The fact that 158 firms across Continental Europe took part in Legal Week’s second Independent Law Firms in Europe survey speaks volumes about the way these firms are evolving. It is hard to imagine the same number taking part in a similar exercise five years ago. Europe’s independent firms are becoming more outward-looking, media savvy even.
Evidence for this can be found within the firms’ responses to the survey itself. Despite the incursions of the international firms into their territory – and the firms themselves concede that the market share of the Anglo-Saxon giants will grow relentlessly – Europe’s independent firms are still feeding off cross-border work. Forty percent of the firms in the survey said they sourced more than half their work from overseas. And, whether they want to merge or not, the independent firms recognise the impact the large international firms have had on their domestic market, with one in three respondents describing it as ‘major’. This is significant, because it suggests that the firms that took part in the survey are not sticking their heads in the sand and appreciate that they must adapt to a new environment.
