Why are lawyers afraid of opportunity?

Why are lawyers afraid of opportunity? is a most welcome contribution to Dialogue by Dr. Floortje Blindenbach-Driessen.

When chatting with my lawyer friends, the only thing I hear is that all is sweet and well. “We have been practicing law this way for 100 years.” “Our clients hire us to address their mission-critical and complex problems, which require our in-depth expertise.” “Innovating is not something we do, lawyers are by nature risk averse and conservative.” Meanwhile, they are moving to smaller offices, further out of town, reducing their staff, and purchasing smaller lease cars. While that is just anecdotal and symptomatic evidence of tough times, there are several books that provide in-depth detail of the struggles of law firms, such as Remaking Law Firms: Why & How (American Bar Association 2016).  What I’m fascinated with is why lawyers struggle to acknowledge there is the opportunity and need for change?

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Law, where are you headed?

Today’s contribution to Dialogue is by Dr Eva Bruch of Spain. We first met when Eva engaged as a co-author in the online conversation that became NewLaw New Rules, my e-book on the NewLaw phenomenon. I am delighted to welcome Eva to Dialogue, more especially as she is the first contributor from western Europe.

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Profit, delusion and the BigLaw obsession

His K&L Gates provenance and the way our guest contributor began his article in Legal Business caught my eye. Tony Griffiths’ piece was titled “…on profit, delusion and how Big Law became obsessed with the wrong things”. With his permission, we quote Tony and reinvigorate the debate on the dangerous obsession with law firm league tables.

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Remaking the law firm ecosystem

As much as talk in legal and broader commerce overall these days centres on David v. Goliath or even the clash of the titans (think BigLaw), there’s a very faulty set of assumptions around this type of thinking. Taking the view that it’s us versus them unduly limits the possibilities not just for better delivery of current services but also the creation of new forms of value in the best interests of the ultimate client. An ecosystem approach with some level of coordination among many contributors provides the best and most interesting outcomes. It’s also a key driver of innovation.

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Legal innovation at Fireside 2019

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