Client-informed research on innovation in legal services

‘Client-informed research on innovation in legal services’ by Shanan Kan and George Beaton was published in the June issue of the Association of Corporate Counsel (Australia) Journal.

The article is based on a world-first 62-page report that probes Client-led Innovation in Legal Services and delivers penetrating and actionable insights in this critical area.

Most media and conference coverage of legal services innovation focuses on technology, but is this how clients see the world? The answer is No, at least not directly. Technology delivers many faster–better–cheaper benefits. And it’s these clients seek.

A selection of highlights

When asked ‘What makes law firms innovative’ only 15% cited something related to technology. This is not surprising; the office towers of Australia in-house lawyers grapple daily with many more things where innovations, other than technology, would make a big difference to getting work done in a better, faster and cheaper way.
Startlingly, more than one in four of all respondents replied ‘Nothing’ when asked whether they could name any law firm they would regard as innovative.
And of the firms that were nominated as innovative, two-thirds were not the primary firm for the respondent. It seems most clients need to look over the fence to find innovative firms – and then the question is are these firms amenable to and capable of helping?
When their current firms are not delivering, is it any wonder why clients are looking to competitors for innovation? When asked if they had personally experienced an outstanding example of innovation that addressed their needs, three in four respondents said ‘No’.
To test the well-known truism that a professional services provider can only be as good as their client will allow we asked the respondents how important innovation was to achieving their job-related KPIs. One-third said ‘Very important’ and of these eight in ten said advice from outside law firms on new technologies and processes was important. Clearly, there is pent-up, unmet demand.
Yet when asked about internal innovations of their law departments, only 11% said these innovations were co-designed and implemented with a law firm. There is an obvious need – and opportunity – for law firms to collaborate with their clients that’s not being filled.