Deloitte Legal continues New Law push with hire of Elevate global consultancy head 

Deloitte Legal continues New Law push with hire of Elevate global consultancy head 

Big Four accountancy firm Deloitte has again boosted its New Law credentials, this time with the hire of Jack Diggle from alternative legal provider Elevate to head up its Legal Management Consulting arm.

Diggle will be joining the firm alongside contract management expert Craig Conte and legal management consultant Tom Birdseye, both of whom also join from Elevate. The trio will now be responsible for bulking up Deloitte’s legal consultancy offerings to in-house teams, contracting functions, and law firms.   Continue reading “Deloitte Legal continues New Law push with hire of Elevate global consultancy head “

‘Healthy competition’: LOD comes full circle with launch of challenger UK law firm

‘Healthy competition’: LOD comes full circle with launch of challenger UK law firm

Lawyers On Demand (LOD) is launching a ‘challenger’ law firm to compete with traditional firms on providing advice to in-house teams across the UK, three years after the business was first launched in Australia.

The business – LOD Legal – is staffed exclusively by lawyers from an in-house background, with the team currently in excess of 30 lawyers comprised of new full-time employees and existing lawyers from the core LOD team. Like LOD, the business operates under a corporate structure. Continue reading “‘Healthy competition’: LOD comes full circle with launch of challenger UK law firm”

DWF continues global expansion with £14.2m managed services play

DWF continues global expansion with £14.2m managed services play

DWF has continued its expansionist strategy following last year’s initial public offering (IPO), dipping into its war chest to acquire managed services company Mindcrest in a £14.2m deal announced today (29 January).

Chicago-based Mindcrest offers managed services across contract management, compliance, legal analytics, litigation and investigations for international corporates. The majority of the business’s staff are based in Pune, India, where it has operated for over 15 years, but smaller offices are spread across Chicago, New York and London. The business has expected sales of £9.2m for the 2019 financial year. Continue reading “DWF continues global expansion with £14.2m managed services play”

Axiom break-off rebrands after failing to find a buyer as LOD launches second German hub

Axiom break-off rebrands after failing to find a buyer as LOD launches second German hub

Axiom Managed Solutions (AMS) has abandoned efforts to sell to new investors following its split from Axiom, instead rebranding as Factor following further commitments from existing stakeholders.

The legal managed services business was put on the market in early 2019 when the wider Axiom group unveiled plans to pursue an initial public offering (IPO), although that was ultimately abandoned in favour of a sale to Permira. Continue reading “Axiom break-off rebrands after failing to find a buyer as LOD launches second German hub”

Regime change – The scorched-earth approach to legal education reform

Regime change – The scorched-earth approach to legal education reform

Its supporters are accused of advocating reforms not fit for purpose, posing a threat to the standing of the profession; its detractors are derided as ‘dinosaurs’, apologists for inequality and ‘buggers’ who moan about everything.

Four years since the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) announced plans to shake up legal education in England and Wales with the introduction of a new Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), the debate is as passionate as on day one. And as deeply entrenched. Continue reading “Regime change – The scorched-earth approach to legal education reform”

Pinsents launches flexi-lawyering brand Vario in Germany following New Law acquisitions

Pinsents launches flexi-lawyering brand Vario in Germany following New Law acquisitions

Pinsent Masons has finalised two alternative legal services acquisitions, enabling the firm to launch its flexible lawyering business Vario in the German market.

The main acquisition for Pinsents is temporary resource provider Xenion Legal, which was founded in 2012 and is based in Frankfurt. The firm has also acquired Xenia, a sister company that operates an associated managed legal services business in Germany. Continue reading “Pinsents launches flexi-lawyering brand Vario in Germany following New Law acquisitions”

Comment: New Law needs a new dictionary to get that promised breakthrough

Comment: New Law needs a new dictionary to get that promised breakthrough

For more than a decade now technology and innovation jargon has been pushing its way inelegantly into the legal sphere. But with what result? Certainly, it has led to industrial levels of hype as cloying Silicon Valley-speak took hold in even the most inhospitable arenas. But more to the point for the development of the industry is the endemic confusion it has sown.

Without re-treading this month’s cover feature on the substance of law firms’ New Law divisions, it is clear that the industry struggles enormously to articulate these services, both at conventional law firms and pure-play providers. Continue reading “Comment: New Law needs a new dictionary to get that promised breakthrough”

Growth and investment define New Law as frontrunners make big gains

Growth and investment define New Law as frontrunners make big gains

Industry pioneers are attracting public and private interest in alternative models

While many lofty predictions of New Law’s rise remain unrealised, the market’s traditional champions have all made major contributions to its growth in recent weeks. Flexible lawyering business Axiom engaged in a surprise private equity (PE) sale; US alternative provider UnitedLex turned over $350m in an impressive year; while Elevate achieved revenues of £76m in another record result. Continue reading “Growth and investment define New Law as frontrunners make big gains”

New tricks – Can law firms beat New Law disruptors at their own game?

New tricks – Can law firms beat New Law disruptors at their own game?

Lee Ranson was restless. It was late 2018 and Eversheds Sutherland’s co-chief needed something different: a viable plan to double revenue over the next five years.

A few months earlier, he and US-based co-chief executive Mark Wasserman had joked about telling the firm’s partner conference in New York they were floating on the stock exchange. Now Ranson turned his mind to a public offering, or at least the options to attract external investment. But it was not about his law firm. This was about Eversheds’ alternative legal service offerings, covering consulting and flexible lawyering, then generating £29m annually. A tidy sum, and growing rapidly, but just 3% of the firm’s overall revenue. Continue reading “New tricks – Can law firms beat New Law disruptors at their own game?”

New Law needs a new dictionary to get that promised break through

New Law needs a new dictionary to get that promised break through

For more than a decade now technology and innovation jargon has been pushing its way inelegantly into the legal sphere. But with what result? Certainly, it has led to industrial levels of hype as cloying Silicon Valley-speak took hold in even the most inhospitable arenas. But more to the point for the development of the industry is the endemic confusion it has sown. Without re-treading this month’s cover feature on the substance of law firms’ New Law divisions, it is clear that the industry struggles enormously to articulate these services, both at conventional law firms and pure-play providers.

This explains the widespread confusion in the minds of general counsel about what is on offer and how it differs from Old Law. ‘Platforms’, ‘solutions’, ‘suites’ and an avalanche of weird brand names are present, but as to explaining the products on offer, it is just not cutting through. Continue reading “New Law needs a new dictionary to get that promised break through”