NewcastleAcross the country, with the automation of bulk or ‘commodity’ legal work continuing apace, a diverse range of law firms have had to re-engineer their businesses, in some cases having to create completely new organisations staffed largely by non-lawyers as well as developing new processes, workflows and IT systems.

McKeags, a 160-people strong firm based in the northeast, is one of the firms most affected by the massive cultural changes arising from the automation of commodity work. The majority of its revenue – and the key to its rapid growth from a traditional northern high street practice to a growing, corporate-focused organisation – stems from McKeags’ close relationship with some of the UK’s major lenders, such as Northern Rock.