Future Law Firm Business Models

Much has been written about the pace of change facing the legal industry - how certain law firm functions are being replaced by artificial intelligence and new types of service providers, how accounting firms are looking to absorb and replace law firms, and how merging into worldwide mega firms of 3,000 to 10,000 lawyers is the only way to survive. Steve Jobs and others have called this evolution “creative destruction”. Richard Susskind referred to it years ago as “the end of lawyers”.It is true that the legal market is facing massive change. Technology, new ways of working, alternative methods of billing, and highly disruptive new entrants have all made their mark on the traditional legal business model. The Future of Law Firm Business Models takes a look at all these trends and more, horizon-scanning for future developments, and the ways in which these issues will fundamentally change the market.

MICHAEL ROSTER Michael Roster was formerly managing partner of Morrison & Foerster's Los Angeles office, co-chair of the firm's Financial Services Practice Group worldwide, and a member of the firm's policy committee. In 1993, Mike was appointed general counsel of Stanford University, Stanford Medical Center, and Stanford Management Company. He was subsequently executive vice president and general counsel of Golden West Financial Corporation. Mike has also served as chair of the Association of Corporate Counsel, as outside director and vice chair of Silicon Valley Bank, chair of the Stanford Alumni Association, steering committee co-chair of ACC's Value Challenge, and chair of two start-up companies. He currently teaches Contract Drafting and Analysis at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law and is a director of MDRC in New York, a nonprofit organization that evaluates the effectiveness of government and other programs affecting lower- and moderate-income families and individuals. PATRICK J LAMB Patrick J Lamb is one of the founding members of Valorem Law Group, LLC. After spending 18 years at an AmLaw 100 firm, including several years as an equity partner, Pat left the firm to join a litigation boutique, where he spent seven years, including six as a member of the firm's management committee. During these years, he was an avid proponent of budgeting and non-hourly fee arrangements. Ultimately coming to the conclusion that firms could not exist in both the hourly and non-hourly worlds, Pat and three colleagues, all big firm refugees, formed Valorem, which began in January 2008 as a non-hourly, value-fee firm. The firm represents businesses in complex disputes, and has more than doubled in size since its inception. Described by one in-house lawyer as "one of the few lawyers who gets it", Pat was named a legal rebel by the American Bar Association in 2009 and is a frequent speaker on value fees and the role of project management in the successful use of value fees. He began writing the popular blog `In Search Of Perfect Client Service' in 2005. MATTHEW KELLETT Matthew Kellett is Head of Law in EY's UK Financial Services Organization. He joined in 2014 to establish the practice, and now leads teams focused on Legal transformation (supporting in-house legal departments in setting strategy, managing legal risk, and transforming the function to meet the changing needs of the business), legal managed services, and Financial Services regulation. Prior to joining EY, Matthew was a partner at Linklaters, before going into banking. He returned to the legal profession in 2010 as head of finance at BLP. He is a frequent speaker on the changing face of the legal profession and the rise of LawTech. RACHEL KHIARA Rachel Khiara Rachel Khiara, Principal at Khiara Law LLP, is a pre-eminent advisor in the professional practices sector, working with leading and niche firms, and new entrants into the legal services sector on a wide range of constitutional, financial and structuring issues. SCOTT MOZARSKY Scott Mozarsky is Vannin Capital's managing director - North America, with overall responsibility for Vannin's North American business. Prior to joining Vannin, Scott was president of Bloomberg Law, leading Bloomberg's business across the legal market. Scott was also responsible for building and leading the Bloomberg Next organization across Bloomberg's industry verticals, which included Bloomberg BNA, Bloomberg Government and Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Prior to joining Bloomberg, Scott held a number of executive business and legal roles during a 13-year tenure in the United Business Media plc Group. As president - media and marketing services for UBM Tech, he was responsible for building UBM Tech's marketing services business and driving the evolution of leading websites such as Information Week. com and EE Times. As EVP chief commercial officer of its subsidiary, PR Newswire, Scott oversaw PRN's commercial activities worldwide, which involved spearheading the company's efforts to meet the communications, marketing, investor relations and compliance needs of its customers. From 2002-09, Scott served as general counsel and headed up global corporate development and M&A for United Business Media Limited's US-based subsidiaries. In that role, his organization played a lead role