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What changes can the legal industry expect in 2016?
Legal firms will have no room for mediocrity in 2016, but how can senior professionals help position the business for maximum success?
Law firms need to differentiate themselves in a competitive market.
As the legal industry prepares to wrap up 2015, reflection regarding the trends seen throughout the year naturally leads to thoughts about 2016.
With a number of challenges to face up to, how can firms best position themselves for the year ahead?
How will the industry shift in 2016?
Analysing data from the big eight and other large law firms, the Melbourne Law School and Thompson Reuters pointed to some vital trends that will shape 2016 and beyond.
Legal firms will need to address their business model to remain competitive.
Over 2015, competition became more fierce, meaning that firm complacency was no longer possible. This led firms to invest in project management and other strategic actions to obtain a better global position. Over the next few years, aspects such as "agility, discipline, execution, cultural cohesion, diversity and true collaboration" will become key to success. Clients are demanding more from firms and businesses need to be ready to respond.
A recent discussion hosted by the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) explored how the model for firms will likely need to change to keep up with the market. Partners at the Future of the Legal Profession talk highlighted a more agile approach to doing businesses and the importance of building a strong global platform. Firms must understand how to build a point of difference to avoid becoming a small voice in a huge market.
Senior management must embrace new perspectives
A joint survey from KermaPartners, SkillsScorecard and Managing Partners' Forum highlighted the need for senior leaders to better manage performance. Only 9 per cent of firms consider themselves "excellent" when it comes to formal measurement, even though this was the second-highest priority mentioned in the survey.
Michael Roch and Rupprecht von Pfeil of KermaPartners expressed that many senior managers may need assistance in building meaningful performance management schemes, opening up new possibilities for legal jobs.
"The term 'performance management' means the continuous process of agreeing expectations, assessing effort and achievement against these expectations, and linking these achievements to reward, financial or otherwise," they said.
"This is simply said, yet professional services firms in particular often find it difficult to design and implement effective performance management processes in practice."
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By Dominic Khedun