Editor's letter: Law firms of the future

Are you doing everything you can to secure your firm's future in the upcoming world order, asks Manju Manglani

Law firms around the world face an uncertain future as the global economic turmoil continues unabated. During these interesting times, competition between firms of all sizes has dramatically increased.

As a result, the traditionally conservative and risk-averse have been forced '¨to consider radical strategies – including, in the UK, obtaining private equity investment to facilitate growth. The high number of firms looking '¨to convert to an alternative business structure demonstrates how the profession '¨is changing its thinking.

Innovative firms are also recognising that, in order to develop a pipeline of '¨future leaders, they have to take young lawyers’ requirements for flexible and stimulating ways of working seriously. While the recession has temporarily made this a buyer’s market, there is of course no reason to expect '¨loyalty from young talent if little is done to keep them happy.

The opportunity to structure firms in different ways and the imperative to adapt '¨to ensure effective succession planning are driving many managing partners to develop a new firm vision to secure their place in the new world order.

A fundamental consideration in developing this vision is whether the partnership model will still be viable in the long term. The hierarchical separation of talent – long accepted in the legal profession – needs to be re-examined to determine if it still meets the firm’s strategic imperatives.

Finally, I am pleased to introduce to you three new regular columnists. Management experts Andrew Hedley and Nick Jarrett-Kerr will be sharing their insights on managing mergers and the challenges facing law firm leaders, respectively, while a member of international network Ius Laboris will be discussing employment law issues for law firms.

Until next time,

Manju Manglani, Editor

mmanglani@wilmington.co.uk