THE CHANGING FACE OF LAW (PRACTICE) BUSINESS
Are you yet aware of the rude awakening of the evolution of Law Practice to Law Business as we are having it today? It is increasingly more important for owners and managing partners of law firms to understand the recent drive affecting the legal sector.
Understanding this drive is where the real adaption to the future of the profession lies. It must be expected that “the way in which lawyers work will change radically”. Entirely new ways of delivering legal services will emerge, new providers will be firmly established in the market, and the workings of our courts will be transformed. Many Traditional firm not willing to change May fail in this shift from Legal Practice to Legal Business.
While this shift is being observed, “a whole set of fresh opportunities will present themselves to entrepreneurial and creative young lawyers”
Richard Susskind identified 3 core drivers of this change.
- The “More for Less” Challenge- This challenge erupts from the need by clients and organizations to cut down on their budget for outsourcing their legal briefs, while the work load itself remains the same. So the question is “how can clients, working with their external law firms, deliver more legal services at less cost? The reality must dawn on firms positioning for the future to find a workable solution to deliver more while maintaining the client’s cost of service or better still reduce it.
- The Technology Challenge- Traditional firm owners will have catching up to do looking at the rate that technology is dealing with the Legal Profession. Perhaps you have heard a client say “ hey I can get that contract sample off the Internet” the reality here is that your technology is making your work as a lawyers less indispensable. And the earlier your approach is modified the better.
- The Liberalization Challenge- services rendered is constantly being watered down through an injection of 3rd party players which means lawyers are no more just competing with lawyers but with Non- Lawyers! In Nigeria, Registration of a business which was almost exclusively within the purview of a lawyer is now liberalized to accommodate other players. Compliance documentation is no more a lawyer’s affair as it were. In some countries, Non-Lawyers can now float Law firms or alternative business structures (ABSs) which allows external investment, such as private equity or venture capital, to be injected into legal businesses by outside investors; and it lets non- lawyers become owners of law firms. This shift is real.
Whilst not denying that other factors and drivers may indeed exist, emerging and existing law firms need to take keen interest in those three drivers to stay afloat in the legal business.
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