Study: Law Firms, “Fighting The Last War,” Ignoring Danger Signs

Stung by the recession of 2007-08, law firms made adjustments to their business models and strategies, but today many firms are ill-prepared for current challenges, never mind the inevitable next downturn. So concludes the “2018 Report on the State of the Legal Market” from Georgetown Law and the Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute. The authors make a comparison to the French Maginot Line in World War II, something widely viewed as a case of preparing to fight the last war while failing to understand the current one. The good news, according to the authors, is that “firms that proactively address the needs of their clients – e.g., by implementing alternative staffing strategies, pursuing flexible pricing models, adopting work process changes, making better use of innovative technologies, and the like – can achieve significant success.”