P2P

43 I L T A N E T . O R G G iven the increased frequency with which law firms now have to transfer client data, they should try to get better at it. In this article, Chris Giles and Kandace Donovan discuss the drivers and challenges around matter mobility management and suggest some key strategies, processes and approaches for reducing matter mobility risks and costs. First, where does the increased requirement for matter mobility come from and will it continue? In fact, there are several drivers. One is that there's now a markedly increased propensity for clients to move law firm. The financial shocks of 2008 eroded traditional loyalties as corporate clients in particular began looking instead for the best deal. They're now managing law firm activity and billing via Outside Counsel Guidelines (OCGs), and keeping track of firm performance using dedicated software, to an extent never seen before 2008. It's done with a view to ensuring they're getting plenty of bang for their legal buck, but for many it's also with a view to systematically culling the poorest performing firms on an annual basis. At the same time, and taking their clients with them, lawyers are also moving firm more often in their careers than they used to. This is either in search of a bigger salary, more status and more challenge, or conversely for less challenge and a better work life balance. Lawyers have probably always been ambitious, but they're now practicing in an altogether more competitive era, in which talent is more than ever recognized and rewarded as a lucrative commodity. Firms are jostling for that talent, so restless lawyers have more opportunity to move. Meanwhile, the desire for a better work life balance existed before the pandemic. Yet the COVID-19 lockdowns provided both an interval in which individual lawyers could take stock of life and demonstrated the degree to which modern technology can seamlessly support remote working. For some that flexibility is now what they seek or demand, sparking more lateral movement. Plus, of course, remote working both extends the geography within which a lawyer can offer their services; and lowers the barrier to "moving" because it can eliminate the upheaval of relocation when changing firms. Notionally at least, a lawyer can simply switch off a Zoom or Teams call with one firm on Friday and switch on to a new Zoom or Teams call for the same client, but with a different firm, on the Monday. It follows that if there's more choice of where you can move to, and it's less painful to change firm – more lateral movement is likely to take place. Combine these reasons and Thomson Reuters reported that turnover among US lawyers had rocketed from 15 per cent to nearly 25 per cent in the 12 months to January 2022 1 . "Lawyers are also moving firm more often in their careers than they used to."

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