Law.com’s Breaking Tradition series launched in August 2020, and we wanted to start it then because we felt the practice of law was at an inflection point: where traditional law firms still held the upper hand, but the influence of alternative legal service providers (ALSPs) and non-traditional law firms could no longer be ignored as a driving force in the industry. Given the changing rules surrounding ownership of law firms, increased legal hiring from the Big 4, and more, that inflection point has only become more stark.
Many attorneys, technologists and legal experts think change in the legal ecosystem will only continue to accelerate in 2021. But it’s not just ALSPs on their mind—it’s how law firms and corporate legal departments fundamentally interact with their data, their people, and even each other. Here’s what they believe will be new for the business of law in the coming year.
