If you have read my articles, you've probably noticed that a trend has been flushing across the board. What is interesting is that my pre-pandemic research content was more focused on the Law Firm of the future, which seemed somewhere far and "yet to look into", and here I am today, not too long after, writing in the present moment. Little did I know that the future was going to arrive so fast. It is also interesting to write remotely about the impact of the pandemic in another country or even another continent in a time where it seems like the world stopped. It is very difficult, however, to judge the situation from afar while sitting in a New York apartment. Yesterday, for a moment, I thought to myself "what if one day I will lack topics to write to about?". And then I've realized that as long the wheel is spinning, we will be alright; the world will come back to the "new normal" and we will see the light at the end of the tunnel. Western Europe, seemed to have been hit the hardest by the pandemic and I am not an expert in the field to tell you why, all I can tell is that a period of changes is approaching in countries like the UK, France, and Italy as well. In the UK, we have seen an upcoming trend of new model consultant solicitor firms. It is very likely that they have potential to permanently change the legal profession, accelerated by the effects of coronavirus lockdown. Arden Partners estimates that in the next five years, a third of the UK lawyers could be working under a consultancy model, which by the way is already happening in the US., without a central office base. Additionally, legal analysts say that Covid-19 pandemic has acted as a catalyst for disruption, exposing outdated operating models of some existing firms and changing lawyers' mindsets about how they want to work in the future. The legal consultancy businesses are now in a strong position to take advantage where remote working has become the norm during lockdown. The truth is that consultancy-based legal businesses are now in a very strong position to act as the lead consolidator given that the UK legal sector remains exceptionally fragmented. What puts them ahead of the traditional firms is the following:
- higher quality infrastructure for managing and delivering legal services;
- they are much better-placed to recruit lawyers directly, without the cost and risks of M&A;
- the recent rapid adoption of home working has accelerated the appeal of "officeless" legal advice to lawyers and clients.
As fancy as it may have sounded in the past and appealing to many lawyers, the big law firms were designed to make life easier for lawyers who worked endless hours with in-house coffee bars, gyms and even hairdressers. However, those perks became obsolete with lawyers having to work from home. This is a massive shift for a profession often criticised for a culture of long hours and office presenteeism. Firms like Linklaters and Slater & Gordon have said that homeworking will become the norm for many lawyers.
The consultancy firm RSG has run a survey on 62 UK law firms focused on the impact of the pandemic on their work. The results of the survey, unsurprisingly, showed that remote working actually showed a rise in productivity. Another positive impact is that the pandemic has accelerated the use of technology, such as video calls, electronic signature and document management systems.
In addition, having experienced myself how lack of training can really slow you down at the jumpstart of your career, I can see how the pandemic can benefit many new legal professionals, because many law firms are taking a more proactive approach to training. Legal training was a huge and important missing part, which now seemed to have come up with a solution, and I personally feel great about it.
Wolters Kluwer' new survey report Impact of the COVID Crisis on the Legal Sector shows the following:
- 52% of law firms indicate that they will work from home more in the future. 62% of legal professionals also say that they will increasingly collaborate remotely with colleagues and third parties going forward.
- 66% of law firms report that they will improve the way they virtually/digitally communicate with clients.
- Most respondents across Europe also see changes to the courtroom coming, with 41% expecting an acceleration of remote, virtual hearings as a new way to interact with judges in the future.
There is no doubt about the fact that law firms will continue to invest, more than ever, in legal technology to support remote work, in-house collaboration, business continuity and client service. Over 56% of law firms in Europe indicate that they their need for legal technology solutions has increased as a result of the COVID crisis and 65% report that their investment in legal solutions will stay the same or increase moving ahead. Which category does your law firm fall under?
by Galina Barbascumpa