Innovation – friend or foe?

For too long, law firms have been reluctant to innovate. Sure, email alerts from well-known commentaries are often reporting on innovation in a particular area or firm but they really are few and far between when you consider the number of legal service providers.

Willingness on behalf of the profession to embrace innovation played its part and whilst much has changed within legal services to create the opportunity to innovate, my concern is that parts of the profession have yet to fully embrace these opportunities. Yes, provision of legal services has come a long way with digital signing technology and video conferencing as examples. Equally, marketing legal services has advanced from online strategies and client portals to fully outsourced functions and automated document production. Further still, new and complex structures in the form of ABSs have been allowed to compete in what was once a protected arena.

All positive stuff but far too many organisations are still not taking action. I’m fortunate enough during my stint as an Officer and President of Manchester Law Society to meet a variety of solicitors and stakeholders in this industry over the last 4 years. The majority accepted the need to innovate and adapt in order to survive and compete. However, most of those who knew they needed to do something were then held back by the fear of taking action and the cost – it was all too new and unchartered territory.

It was a lot easier to assume that to innovate was a costly exercise only accessible to large firms with deep pockets. Yet little appreciation was given to the value a particular project might bring back into the business that would far outstrip the initial costs of developing and implementing a new idea. Having said that, I do think that this perception is weakening but it has slowed the speed at which the legal industry has been able to innovate and implement new ideas.

With the huge leaps in technology; the fast changing attitudes of consumers of legal services and; the approach of young lawyers embracing the commercial side of the business they work for, we need to treat innovation as a close friend and ally.