5th anniversary of NewLaw New Rules

It is trite to say that the legal profession is in a state of constant flux and has been for some time but that is the reality for all who call themselves members of this great profession. It brings to mind the opening stanza of Rudyard Kipling’s seminal poem “If”; If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs… In these uncertain and troubling times when the balance to be struck by law firm leadership between dealing with daily crises and executing a coherent macro strategy has never been more challenging or problematic, it becomes all the more important to have access to resources and perspectives that bring order to chaos, encouragement to doubt and maybe even hope to despair. Which is why NewLaw New Rules has been and will continue to be such an important resource.

Richard Burcher
Managing Director, Validatum

Congratulations on five years of NLNR! The e-book, a great publication, was itself just the launching point of a dynamic and vital global conversation about the new realities of buying and selling legal services, a conversation that gathers more voices and takes on more importance every year. I look forward to continuing to listen in on and contribute to this collaborative effort in the years to come, as we continue to make our way slowly but certainly to a better market for legal services.

Jordan Furlong
Principal, Law21

NewLaw New Rules was a call to action, which remains required reading for those of us trying to make a ‘dent in the universe’. The incremental change we observe in the real world, rather than the attention-grabbing headlines promising breakthroughs, might lull us into thinking that nothing much is going on. But change is happening around us. Law company Elevate’s sales in 2013 were around $7m. Five years later they are around $50m. And I hope we crack $100m revenue in 2019. We are just one member of the NewLaw community, but I suspect that our metrics represent broader movement in the market.

Liam Brown
Founder and Executive Chairman, Elevate

At some level the disappointment at the slow rate of change is a subjective response and I suspect ‘twas ever thus. When one is part of a group seeing a need for clear actions to improve the status quo, anything that slows down the forward progress and evolutionary improvements will be a disappointment. That having been said, part of the essential problem is that the legal industry is not built for speed. The important insight here is to use the legal industry’s slow, plodding and resistant approach to change and harness that to find incremental and value-driven improvement. What that might be in your firm, with your lawyers, in your department, is entirely up to you to determine. This is not a one-size-fits-all moment. Looking toward the positive events of the past few years, 5 years ago the term “NewLaw” was, itself, new and not generally understood, known or accepted. This is no longer the case. NewLaw is here to stay. However, it is fair to ask sometimes, what precisely is NewLaw and what does it do. That is a fair question, and one for which there are many powerful, real and effective answers. NewLaw may still be a small… Read more »

I guess the one thing I would say of note is that, as someone who teaches a course about the Future of Legal Practice, I would say that, there is a richer, more diverse set of successes and failures to talk about. AI, especially machine learning, has come on apace – if more slowly than hype suggests. Access to justice remains a key area where government retreats from public funding for legal services and cultural resistance continues to lead to disappointment. And students are much, much more interested in the kinds of thing your book covers than 5 years ago.

Richard Moorhead
Professor of Law and Professional Ethics, University College London

Five years ago you started a discussion about present and predicted developments in the legal services sector. You asked law firm leaders, practitioners, academics, and consultants to use our crystal balls and forecast the future. In 2013, many in the industry were stuck in our old models and traditional ways of thinking about legal services delivery, law firm economics, managing knowledge, processes, talent, and clients. Mentioning procurement’s involvement in buying legal services still raised eyebrows and earned scorn. But your group of experts had ideas about what would be next. We were all convinced that new models and approaches were needed to suit the changed market environment. Five years later, some of the changes have taken place. “Alternative” providers have become mainstream, lawyers work on project fees without batting their eyelashes. Firms have R&D departments. Procurement has earned its seat at many corporate tables. The question remains: What will be next? Is it time for NewLaw NewRules 2.0? George — I thought you might find this amusing: Back in 2013, the Legal Marketing Association’s magazine asked me and others to predict future important changes in our industry. This was my “fun” submission. It no longer sounds that “futuristic”, does it?… Read more »

I make 5 observations on progress on the 5th anniversary of NewLaw New Rules: (1) Progress in changing the norms in legal can be glacial when compared to the pace of change in other industries and professions, so my first take is that to some, not as much has changed since 2013 as we would have liked or hoped. But there are notable changes, especially if you took a snapshot of legal in 2013 and compared it to 2018: the rise of the importance, influence and even dominance of Legal Ops in law departments, the greatly increased use of data and tech in legal practice (even if not yet optimal or always as robust), an improved understanding of legal cost (versus price) in driving greater efficiency and value, the focus on future success (and yes, relevance) being tied to re-tooling lawyers’ skillset to include many other competencies beyond legal expertise (business, finance, process/project management, teaming, critical evaluation, procurement, tech, data analytics, EQ, leadership, etc.), and more. (2) Law firms’ competition has changed: from competition with other law firms with similar practices, to competition with their clients, law companies, and managed service behemoths such as the Big4. This means that the… Read more »

