Law new describes a legal practice area that uses innovative methods, focuses on process, embraces technology and offers more value to clients. This is also typically a field of law that doesn’t use traditional partner track structures and is overseen by leaders not traditionally found in the standard legal office setting.
The concept of law new can be challenging to pin down, but it is a vitally important element of the future of the legal industry. The speed, complexity and fluidity of business today require collaboration and multidisciplinary expertise that isn’t always available within a single person, function, enterprise, stakeholder group or nation. The legal function has a unique opportunity to play an important role in this broader collaborative process. The pharmaceutical company collaboration in the development of the Covid-19 vaccine is a great example.
A law firm that has embraced the concept of law new can benefit from working with companies that are looking to take advantage of this opportunity. The key is to find ways to work together that create value for both parties and allow them to focus on the tasks at hand.
For example, the legal industry is currently experiencing a paradigm shift from provider to customer-centricity. This shift is based on technology platforms, end-user expectations and human adaptation. It will result in legal providers shifting their focus from outdated delivery models to the need to drive customer impact and high net promoter scores.
This change will bring the legal industry more into line with its corporate customers and society at large. It will be more diverse cognitively, demographically and culturally. Its workforce will be more creative, tech and data-proficient, empathetic and team oriented. It will be more holistically integrated, both internally and externally, by horizontal and vertical integration, joint ventures and managed services.
In California, for example, Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed laws to protect consumers from price gouging during the drug shortage and to prohibit hospitals, health care professionals and certified ambulances from reporting medical debt to credit agencies. And he is pursuing legislation that will ban “ghost guns” and other assault weapons.
The evolution of the legal industry toward law new will ultimately result in a more agile, flexible and on-demand system of legal product and service delivery that is powered by technology platforms and sourced from a diverse array of on-demand resources with verifiable and material expertise and experience. This system will offer greater efficiency, faster results, better outcomes and lower costs to the enterprise and society at large. It will be what business and others expect from a service industry in the digital age. For more, see our article, Law New: A Guide to the Future of the Legal Industry. 2023 Reuters. All rights reserved. Reuters news service is committed to the highest standards of independence, integrity and impartiality. This content is provided for general information only and is not intended to substitute for the advice of a lawyer or other professional advisor.