PwC makes another big NewLaw move

With the headline “Firm hires partners to build out its ‘new law’ capability” the New Law Journal reports that PwC, UK has just recruited two partners with the mandate to create a major NewLaw capability.

The intent is to fast-track the infrastructure and capacity to deliver managed legal services solutions for large corporations.

This announcement comes hot on the heels of PwC’s takeover of GE worldwide internal tax services, announce a few weeks ago and reported on Dialogue here.

Andrew Giverin and Jason McQuillen, the two new PwC partners, were co-founders of Radiant Law with Alex Hamilton, CEO of the UK’s Radiant Law. 

Quoted, Jason said: “The insights, full-service capability and technology-enabled solutions that PwC can bring to bear make it uniquely placed to help solve the core challenges facing large in-house legal teams and better align them to the business. PwC was the natural next step for us and we are thrilled to be joining the team (emphasis added).” Enough said, this statement says it all. PwC – and the other Big Four – have the platforms, scale, global reach and client base to simply plug-in a managed legal services function. I estimate the global market size for managed legal services to be in the order of $10B. 

Then add analytics and technology-based delivery to this fee base and the enormity of the threat to incumbent BigLaw firms becomes ominously clear.

Which of the large BigLaw global firms will be the first to go up against PwC? And which of the managed legal services providers like Axiom Law and LOD will be able to mix it with PwC? Game on in earnest.

Postscript: Deloitte too

In March last year Deloitte acquired Conduit Law of Toronto to provide outsourced lawyers to provide support corporate legal teams and law firms.

George Beaton