Rely on the most comprehensive, up-to-date legal content designed and curated by lawyers for lawyers
Work faster and smarter to improve your drafting productivity without increasing risk
Accelerate the creation and use of high quality and trusted legal documents and forms
Streamline how you manage your legal business with proven tools and processes
Manage risk and compliance in your organisation to reduce your risk profile
Stay up to date and informed with insights from our trusted experts, news and information sources
Access the best content in the industry, effortlessly — confident that your news is trustworthy and up to date.
Find up-to-date guidance on points of law and then easily pull up sources to support your advice with Lexis PSL
With over 30 practice areas, we have all bases covered. Find out how we can help
Our trusted tax intelligence solutions, highly-regarded exam training and education materials help guide and tutor Tax professionals
Regulatory, business information and analytics solutions that help professionals make better decisions
A leading provider of software platforms for professional services firms
In-depth analysis, commentary and practical information to help you protect your business
LexisNexis Blogs shed light on topics affecting the legal profession and the issues you're facing
Legal professionals trust us to help navigate change. Find out how we help ensure they exceed expectations
Lex Chat is a LexisNexis current affairs podcast sharing insights on topics for the legal profession
Discuss the latest legal developments, ask questions, and share best practice with other LexisPSL subscribers
By Matt Whalley
The two drivers of change in the legal market today are cost and risk. A lot has been written about the effects on the legal market of client pressure to reduce cost. Unbundling, process improvement, disaggregation and alternative sourcing are the buzz-words of today. Opinions differ as to whether or not the change will be dramatic or long drawn-out. But what everyone seems to agree on is that law firms will surely look different in the future.
It is to my mind indisputable that on-going cost pressures will have a permanent effect on law firms. I can easily imagine a world where we have a small number of super firms (AOCC, anyone?) moderate numbers of large firms with near shore, north shore or offshore legal processing centres (Addleshaws, Irwin Mitchell, and Eversheds spring to mind) and a large number of small boutique service firms, newly created with different operating models.
These will be supported by increasing numbers of freelance lawyers (Lawyers on Demand, Axiom, et al), specialist legal technology and back-office providers (Integreon, for example).
The fact that (apart from the super firm) thes
Access this article and thousands of others like it free by subscribing to our blog.
Read full article
Already a subscriber? Login
Matt Whalley works for Berwin Leighton Paisner, and is setting-up their new Legal Risk Consultancy. Prior to joining BLP in 2011, Matt spent 6 years running a global legal-function transformation programme, for a large bank.
To find out more about what legal risk is, and how it can be managed effectively, read:
Legal risk: two-part definitions that identify the right risks and get the business to own them
How General Counsels can manage legal risk: Four practical techniques for a successful legal-risk framework
Managing legal risk effectively – an evolving approach
You can contact Matt by phone, e-mail or Twitter. +44 (0) 20 3400 3587 | matthew.whalley@blplaw.com | @mattwha
0330 161 1234