publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/550988
ILTA WHITE PAPER: JULY 2015 WWW.ILTANET.ORG 33 market, there are new kinds of competitors, smart technology is taking off and law firms have to reinvent themselves in a leaner, more agile and more responsive model." WINDS OF CHANGE There are current developments and forces causing change in the legal profession: Increased Competition: Lawyers no longer have a monopoly on the provision of legal advice. Accountants, financial planners, human resource consultants and other professionals offer guidance and advice to clients about rights and entitlements, and lawyers are increasingly focused on solving business problems. Thomson Reuters CEO Jim Smith recently commented in the Globe and Mail that, "Increasingly, the needs of our customers transcend industries. Lawyers need access to financial information, tax professionals need legal precedents, media need access to data, and traders act on news, legal verdicts and even social media sentiment." Global competition has also emerged from offshore law firms and legal process outsourcers (LPOs), especially from jurisdictions that share the same foundation of law (for instance, English Common Law). Industry Consolidation: The big are getting bigger and more global. The creation of global law firms through mergers and other business structures (for example, Swiss vereins) continues as firms try to match their clients' footprint through a direct presence, replacing longer-term associations and referral arrangements. Compared to other professional service firms, law firms have come to embrace this model relatively recently; accounting and management consulting firms have had an integrated international presence for many decades. Although law firms first embarked on globalization within the last 20 years, the pace has accelerated markedly. In addition, the mix of law firms in the North American landscape has changed. Some firms that were once viewed as leaders have disappeared. Most notably, the demise of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP in 2012 was a major moment for the legal industry. Similarly, the partners' decision to dissolve solvent Canadian law firm Heenan Blaikie LLP in 2014 underscored the vulnerability of midsize national law firms. Yet, these closures left barely a hole in the industry as lawyers and clients had other options. Emergence of New Business Models: New business models — including alternative business structures that permit non-lawyer investment and ownership, and multidisciplinary practices that combine legal with other professional services — are emerging internationally. EY Legal, the legal services arm of global accounting giant Ernst & Young, continues to expand; as noted in The Am Law Daily, this summer it will launch a financial regulatory practice in its London office that will be staffed by 12 lawyers, including two partners from Baker & McKenzie and Weil, Gotshal & Manges. SURVIVING DISRUPTION: KM'S ROLE IN THE FUTURE LAW FIRM Conduit's clients pay a fixed price and can adjust the firm's invoices to reflect their opinion of value received.