I attended a panel discussion on law firm innovation this springhosted by an international firm. It was full of great anecdotesfrom the firm, clients and consultants on ways it and othersshould, could and are changing the business of law. But then one ofthe firm's clients stood up to say something.
The client directed his comment to the head of the firm, saying,essentially: "I hear what you and other firm leaders are saying,but I'm telling you that when I work with partners at your firm andothers on actual matters, this change management is not filteringdown."
Ouch. Was this just a tough client? Or was it indicative of howclients really feel? Then a few weeks later, Altman Weil's LawFirms in Transition Survey came out, showing that clients and firmleaders actually share some of the same frustrations. The numberone reason that firm leaders cited for why they aren't doing moreto change is that partners resist most of those efforts.
Maybe that has to do with the second most-cited reason forresistance to change: Firms haven't felt enough pain in theirpurses to force change. As futurist Richard Susskind has said inhis books on the changing legal landscape, "it's hard to convince aroom full of millionaires that they have a business modelwrong."
But you'd think clients would be more convincing. Organizationslike the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium have an increasinglyloud drum beat for efficiency and innovation in law firms and itsmembers work in some of the largest companies in the world.
A former GC of a major fast-food company who spoke on theinnovation panel said she expected law firms to come to her with apre-packaged suite of services that included partnering withalternative legal service providers. If they didn't, she'd put onetogether for them.
And there is no doubt legal services are becoming increasinglydisaggregated. According to ALM Intelligence's report earlier thismonth on what keeps general counsel up at night, 73 percent oflegal work is going in-house, 2 percent is going to alternativeservice providers and the rest to law firmswho often are leftsplitting the work among themselves even further.
Despite law firm managers' frustration with their partners, theydon't all seem to be clamoring for change either. In meetings withlaw firms this year, I've come across a few approaches toinnovation, and honestly the interest in change never has reachedthe enthusiasm for change other pockets of the industry espouse.Perhaps for good reason. I don't know.