New report shows cooling growth at top tiers, double-digit regional spikes, and uneven dynamics across corporate revenue bands.
HOUSTON – Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions has published a new LegalVIEW Insights report highlighting sharp contrasts in law firm rates heading into 2026. New York City remains the most expensive market, with partners averaging $1,972 and associates $1,214, while cities like Cincinnati, Portland, and San Diego posted double-digit increases.
The LegalVIEW Insights series draws on more than $200 billion in legal invoice data from Wolters Kluwer’s LegalVIEW database, offering expert analysis of trends shaping legal spend across industries such as finance and securities, insurance, manufacturing, life sciences, and real estate.
“Expect rate dynamics to remain anything but uniform,” said Jennifer McIver, Associate Director of Legal Operations and Industry Insights at Wolters Kluwer. “Legal teams will need to anticipate tiered and regional shifts, as well as the growing impact of AI if they want to keep costs under control and partnerships strong in 2026.”
Tier-Based Cooling at the Top
Partner rate growth moderated in early 2025, with Am Law 1–25 firms dropping to a 6.3% mean increase from 10.4% in 2024. Mid-tier firms saw similar declines, signaling heightened client scrutiny and shifting negotiation leverage despite continued headline increases.
Revenue Extremes Show Greatest Volatility
Rate increases for the largest companies fell to 9.9% from 15.6%, while the smallest dropped to 10.4% from 12.3%. Mid-market bands held steady, suggesting negotiation leverage and market forces weigh most heavily on the largest and smallest clients.
Strategic Patterns in Large Company Spend
Large corporations pay well below mid-market peaks for Am Law 1–25 partner rates, likely due to high-volume strategic work granting negotiating power. However, their rates for Am Law 101–150 and 151–200 firms—often niche and specialized—are higher than those paid by mid-market clients.
About Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer (EURONEXT: WKL) is a global leader in information, software solutions and services for professionals in healthcare; tax and accounting; financial and corporate compliance; legal and regulatory; corporate performance and ESG. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with technology and services.
Wolters Kluwer reported 2024 annual revenues of €5.9 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 21,600 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.
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