The future of law - When the practice of law meets the business of law
The rise of alternate legal service providers (notably the entry of the Big Four audit firms) spells huge challenges - and opportunities - for the legal profession.
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WHEN I walked into my first law firm about 15 years ago, legal practice was equated with legal knowledge. Since that time, I have walked through many swanky doors at the world's leading law firms in the UK and US, and the message has remained constant whether you are in Singapore, London or New York: A good lawyer excels at the law. But today, the business of law has developed beyond the practice of law - and the legal profession is finding itself in the process of transformation that will redefine the roles of lawyers and law firms.
Lawyers have for decades capitalised on an asymmetry of information: legal knowledge held by a small group of professionals that allowed them to decide how, by whom and at what price, legal advice is offered. But the growth of alternate legal service providers (ALSPs) is causing unprecedented disruption to law firms. Highly geared on technology including the use of artificial intelligence (AI), ALSPs are able to do discrete tasks, such as the review of voluminous documents, at a fraction of the time and costs taken by an army of junior lawyers at law firms. With ALSPs, the users of legal services, whether the General Counsel or C-suite executives, now have control over who does what work in the legal sector. Law firms - traditionally opaque, inwardly-looking and labour-intensive - must now adapt to the changing legal market.
Why the need for change
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