Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m M A Y 2 0 1 5 25 s LAW FIRMS ARE BROKEN. For the profession's long-term survival, the structure of the traditional partnership — and the traditional partner and law firm management mindset that goes along with that — need to be unpended. Call it NewLaw, call it LeanLaw, call it anything but the same old, same old. In Ontario right now there is an ongoing and fractious debate over the possibile introduction of alternative business structures — ie: non-law- yer ownership of law firms. Other provinces are also tackling the issue but chances are the initial responses in Ontario — ranging from the pre- dominantly tepid to aggressively anti — will be mirrored elsewhere. Much is being said and writ- ten about the case for and against ABS, so when we looked at what we might do on the issue for Canadian Lawyer, we felt perhaps we needed to reframe this discussion about the delivery of legal services in a way that wouldn't be so polar- izing but could also move it forward. What is perfectly clear is that the traditional partnership model based on the billable hour and partner-associate leverage is not the most viable in the long run. While the economic underpinnings of the profession, as well as the economy as a whole are changing, for the most part, law firms are not. Figures cited in the "2015 Report on the State of the Legal Market," the survey of law firm managing partners conducted by George- town Law Center for the Study of the Legal Profession and Thomson Reuters Peer Moni- tor, show the majority of managing partners recognize there has been a fundamental shift in the legal business; the fact that less than 40 per cent say they're going to do anything about it, is what's truly shocking. As management con- sultant James Bliwas wrote in a recent article: "In other words, the overwhelming majority of managing partners can see the future clearly but are choosing to ignore it." While the report focuses on the U.S. market, the following statement is generally true any- where: "[T]here is growing evidence that the market share of traditional law firms is being eroded by the presence of new competitors in the legal services sector. While the overall impact of such expanded competition remains fairly modest today, it is growing at a steady pace and, over time, promises to be even more disruptive to the near monopoly previously enjoyed by law firms in the legal services market." In Canada, you can count the big profes- sional services firms in there; almost all of them offer one or more of services tradition- ally offered by law firms: immigration law, tax law, and document/contract review. This is not offshoring but happening in the same buildings side by side with the country's big- gest law firms. They are offering clients a full array of services, and doing it all within the confines of today's regulatory regime. In other countries, they are being even bolder. This isn't even talking about legal process outsourcers — which have themselves caused both upheaval and consternation for the profession in Canada — or any other type of alternative legal service providers. Like it or not, it is happening right now. ABS or not, law firms need to start doing some long-term planning. The age of dis- ruption is upon us. So we invited some innovative firms at home and abroad to answer this question: With strong opposition to the idea of non- lawyer ownership of law firms, how can the traditional law firm partnership model be reimagined to make firms work better (for clients and all their lawyers)? In Canada, we reached out to leaders not only in firms in the corporate-commercial space — Cognition LLP — but also those aiming to serve the tens of thousands of average Canadians who might not otherwise get legal services — Axess Law — as well as small businesses and entrepreneurs — Alu- vion. Riverview Law shares a perspective from the U.K., while LegalLean leader Sey- farth Shaw LLP in the U.S. tells of its model. Read what they're doing in the following pages. If you're inspired or your firm is tak- ing a new approach — either in the way it serves clients or how the firm in managed — we want to hear about it. Send your thoughts to gail.cohen@thomsonreuters.com or leave a comment on canadianlawyermag.com.

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