October 15, 2011 Who will you collaborate with?
Though the model of a national legal brand has yet to be proved (will it really inspire more trust?) there are clearly many people willing to take a bet on the market. Simplify the Law is the latest entrant to the market and good luck to them is my view.
As part of the sales pitch, they have got Chris Bull of Edge International involved to write a white paper which, not surprisingly, is of the view that “With a welter of new competition, some big spending on marketing and capturing clients and the need to invest in technology and process there is a much strengthened case for collaboration as opposed to going it alone.”
Not a huge surprise there as Simplify the Law were paying the bill. Despite this it is actually a well written paper which I’d recommend having a look at if you get the time (you need to register with Simplify the Law to see it). See here.
It carries out a fairly comprehensive review of the current legal market and the different models being utilised, although it focus on the B2C and SME B2B markets rather than the large corporate B2B market. The overall view is a positive one and although this view may not be shared by many of the practioners in the area. It shows the many different routes to market available for firms nowadays and the ways they can differentiate themselves which should allow firms to compete in the modern marketplace.
As well as this it identifies various ways in which firms can reduce their costs and offer a more streamlined service to their clients.
Chris’ final and (self identified) most important question in the white paper is this:
“Who will you collaborate with (peer firms, larger/smaller firms, LPOs [Legal Process Outsourcers], clients, investors, other professions/services) to meet the challenges of the new market and how?”
There are many different answers to this, of which a national brand is but one, but I do feel it is a very important question.
