Happy Friday!

Panel sprawl is one of the most common problems I hear about from legal ops leaders. Almost none of them need more outside counsel options. 

They need to know which firms already on their list are worth keeping, and for what.

That is what our law firm index answers, and this week it grew to 9,000+ firms, with practice area, firm size, location, and market rate context for each.

Paired with panel management, legal teams get one place to:

• Benchmark rates against comparable firms

• Build a panel of trusted firms on real numbers, not guesswork

• Manage renewals with evidence, and keep the list from sprawling again

Already a client? The index is live at client.legal.io. Not on Legal.io Enterprise yet? Get free access here.

A good panel isn't the longest list. It's the shortest one you trust.

— Pieter Gunst

CEO & Co-Founder, Legal.io

📊 Data-Driven Legal

5

Acquisitions Legora has made this year, the latest being Wexler, a fact intelligence platform for litigation.

12.2%

The year over year rise in US bankruptcy filings, per federal judiciary data out this week. Restructuring and insolvency workloads are climbing with it.

18 years

The term limit for Supreme Court justices proposed under the BATL Act, reintroduced by four senators.

📰 Industry Snapshot

Tech failures disrupt the NextGen bar exam debut

Network problems knocked out day one in Washington and delayed test takers in Missouri and Maryland, leaving 645 applicants waiting on a September 1 makeup.

Crosby to insure its agents for legal liability

The NewMod firm is buying professional liability coverage for its AI agents so they can do autonomous legal work, putting a price on a question the rest of the profession is still arguing about.

Tech titans' fight over AI regulations fuels more corporate risk

Federal preemption efforts are colliding with state enforcement, and companies are left complying with rules that may not survive while staying liable under them in the meantime.

Wachtell leader Savitt joins Gibson Dunn in Big Law shakeup

William Savitt, the Wachtell co-leader known for taking on Elon Musk in court, is leaving for Gibson Dunn, a rare departure from a firm that rarely loses its own.

Courts set clear standards for how lawyers use AI in litigation

Judges are converging on what disclosure and verification look like, which turns AI use from a gray area into a checkable duty.

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