Posted: Friday, 4 January 2019 @ 13:43
We live in interesting times within the legal market with a number of forces against the traditional legal firm.
These have been documented by many including: opening up to non legal providers, poor economy and the internet giving people access to free advice. These factors impact all lawyers and make it more difficult to make money.
On top of this, the employment law which is the area of work that I have done for the past twelve years has some rather specific dynamics which make our job a bit more tricky including -
Introduction of court fees, capping of compensation for unfair dismissal and in contrast to the past 20 years an increasing trend to limit employment rights rather than increase them.
The tide has certainly turned.
It is an ongoing process and my firm has reacted by not only offering mediation services such as employment and negotiation (which we have done for many years) but also we are looking at using these legal and negotiation skills to serve the elderly.
But the issue is not just for employment lawyers, but I would say for lawyers of many disciplines. We need to be far more proactive rather than reactive as a profession.
I think there will be still some niche employment law providers making good money but the firms that will succeed will have not only complementary services (non traditional law ones) but also will have a mindset which encourages greater and more prolonged connection with the client. The lawyer will not be no so reactive.
I am already aware of some law firms taking this new business model, and this is certainly something you will see more of from my firm.
Justin Patten, Solicitor