Law Firm Business Model

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RE-ENTRY PRESENTS AN UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITY FOR LAW FIRMS TO ADVANCE

This is my seventh post about law firms in the Coronavirus Crisis.

“Re-entering” from the crisis offers law firms an unprecedented opportunity to improve themselves.  Law firm leaders should take it seriously.

The opportunity derives from several elements.  

          A Chance for a Reset

First, re-entry creates a genuine moment for a reset.  This will not be just another Monday morning.  Firms will be moving from several months of doing everything differently.  They now must actively, literally decide how to do things going forward.

          New Normal Is in the Air

Second, “new normal” is in the air.  It would be an overstatement to say that everyone is expecting a new normal, but nearly everyone is wondering if firms will learn from recent events, and, I think, hoping they will.  

          Pre-Existing Imperative for Change

Third, law firms recognized an imperative for change before the crisis.  They knew their processes and models were behind the times, but the cost and inconvenience of change outweighed the benefits.  This imperative is only greater as we appraoch re-entry.
Continue Reading Three Building Blocks to Make Law Firm Re-Entry the Most it Can Be

THE FUTURE OF LEGAL SERVICES WILL NOT BE BUSINESS AS USUAL

This is my sixth post about law firms in the Coronavirus Crisis.

As governments around the US and the world begin to ease restrictions on social interaction, law firms, like all other business entities, are planning for “re-entry.” 

When law firms return from the compelled remote working experience, will they return to business as usual?  Will the fundamental operating models be the same as before?  Or will there be a “new normal”?  These are very real, and very important questions all law firm leaders need to answer.

History suggests that law firms revert to past practice once a crisis passes.  It is what they did after the financial crisis of 2008.  It is in their nature, they are trained to rely on precedent, and the old ways of working produce reliable results. 

I believe this time will be different for two fundamental reasons.  
Continue Reading Law Firms Must Look Ahead to a Very Different “New Normal”

Thoroughly Examining Lessons from the Coronavirus Crisis Operating Model

This is my fifth post about law firms in the Coronavirus Crisis.

In an earlier post, I suggested law firms pursue three ideas to navigate this crisis: Lead, Manage, and Learn.  This week I address the third idea.

There is a lot to learn

Two months into the crisis, most law firm leaders are well into the process of anticipating what the future holds, and getting ready for it.  Of course, no one actually knows what lies ahead, but we have increasing clues, and a growing understanding that the future will be different: a “new normal.” 

I have spoken directly to a large number of law firm leaders in the last few weeks about the impact of the crisis on their firms, and how they are managing and leading through it.  I am encouraged by how thoughtful they are being about the entire range of issues, including, specifically, the health and well-being of their people.  

Most law firm leaders are confident that demand will eventually return to robust levels. I think they are right.  The challenge will be staking out a strategy to continue to win at least as great a share of that demand as the firm did before the crisis.

Most law firm leaders also realize that the new normal will be even more competitive than before.  As they rebound from the financial impact of the crisis, clients will be more exacting in their standards, expecting greater value for each dollar they spend on legal services.  And the competitors, including ALSP’s and in-house solutions, as well as other law firms, will provide clients worthy alternatives to consider.   

I believe the most important change in the new normal will be in the way the law firms will operate and do their work. 
Continue Reading A Time to Learn: Three Questions Law Firms Should Ask to Prepare for the “New Normal”

THE TRADITIONAL MODEL WILL CHANGE IN FIVE FUNDAMENTAL WAYS 

I wrote last week about law firms’ increased focus on innovation, the market forces behind it, and why it is important to the overall modernization of legal services.  

I believe this innovation effort will inexorably lead to five fundamental changes in the law firm business model.  Each change will have an impact on the others; once one changes, the others will necessarily adapt. 

Here’s how I think it will work:

Innovation Is a Search for a Better Way

To innovate is “to make changes in something established, especially by introducing new methods, ideas, or products.”  In legal services, innovation involves re-examining the established way of doing things and finding better ways that new methods, ideas, and tools make possible. 

Innovation is a search for a better way. A search that is motivated by a realization that the traditional way is no longer satisfactory.  It works, but not well enough.  It fails to draw adequately on the new reality of what is possible.  It is falling short of what the market is now demanding.

As they proceed to innovate, firms are finding that their business model needs to adapt to make a better way possible. 
Continue Reading Innovation Will Change the Law Firm Business Model