Challenges For Corporate Law Firms In the Decade Ahead - New Report Shows
www.LawFuel.co.nz - The Law Jobs and News Wire
Eversheds Report Discusses Work-life Balance and Other Trends Affecting Law Firms in the 21st Century
Leading UK-based, international law firm Eversheds has produced a report on the 'law firm of the future' - what both
lawyers and clients expect from law firms - with some interesting surprises.
The report was commissioned by Eversheds from specialist legal research company RSG Consulting, to take a look into the
future of law firms 10 years from now, specifically the top 25 firms by turnover. RSG also 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."
Although part of the purpose of the study was to examine the impact of the UK Legal Services Act, many of the report
conclusions have compelling relevance to law firms practising in Australia and New Zealand.
For instance: how will the law firm of the 21st century look? What challenges will it face? Will work-life balance
continue to be important to lawyers? What will happen to the billable hour? How can law firms improve their commitment
to diversity?
One of the interesting aspects of the survey is that the report interweaves the perspectives of law firm partners and
clients, showing where those perspectives agree and where they diverge from one another.
Key findings were the requirements for clients to both control their legal costs and also obtain better value from their
lawyers. Although the role of the hourly fee is likely to remain, with over 80% of lawyers and clients believing it will
still be here in 10 years time, many corporates nevertheless believe there need to be more commercial, transparent
billing arrangements whereby risks are shared by clients and lawyers alike.
There was also a clear feeling that the rate of high fee growth cannot be sustained and there will be more 'value
billing'.
Also significant from the UK perspective was the impact of the major 'Magic Circle' firms, whose importance is likely to
diminish somewhat as clients see themselves shopping outside of the City's major, legal marketplace and spreading their
work among other firms.
Further, the trend toward "commoditised" provision of legal services, while likely to continue, is also something that
has not found favour with many clients requiring services from top, corporate practices.
Rather, clients expect tailored, specialised service and value. But they require it to be delivered with a close eye on
commercial considerations and there is a perceived requirement for additional, commercial consulting services as well as
legal advice from the major firms.
Work-life balance is another key issue. Somewhat surprisingly, given publicity over work-life issues in major law firms,
partners were generally happy (at least 77% of them though their firms were good places to work and a third thought
their workplaces had improved in recent years.)
The report found that law firms will likely attempt to improve attorney retention by offering alternative career paths
for lawyers and responding to the aspirations of "Generation Y" although work-life balance issues remain a tricky issue
for Gen-Y employees.
The report also noted a major gap in perception between law firm partners and associates concerning work-life balance
and attorney satisfaction. Despite partners' satisfaction associates are expressing discontent over work-life balance
issues.
About 40% of both partners and clients believed that flexible working could satisfactorily address work-life balance
issues. However, about 56% of partners and 45% of clients felt that flexible work arrangements would not be a feasible
solution, particularly in the transactional areas of law practice. One client's comment illustrates the competing
interests that will continue to make work-life balance a challenge:
ends