How to Build the Law Firm of the Future
The onus is on law firm leaders to balance risk and opportunity. How can firms guide through an increasingly perilous landscape rife with opposing hazards to start building the law firm of the future today?
September 08, 2023 at 12:16 PM
10 minute read
In the Greek myth, Scylla and Charybdis were maritime hazards located close enough to each other that avoiding one meant passing too close to the other and falling victim to its dangers. This is not so unlike the increasing number of challenges set before law firm leaders as they try to navigate through what seems to be an increasingly perilous landscape rife with opposing hazards.
It is more expensive to operate a law firm than ever before, but demand and productivity are declining. To compensate and maintain profitability, rates are increasing, but Chief Legal Officers (CLOs) — under tremendous budgetary pressure — have set reducing outside counsel spend, right sizing legal services and cost minimization as top strategic objectives in 2023. See, 2023 ACC CLO Survey.
The vast majority (86%) of lawyers prefer working from home (see, 2023 Thomson Reuters State of the Legal Industry Report); almost half of all junior lawyers may leave a firm for a better WFH policy (see, "Where Does the Legal Profession Go From Here," ABA (Sept. 2022), but leadership fears of loss of firm culture and disengagement are driving an increase in RTO mandates (see, "A Huge Concern: Big Law Leaders Grappling with Attorney Disengagement," The American Lawyer (June 22, 2023). To compensate, firms are now placing an ever-increasing focus on how, where and what their real estate looks like, transforming their office spaces, increasing amenities and luring professionals back in a "flight to quality," but space utilization still hovers around 50%. See, Cushman & Wakefield 2023 Bright Insights.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllRed Tape, Talent Wars & Pricey Office Space Greet Firms Entering Saudi Arabia
5 minute readBaker McKenzie Accepts Defeat on Australian Integration With Firm's Asia Practice
2 minute readStars and Gripes: Merging Firms Need a ‘Superstar Culture’ for US Success
6 minute readLaw Firm Real Estate Strategy: Attorney Offices Are Out, Conference Rooms Are In
Trending Stories
- 1Judicial Ethics Opinion 24-70
- 2Decision of the Day: Judge Denies Standing for Plaintiffs in Copyright Suit Over AI Training of ChatGPT
- 3LA Judge Anne Hwang Confirmed to the Federal Bench
- 4NY Court Leaders Ask for 10% Judiciary Budget Increase
- 5ClaimClam Wanted to Boost Class Action Claims Rates. But Judges and Attorneys Fought Back
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250