in transforming UBM from a North American-centric print media group to a global provider of integrated digital and live event solutions. Scott also spent eight years at two multinational law firms representing media, technology, telecommunications, insurance and manufacturing companies. Scott, who speaks Japanese and lived in Japan, has advised numerous companies on business, financial and legal issues arising out of cross-border transactions. CHRIS HOWE Chris Howe is a director of Raedbora Consulting. In his consulting role he advises legal clients on pricing and practice management (including restructuring and day-to-day performance improvement). He also advises buyers of legal services on legal procurement reviews. Chris's clients include top 20 international law firms as well as FTSE 100 businesses. For ten years he was a director of a UK top 20 law firm where he was head of pricing and conducted innovative research into pricing with Cranfield School of Management. He also has 10 years' consulting experience with PwC, Ernst & Young, and Deloitte. Chris is an international speaker and author on pricing and professional services ROBERT MILLARD Robert Millard is founder and a partner at Cambridge Strategy Group, a management consultancy based in Cambridge, UK, focused primarily on law and other professional service fi rms and other deep knowledge enterprises. Rob is immediate past co-chair of the IBA's Law Firm Management Committee and currently serves on the steering committee of the IBA's President's Task Force on the Future of Legal Services. JASON MOYSE Jason Moyse has served on global teams implementing major customer experience initiatives as a connector/doer/spark and key trusted advisor to the c-suite, senior leadership and governance teams for legal and business matters. His broad background includes private legal practice in high volume commercial litigation as well as serving as in-house counsel in legal and business roles. A member of various boards centered on legal innovation including MDR Labs, he is also the principal of Law Made - an agency supporting the makers of legal innovation. Previously, he co-created and executed on the vision of LegalX through the MaRS Discovery District. Jason also serves as manager of legal business solutions on behalf of Elevate Services - a next generation legal service provider helping law firms and corporate legal departments improve efficiency, quality, and outcomes through consulting, managed services, technology, and talent. RACHEL BRUSHFIELD Rachel Brushfield is The Talent Liberator at Energise, a career strategist, coach, marketing mentor and published author with over 30 years' experience. Helping women lawyers to "blow their own trumpet" is a specialism. Rachel's career heritage is in marketing and brand strategy and communications for communication agencies including J Walter Thompson, expertise she now uses to help women lawyers to liberate their talent and market themselves confidently and competently. Services include individual career coaching, executive coaching, events, workshops, and content creation for The Law Society, AWS, LexisNexis and AWLL. Rachel is a published author in talent management, professional development, work-life balance, and gender balance. She is co-founder of PWHub - Inspiring Professional Women, a network exclusively for senior women employed in Oxfordshire companies, and was shortlisted in the entrepreneur category of the We are the city 2018 "Rising star" awards, one of only 200 women in the UK. JAE UM Jae Um is an insights analyst and business designer for fast-changing legal markets, with more than ten years of legal industry experience. Jae leverages diverse skills across design-driven research, visual analytics, strategy development, and creative storytelling to generate insights that busy, important people actually want to read and are able to use. She is a contributing author to Legal Evolution, American Lawyer, and other publications covering the legal industry. Prior to Six Parsecs, Jae served in a progression of high-impact roles in client service innovation and strategic growth at Seyfarth Shaw. TONY YOUNG As a partner in BDO Brisbane's Business Services division, Tony Young provides taxation and commercial advice to a diverse selection of clients, including professionals, property developers, manufacturers and retailers. Tony works with clients from a wide range of backgrounds, particularly family owned and operated businesses and professional service firms looking to grow their operations. As lead partner of the firm's estate planning service offering, Tony works proactively with his clients to protect their assets and eliminate confusion surrounding their financial affairs. He works in conjunction with his clients, their solicitor and financial planner to deliver a comprehensive estate plan that meets their unique needs. Major achievements to date include planning and implementing the succession strategy for a substantial family owned enterprise, which involved solving significant tax and stamp duty problems and working within the family dynamics to ensure a cohesive management group. Tony has also been involved in significant restructures of professional service firms including incorporations, mergers and acquisitions.