Competitive intelligence (CI) is quickly becoming indispensible to the forward-thinking law firm.

In a rapidly evolving market the key to successfully retaining market-share is to anticipate and be prepared for changes, rather than react to unforeseen external influences.

Competitive Intelligence for Law Firms is written specifically to help you formalise your approach to CI in the legal sector. It examines in-depth how to gather valuable information and turn it into actionable intelligence in the legal environment while avoiding the legal and ethical pitfalls.

From understanding the basics of CI to assessing the value of a variety of information sources and looking at the best applications for each, Competitive Intelligence for Law Firms is a comprehensive guide to implementing a successful CI strategy at your firm.

The report analyses Porter’s Five Forces model, explores the impact of legal and ethical regulations and details the steps that can be taken to ensure sound practices are followed.

Key sources of information are investigated including:

• Market research;
• Informed networking;
• Accessing company records;
• Internet searches (considering the reliability of publicly-available information and looking at ways to avoid misleading ‘facts’).

Competitive Intelligence for Law Firms also reveals how the resulting knowledge must be disseminated to decision makers and strategists who can utilise the recommendations to create a clear competitive advantage.

All this is presented alongside case studies that deliver invaluable practical advice from leading practitioners in the field including:

• A law firm that has formalised its CI processes into a dedicated in-house team;
• Practical examples of legal considerations affecting CI;
• Conducting CI in an international law firm;
• Market research tools available to the CI professional;
• …Plus best practice examples of effective CI from outside the legal sector.