In the latest episode of ELM Solutions' Legal Leaders Exchange podcast, host Jennifer McIver is joined by her ELM Solution colleagues Rich Stoll, Finance department leader and legal benchmarking power user, and Brian Jorgenson, who leads the Product Management team. Together, they tell the story of LegalVIEW® DynamicInsights, an advanced, interactive benchmarking and analytics platform built for the evolving needs of corporate legal departments and their law firm partners.
Long-time benchmarking users will recognize that the roots of DynamicInsights lie in the Real Rate Report, an industry staple sometimes referred to as "the book" due to its hefty page count featuring hundreds of data tables that detail corporate legal spend with outside counsel firms. As Rich shares in the episode, having a static PDF of rates and trends was useful, but the format had clear limitations. Data became outdated quickly and was difficult to customize. The desire for a more dynamic, actionable tool started with a simple question: "Why can't this just be a dashboard?"
From a PDF to an interactive solution
That question sparked a wave of experimentation at ELM Solutions. Teams began building internal dashboards to explore more effective ways of visualizing benchmarking data. As interest and enthusiasm grew, it became clear that this wasn't just a tool for internal use—it was a product waiting to be built. Within months, a cross-functional team came together to develop what would become LegalVIEW DynamicInsights.
With input from clients, partners, and subject matter experts, the team quickly turned their vision into reality. Under the leadership of Manish Sharma, and with key data expertise from Haemi Jung, they delivered a working prototype in record time. Brian notes in the episode that from concept to launch, the product came together in under a year—a testament to strong collaboration and a clear focus on customer value.
How DynamicInsights benefits legal teams
DynamicInsights is more than just a tool; it’s a resource that transforms how legal professionals operate. Whether you’re part of a corporate legal department or a law firm, the benefits of the solution are vast:
- Competitive benchmarking: Compare your performance to industry peers and gain clarity on where your organization stands with legal spend across practice areas, geographies, and other dimensions. Knowing how you measure up helps identify opportunities for improvement.
- Enhanced decision-making: The ability to make data-driven decisions is no longer a luxury but a necessity. The platform’s insights, powered by AI, allow firms to accurately determine budgets, allocate resources effectively, and plan strategically for the future.
- Improved transparency: Using advanced visualization dashboards built with Power BI, the tool offers a detailed breakdown of spending and trends, visible at a glance.
- Greater collaboration across the legal ecosystem: LegalVIEW DynamicInsights encourages stronger collaboration between corporate legal teams and law firms. It fosters an open, data-driven dialogue, which improves efficiency and aligns strategic objectives across the legal ecosystem.
- Customizable, user-friendly reports: The platform’s intuitive design allows users to drill down into relevant data through customizable dashboards. Whether you’re analyzing trends in specific regions, industries, or timekeeper levels, this tool has your needs covered.
Powered by the industry-leading data warehouse
One of the platform’s most powerful advantages is its foundation: the LegalVIEW database, which contains more than $200 billion of detailed legal spend data. That scale, combined with AI-powered insights and consistent data taxonomies, allows DynamicInsights to deliver benchmarking that is highly relevant and extremely drillable.
To hear the full conversation and learn more about what makes LegalVIEW DynamicInsights a standout offering in the legal tech landscape, listen to the episode here: Legal Leaders Exchange: The Journey to LegalVIEW DynamicInsights.
