Chip Shortage

In our modern "smart" world, everything has computer chips in it. And since the pandemic, the supply chain has been severely disrupted. Some auto makers have scaled back production. Some electronic equipment has longer lead times. You can expect lower cost, commodities devices to be skipped as manufacturers concentrate their limited supplies on higher end, more profitable lines. "Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told the BBC that shortages will get worse in the second half of 2021-and that it will be 'a year or two' before supplies return to normal." Let's hope we get it sorted out before we have to replace our computers to upgrade to Windows 11. Read more at ars technica: Apple, AMD, and Intel shift priorities as chip shortages continue

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Bad news all around

This is a sponsored post, written by Nicholas d'Adhemar, CEO, Apperio. The report, "Responsibility without control? Challenges facing private equity legal leaders in 2021," is 30 pages of interesting information and graphs. The commentary is broekn down into four groups: 1) The struggle for real-time legal spend data is real; 2) Surprise invoices come at the end of the matter; 3) Cost overruns and in-house credibility; and 4) Similarities in response and remedy. In today's age of bill analytics, slicing and dicing everything a lawfirm submits, I was a bit surprised by the fact that 45% feel they have a lack of data and that 86% feel they can't accurately forecast costs. To see that 20% of indicating that "certain legal matters always go over budget" (emphasis added) is appalling. One would expect that budget overruns undermine one's credibility and the response by the majority of the respondents to those overruns is what you might expect: "frequently negotiate discounts in response to surprise invoices; delay payment on legal bills that exceed their expectations; and regularly challenge individual line items in law firm invoices." Is that not enough? Then consider that "81% are considering working with alternative legal service providers (ALSPs) in the future." The report is available and you can check it yourself as you read more at LawSites: Avoiding Cost Overruns, Surprise Invoices and Stale Data: Four Ways Corporate Counsel Can Learn From Their Private Equity Peers

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More from the BigHand Workflow Report

The pandemic has changed everything. With changing staffing models, work patterns and locations, its only logical to assume work flows will need to change as well. Eric Wangler, Global Managing Director of Workflow, BigHand examines data from The Legal Workflow Management Report and unpacks what it will take firms to be successful in 2021 and beyond. To learn more, read: The results are in: Legal support staffing must be addressed by law firms to successfully transition to hybrid working

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Jeffrey Brandt, Editor

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