executive Search - Accounting ##### Resources - [Resource Library](https://www.pitchly.com/resources) - [Blog](https://www.pitchly.com/blog) - [FAQ](https://www.pitchly.com/faq) - Events - [Support](https://support.pitchly.com/knowledge) - [Developers](https://developers.pitchly.com/) - [Security](https://www.pitchly.com/security) ##### Company - About - [Careers](https://www.pitchly.com/careers-at-pitchly) - Partners - Clients - [Contact](https://www.pitchly.com/contact) - [News](https://www.pitchly.com/news) ##### Connect [Follow us on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/pitchly) [Subscribe to us on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZhz--S-m3Fhrifdb9q5KsQ/featured) [Subscribe to Our Newsletter](https://go.pitchly.com/subscribe-to-the-pitchly-newsletter) [![five year anniversary](https://www.pitchly.com/hubfs/5%20badge.png)](https://www.pitchly.com/blog/5-year-reflections-from-pitchlys-cofounders) [![soc2 logo](https://www.pitchly.com/hubfs/SOC%20AICPA-logo.png)](https://www.pitchly.com/news/pitchly-completes-soc-2-type-2-examination-for-second-consecutive-year) Copyright 2025 Pitchly Inc All Rights Reserved [Privacy](https://www.pitchly.com/privacy-policy)    |    [Terms](https://www.pitchly.com/terms)