5 law practice management trends that will impact every law office regardless of size and practice--Do you know what they are?

1. 5 LAW PRACTICE MANAGEMENT TRENDS YOU
NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
Durham Orange Women Attorneys
April 18, 2013
Camille Stell, Director of Client Services

2. AGENDA
 Business models – success and failure
 Evolution of the legal services market
 5 law practice management trends that will
impact every law office regardless of size and
practice

3. CASE STUDY

4. HOW DID KODAK FAIL?
 Kodak - leader in the photo film, chemical and paper
business – founded in 1889 by George Eastman
 Kodak invented the first digital camera in 1975
 1981 Kodak research reveals digital photography had
the potential to replace their film based business – and
they would have approximately 10 years to prepare for
transition
 Kodak made business decisions focusing on their core
business in film and chemical
 Regardless of their own tech breakthroughs and
accurate market assessment, Kodak failed to make the
right strategic choices
 On 1/19/12, Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection

5. CASE STUDY

6. HOW MIGHT AVIS SUCCEED?
 Avis is 3rd largest rental car company
 New model of car ownership
 Businesses such as car2go and Zipcar allow you
to sign up online, rent by the hour and pick your
car up at a local parking spot in town or in your
neighborhood
 In January 2013, Avis announced their plans to
purchase Zipcar

7. THE EVOLUTION OF THE LEGAL SERVICES
MARKET (JORDAN FURLONG, LAW21 BLOG)
Stage 1 – Closed Market – most of 20th century up
until no later than 2008
 Law has one authorized provider – lawyers
 Jobs increase out of proportion to demand for
services
 No outside competition
 No pressure to innovate
 Little incentive to use technology
 Services are expensive

8. THE EVOLUTION OF THE LEGAL SERVICES
MARKET (JORDAN FURLONG, LAW21 BLOG)
Stage 2 – Breached Market – 2008 – 2016
 Economic upheavals disrupt market
 Technology disrupts lawyers from traditional
roles
 Limited regulatory options against emerging
competition (such as Legal Zoom)
 Firms cut positions to preserve profits
 Declining demand for lawyers leads to
overcapacity in firms
 Law schools experience pressure

9. THE EVOLUTION OF THE LEGAL SERVICES
MARKET (JORDAN FURLONG, LAW21 BLOG)
Stage 3 – Fully Open Market – 2016 – 2024
 Small, high-value portion of legal work is reserved
exclusively for lawyers
 Many consumer legal services shift from lawyers to
non-lawyer providers, much corporate work shifts
from law firms to non-firm providers
 Most mid-size and large law firms downsize
dramatically and some close
 Non-lawyers evolve to fill in gaps in market
 Client access to legal services has never been
greater

10. THE EVOLUTION OF THE LEGAL SERVICES
MARKET (JORDAN FURLONG, LAW21 BLOG)
Stage 4 – Expanding Market – 2019 - ?
 Combination of multiple providers and affordable prices
open huge, previously latent market
 Innovation in services increases range and depth of
accessible legal work
 Market expansion accelerates rapidly – legal job growth
returns, systems and IT advances achieve
unprecedented levels of accuracy and efficiency in basic
documents and processes
 Routine legal work is subject to fierce competition
 Elite firms – both solo and global - thrive by handling
high-quality, highly paid, mission critical work – lawyers
are strategists, counselors and trusted advisors

11. 5 TRENDS
 Staffing the law office of the future
 Location for the law office of the future
 Products for the law office of the future
 Providing legal services for the future client
 Be open to change

12. DON’T MAKE THE KODAK MISTAKE
 Have a mindset open to change
 Think and act holistically
 Adapt to changing conditions
 Research, study, assess market changes then use
the information for strategic decision making
and continual evolution of your strategy
 (Ideas from The Decision Loom written by former
Kokak manager Vince Barabba)

13. RESOURCES
 Divorce Discourse – law practice management blog written by
Raleigh attorney Lee Rosen
 A Byte of Prevention – Lawyers Mutual blog
 Law 21 – blog by lawyer strategic consultant Jordan Furlong – The
Evolution of the Legal Services Market – 4 part series December
2012
 Growth is Dead e-book available on the Adam Smith Esq. website –
written by lawyer and consultant Bruce MacEwen
 The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services by
Richard Susskind
 ABA Law Practice Magazine Jan / Feb 2013 – “Reinventing Law
Firms” – with a feature story on Raleigh NC firm Morningstar
 NC Bar Association Law Practice Management section
 ABA Law Practice Management section

14. CONTACT INFORMATION
Camille Stell, Director of Client Services
Lawyers Mutual Liability Insurance Company Of North Carolina
P.O. Box 1929, Cary, NC 27512-1929
Tele: 919.677.8900 | 800.662.8843
www.lawyersmutualnc.com
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@LawyersMutualNC, @CamilleStell, @MarkScruggsEsq,
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