LexisNexis® CounselLink® Releases 2026 Trends Report as Rising Rates and Big Law Share of Wallet Continue to Climb
Law Firms with 750+ attorneys captured 52% of 2025 matters, dominating high-stakes M&A and Data Privacy at more than $1,000/hour median partner rates
Raleigh, NC, April 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LexisNexis® Legal & Professional, a global leader in information, analytics and AI-powered legal workflow solutions, today announced release of the LexisNexis CounselLink® 2026 Trends Report: State of Outside Counsel Fees. The report indicates that law firm billing rates continued to rise in 2025, while the largest law firms further expanded their share of wallet. The findings highlight ongoing challenges for corporate legal departments seeking to manage outside counsel costs.
Average partner rates increased 5.1% in 2025, tying for the second-highest level recorded since CounselLink launched its annual Trends Report in 2013. The largest law firms maintained a significant pricing advantage, with median partner rates 40% higher than those of the next tier, down from 61% in the prior year, reflecting faster rate growth among mid-sized firms.
Law firms with 750+ lawyers continued to lead share of wallet, capturing more than half of total legal spend and a majority of new matters in 2025. This trend signals continued consolidation, particularly in high-value practice areas that command the highest billing rates.
“Legal departments continue to prioritize cost control, but underlying market forces are making that more difficult to achieve,” said Donna McCoy, Senior Director, Services at LexisNexis CounselLink. “Rate increases remain elevated, and more work is flowing to the largest firms. Together, these dynamics are reshaping how legal services are sourced and priced.”
The CounselLink Trends Report draws on the CounselLink Insight Benchmarking Database of more than $75 billion in legal spend across more than 580,000 timekeepers and nearly 2 million matters. The report analyzes eight key metrics, including law firm partner fees by firm size, hourly rates by practice area, firm size and location, and international rate comparisons. Importantly, the report is based on actual invoices paid in 2025 to outside counsel by corporate legal departments over a 12-month period.
Other key findings in the report include:
- High-value practice areas continue to drive rate growth, with Mergers & Acquisitions partner rates increasing 8.8% and Data Privacy rising 8.4%
- Data Privacy emerges as a premium practice, with median partner rates exceeding $1,000 per hour and more than two-thirds of work handled by the largest firms
- Mid-sized firms significantly increased rates, resulting in firms of 501–750 lawyers having a median partner rate 19% higher than the prior year’s median, narrowing the pricing gap with the largest firms
- Alternative fee arrangements remain limited, representing 8.3% of matters and 6.3% of total spend despite ongoing industry discussion
- Staffing mix is increasingly impacting costs, with matter-level rates rising faster than partner rates in many practice areas, suggesting reduced focus on managing costs through timekeeper mix and resource allocation
“Legal departments have long used staffing strategies to manage costs, but this year’s data suggests those approaches may be becoming less effective,” added McCoy. “Organizations will need a more data-driven approach to benchmarking and managing outside counsel relationships.”
The LexisNexis CounselLink 2026 Trends Report: The State of Outside Counsel Fees, now in its 13th year, is available here.
About LexisNexis® Legal & Professional
LexisNexis® Legal & Professional provides AI-powered legal, regulatory, business information, analytics, and workflows that help customers increase their productivity, improve decision-making, achieve better outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis® and Nexis® services. LexisNexis Legal & Professional, which serves customers in more than 150 countries with 11,900 employees worldwide, is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.
About CounselLink®
LexisNexis® CounselLink® is a leading enterprise legal management and contract lifecycle management solution designed to help corporate legal departments gain visibility into their work, matters, contracts, vendors, and financials. CounselLink+™ includes AI-powered tools across the cloud-based platform to help control costs, maximize productivity, and make better decisions, supported by powerful analytics and data that demonstrate legal department value across the enterprise. For nearly 30 years, LexisNexis has delivered innovative solutions informed by industry expertise, thought leadership, and customer feedback.
Name: Tracey Iverson Email: tracey.iverson@lexisnexis.com Job Title: Manager, Marketing
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