LFFI Posts Sharpest Single-Quarter Jump in Years as 2026 Tracks to Best Demand Year Since 2021

The Thomson Reuters Law Firm Financial Index recorded its sharpest single-quarter gain "in some time" in Q2 2026, on pace to deliver the strongest full-year demand performance since the 2021 pandemic bounce-back — and unlike 2021, the strength is being measured against two already-powerful prior years. Associate demand climbed solidly, non-equity partner demand rose even further, but equity partner hours slipped, reflecting the deepening leverage structure that now defines large-firm economics. The ratio of non-equity partner hours to equity partner hours reached its highest level since late 2018, with technology and knowledge-management spending remaining among the fastest-growing overhead categories per lawyer. Worked rates rose steeply and were the single clearest driver of the index's acceleration; profit per FTE grew faster than revenue per FTE across all three segments tracked, including midsize — though midsize productivity continued to contract while Am Law 100 and Second Hundred productivity improved, widening the segment gap to levels not seen since late 2022.