Get into the practice of thinking in terms of practice-area benchmarks

During the coming years, as benchmark surveys and their methodology improve, we will see a shift toward metrics that pertain to specific practice areas or industries (See my post of Feb. 8, 2010: industry-specific measures; and of Feb. 25, 2008: practice area benchmarks with 24 references.).

Recent examples from this blog point toward that important stride forward (See my post of May 18, 2010: IP professional per billion of revenue; June 1, 2010: patent staff per thousand employees and patent records per patent staff; June 30, 2010: number of cases handled and number of outside counsel managed per inside litigation lawyer; June 30, 2010: allowance rates per patent preparation lawyer; July 26, 2010 #3: 3,000 raw ideas to produce 150 patent applications; and Aug. 3, 2010: total litigation staff and hours.). The more tailored the metrics, the more useful the benchmarks.