After five years, the temptation is strong to sift through the hype, highlight nuggets of change, and congratulate ourselves. But, years ago as I was learning lean thinking in Japan and in the US, I was taught you need to focus on what has not happened. That list is as long as it was five years ago. We can chalk the glacial progress up to Diffusion Curve theory that Bill Henderson brought to our attention. For clients and those without access to justice it has meant another five years enduring a profession lacking vision and the inner strength to fulfill its mission. In the meantime, the economy has enjoyed five years of a ten-year bull run. According to lenders, Big Law is poised to have its best year since the recession. Signs point to that bull run ending. As I write this, GM and Ford are preparing themselves for the downturn. Wise business leaders look to the future and prepare before the future arrives. The legal industry, with no shortage of intellect, still lacks such leaders. Big Law and corporate law departments have not prepared. The fire burning around them grew stronger while they fiddled. The last downturn caught the… Read more »

When you stop a moment to take stock of change in the legal industry, there are two overriding impressions. The first is that there has been and continues to be substantial, arguably dramatic, shifts in the practice of legal services, driven by technological advances and shifting patterns in demand. The second is that the pace of change in the majority of legal firms, in how they are structured, and in how they practice is not nearly as fast as it needs to be. NewLaw New Rules laid out valuable principles and guidelines for how legal services organizations can keep ahead of a rapidly changing environment. These principles are just as valid today. The opportunity for those firms who adapt faster than others is immense.

Ross Dawson
Futurist, Keynote speaker and Strategy advisor

So much has happened in the industry that it seems impossible it’s only been 5 years. For me personally, I’m focused on creating better digital experiences in the legal space through my new(ish) company, Theory and Principle. The good news is that in the last 5 years, the industry has tackled a lot of automation and other efficiency gains through technology, but now the focus needs to be on making those functions easier and more enjoyable to use in order to increase technology adoption across the industry. It’s heartening to see firms focused on automation and creating greater value for their clients, but it still feels like a lot of firms are trying to decide what their soul is and how to evolve the firm to reflect that despite structural limitations inherent in the traditional law firm business model. I expect that struggle will continue into the next 5 years and beyond.

Nicole Bradick
Founder and CEO, Theory and Principle

I see in the Asia-Pacific region in particular a rapid acceleration of technological innovation and utilization of technology to advance the provision of legal services. This acceleration has been particularly pronounced in 2018. Some traditional law firms and many NewLaw firms and legal startups are a part of this trend, including quasi-governmental organizations. I would expect there would be more to come in 2019. Again in the Asia-Pacific region – infrastructure development – including China’s Belt and Road initiative and Japan’s sizable expansion of regional infrastructure spending – have been met by law firm initiatives focused on meeting the needs of the companies and governments integral to this development. The amount written about these initiatives by law firms and legal services sector media, as well as regional trade and development organizations – is accelerating so rapidly it’s very difficult to keep up with it all. But it is having a big effect on law firms who see the opportunity clearly and are working to become a key support to these initiatives.

Although it took a bit longer than I anticipated, the best law firms have (or are currently) restructuring their business models to meet both client demands and to provide a healthier environment for their lawyers and staff. However (if I can use a seasonal analogy) many are still just putting NewLaw tinsel on the same old tired tree. The trick for clients (and lawyers) is finding the substance amongst the spin.

Ken Jagger
Co-Founder & Director, Lawyers On Demand

One seeks to see the future with a high degree of peril, but those who refuse to embrace that risk travel through life unable to choose the direction they will travel and certainly unable to influence the course of events. NewLaw New Rules dared to look into the future, and the passage of time confirms that you did so with enviable clarity. The industry has continued to be in some turmoil, at least for those outside the comfortable few at the top. At the core of that turmoil, in my view at least, is the widening gap between the pace of change in law, which continues to move slowly in many areas, and the exploding change in the businesses we hope to serve. When looked at on an industry-wide level, the gap is widening exponential rate. This widening gulf between traditional law and present and future demands has opened the door to fierce competition from law companies, accounting firms, tech companies and others who see the legal business in ways that are fundamentally different than the vision of law firms. Will the future continue to prove your vision correct, or will the trends now so evident continue and accelerate even… Read more »

In December 2013 Riverview Law was less than two years old. Our original plans had already changed as we engaged with customers and started to understand what they would actually buy and how we should position our solutions. We’d shifted our focus from mid-sized companies to global corporations. We’d begun to better understand and more clearly articulate (although still poorly) the need for a ‘Legal Operations Platform’ not a series of point solutions (we can explain this better today!). We were investing significant capital in data management, analytics, project management and legal operations at the expense of short-term profitability. 2013 was both a fun and frustrating year as we tried to grapple with the peculiarities of the legal market when compared with other markets that we had all been involved in. We did not know in December 2013 that in 2014 we would create Kim and ‘cement-in’ the global managed service operating model that would see EY acquire Riverview Law in 2018. Looking back I think that the big picture, the general direction of travel for the legal market, was as clear in 2013 as it is today; change is being driven by customers, the increasing thirst for data and… Read more »