Everyone is telling law firms they need to embrace technology. According to a White Paper released by Epiq Global this month, we are now entering a phase of ‘modern law’ where ‘innovation and efficiency are the cornerstone of operational decisions’ and digital transformation is at the heart of this.
However, in a recent satirical video, Alex Su (ex-Big Law Attorney and LinkedIn content creator) succinctly captures a traditional law firm’s argument against going down this path. Su’s fictional law firm partner character is resistant to technology. The partner is concerned that the efficiencies created by introducing this new piece of technology might eat into the billable time recorded, meaning he would have to charge his clients less, and would therefore reduce his profits. It’s meant to be funny, but it’s logical that traditional law firms (with revenue based on traditional billing models) may be reluctant to look at improving their businesses to achieve greater efficiency and innovation.
Law firms face pressures from all sides.
Clients want reduced costs, and faster and more accurate legal service. They want the process to be easy. They have new criteria for purchasing legal services such as pricing, convenience and overall commercial value. Clients are embracing technology themselves, and if they are, then law firms need to do it too, or the clients will go elsewhere.
Staff want more too. They want flexibility, top salaries, career progression opportunities, feedback, recognition. They are willing to move if they don’t get what they want and there isn’t a huge queue of people behind them willing to step into their shoes.
All these trends were in place prior to the pandemic, but Covid-19 has cemented them in place. In the words of Talent Futurist Allyn Bailey ‘The new world of work is here – we can’t hide from it or pretend that the challenges we see will just pass with time and we will be able to go back to the way work used to happen. The changes are here to stay.’
Firms who ignore these trends and signals from the market do so at their own peril.
So where would a law firm start to identify ways to improve their efficiency? To remain competitive, you need to look at your firm and ask ‘how can we do this better? How can we deliver legal services that are more efficient, profitable, whilst providing greater value and outcomes for our clients?’
Epiq Global’s White Paper identifies several places you can look for inefficiencies: task delegation, automated processes, information management, repurposing active tools, monitoring deadlines, billing processes and staffing.
When it comes to staffing, that’s where Insource can help.
If staffing is an area of your firm that is ripe for improvement, Insource is here to help.
In the current ‘war for talent’ you may find it frustrating to have no suitable applications for your lawyer job ads or you might have given up on that and be spending hours trawling the internet yourself to identify appropriate prospects for your vacancies. Perhaps you’re paying large recruitment agency fees if you call upon their assistance with this time-consuming task.
With Insource, you will have the whole Australasian legal talent pool available to you at the click of a button and be able to generate a list of suitable prospects in seconds.
But just having the technology is not enough. As Epiq Global says, ‘technology on its own is not effective – it takes the right people and processes behind it to be successful.’
This is where many digital transformation projects fail – if firms provide inadequate training or insufficient ‘people power’ to make the transition happen.
We won’t let that happen to you! Our team at Insource is here to help you learn how to use the platform and incorporate the new technology into your existing recruitment processes. We assist you to modernise your talent acquisition strategy and take a proactive approach to the way you source and connect with top legal talent.
At Insource we don’t just give you the data and leave it to you – we will train you how to connect with the people you identify too. Your subscription will also give you access to methodology developed by our team – with over 20 years of recruitment, HR and headhunting experience between us – we’re well qualified to help you to convert that list of names into a hire-ready talent pipeline. Our subscribers have access to a full suite of training materials to help you transform your talent acquisition process – to help you and your firm to identify and connect with top talent and build talent pipelines for your future workforce.
If you need to beef up your ‘people power’ to be able to do this talent sourcing work we can help you with that too.
Digital transformation of your talent sourcing strategy is just a phone call away. Contact us today to book a demo. https://insourcerecruit.com/contact/
