Media boutique Wiggin has officially opened its doors in Brussels, as the firm’s pursuit of sustainable alternative revenue streams sets a benchmark for non-legal services for law firms.
The Brussels office, which launched in February, is key to developing a distinct arm of the firm’s business, Incopro, into Europe. Incopro was launched in March 2012 as a partnership between Wiggin’s rights protection practice (led by partner Simon Baggs) and Bret Boivin, formerly of Warner Bros and NBC Universal, to provide content protection services to media companies.
The company, in which all Wiggin equity partners are shareholders, offers a software product that enables clients to monitor piracy of their content online combined with a consultancy service to help protect their content.
The Brussels office is headed up by Ted Shapiro, formerly the Motion Picture Association’s head of legal for Europe, who joined the firm at the start of the year.
Wiggin chief executive John Banister said that the launch of Incopro and another Wiggin company, Ariel Ventures, is part of the firm’s current five-year plan. A key plank of that strategy, which takes the firm up to 2015, involves moving away from pure legal advice and utilising its knowledge and contacts to offer a more holistic media service.
‘We needed to reorganise ourselves for the brave new world,’ said Banister. ‘Clients’ expectations of lawyers have changed and they want to see advisers not just as solicitors but as people fully immersed in their sector, with legal knowledge and the ability to provide services of value to them. This gives way to alternative income streams for the firm.’
Incopro and Ariel Ventures are two companies that operate under the Wiggin umbrella and are clear examples of a law firm diversifying from pure legal advice.
Banister said that the ventures represented a major investment by the partnership, which self-funded the various initiatives through working capital and profit retention. He added that the new ventures should be adding to the top line in their second year of operation.
Alternative revenue streams are a key priority for many firms right now, with margins for pure legal advice being squeezed and new opportunities presenting themselves through alternative business structures under the Legal Services Act.
Giles Murphy, head of professional practices at Smith & Williamson, said that such activity had been heating up for him of late. ‘We have been busy recently advising a range of firms on diversifying their revenue streams in this way.’