ContactNext Generation Law Practice
Posted Tuesday, March 17, 2009 by Jim Ruttler.
Last week I commented on the problems that Big Law Firms will face in the coming years because of the unsustainability of their business models. While some well run larger firms will continue to exists and successfully service some larger clients, a new model will begin to thrive and prosper by providing high quality legal services at much more reasonable rates. This new model will be a loose affiliation of independent lawyers or small groups of lawyers specializing in a particular practice area. The independent lawyers may be geographically dispersed across the country or even the world and will likely work from home or otherwise out of the office. They will service their own clients utilizing a central office space, which may be shared with others, and also will assist multiple other lawyers in servicing other clients, whenever the lawyer’s specialized knowledge is required. When the need arises, lawyers can come together as a unit using technology to work on a particular project and then can disband and work with other lawyers on other projects. Lawyers will become discrete knowledge centers that can be tapped by clients and other lawyers utilizing technology whenever that knowledge is needed and lawyers will survive on their legal abilities as well as their abilities to market themselves in a competitive environment.