Legal Marketing & PR

The Law Firm Of The Future - What Will Your Law Job Look Like?

By lawjobspipeline

UK lawyers Eversheds has released a report it commissioned from RSG Consulting on the future of law, “Law Firm of the 21st Century” which has stirred considerable interest among the legal community and blogs like JD Bliss.

RSG surveyed 50 top partners of the leading law firms in the United Kingdom and 50 general counsels, legal directors, and finance directors of some of “the world’s most prominent companies and investment banks.”  The interesting thing about the report is that it merges the views of the lawyers with those of their clients to see where the overlap is and where there’s divergence. 

No surprises in some respects, clients want to control costs and get greater value.  As a result, some of the key findings from the report include the concept of firms sharing risks with clients to ensure greater client control over cost outcomes.

‘Value-based’ billing is another likely development that will grow in popularity, along with greater billing transparency.  The other development, fully embraced by full-service, former ‘accounting’ practices, is the use of full business service firms that provide a range of consultancy services along with legal services.

One of the interesting points of divergence was not between lawyer and client, but rather between partner and associate. The former tended to like what they were doing, albeit wishing for less stress and workload, while associates tended to show considerable discontent over work/life balance and related issues.

The whole work/life balance issue is one that will continue to exercise the minds and approaches of law firms into the future, as Gen-Yers and others continue to assert their concerns and interests, while the firms continue to proceed with a model that, while not perfect, delivers the financial and service goals it requires.

Full post as published by Lawyer Marketing Blog on April 02, 2008 (boomark / email).