Straight after lunch at LTT on day 1 I raced over to the Frost stage for an excellent panel that debated how a law firm in the modern day, could and should, be built.  The session was moderated by Rory O'Keeffe (Founder, RMOK Legal) and the panel consisted of Clare Murray (Managing Partner, CM Murray), Shainul Kassam (Founder, Fortune Law), Paul Foster (Head of Product SA Global) and Lucy Murphy (COO, Linklaters).

The first question that the panelists were asked to tackle was geared around what structures should your law firm adopt?

Clare Murray- Super specialist boutique with outcomes led work as opposed to billable hours.  Clare also talked through the option of building something similar to Normlaw whereby Blackstone recently invested £50million to make it AI native and wrap the lawyers expertise around the technology.

Shainul Kassam- You have to remember that a law firm cant be built in a day.  There is also a place for everyone and every model.  It is worth looking at external capital and what you can now automate as well as seeing how you want to use profit to help increase growth.

Lucy Murphy- I would build the law firm on a partnership model and focus heavily on three things:

1/ Profitability

2/ Talent

3 Client base

The current model is for the past and a new model for the future would include three distinct business units with separate P & L's.

1/ High end advisory (complex M&A deals for example)

2/ Solutions- fixed cost model

3/ Subscriptions- Regulatory Scanning 

This will allow for different skillsets to enter the industry and progress but it will also speed up the decision making process considerably.

Clare agreed with the need for change in the partnership model but also suggested that this could all be done in the current LLP structure.

Do we need junior lawyers or AI?

Clare Murray- It is great that there are so many models but I can't imagine my firm without junior lawyers and paralegals.  I love mentoring and I actually think that the boom of AI has created a lot more work.  You need lawyers coming through to then work on the exit strategy which normally requires succession.

Lucy Murphy- Interestingly, people with a law degree coming through in the US now have taken on average, 10 months to find a job which is the quickest ever!

Pricing in law firms:

Lucy Murphy- Profit at Linklaters and the other big firms is high stakes work.  If clients and the economy are doing well then the price of work wont decrease.  We do have to move more to a value based billing model however this doesn't signal the death of the billable hour as it should be scenario based and high complex work will always be billable.

Strategic Whiplash:

Clare Murray- with many of the technology vendors it is now FOBLI (fear of being locked in) instead of FOMO.  There has to be a freedom of movement and law firm data layers have to be their own.  It is so important.

Shainul Kassam- It is difficult to get to the point of AI being the trusted advisor as clients are questioning answers and liability have to be involved.  Lawyers have to ask the right questions and currently in some instances, AI tools are producing more work and making things more expensive.

Lucy Murphy- We are the first generation to actually manage agents alongside humans.

What would your advice be for those starting out on the law firm journey?

Clare Murray- Have a strategic growth and exit plan and buckle up!

Lucy Murphy- Build the firm on client outcomes and look after your data.

Shainul Kassam- Look at a technology first hybrid model and make sure you have your cashflow worked out as well as your ethics.