Please find a link to the White Paper: “Beyond Black Swan: Positioning the law firm for the new normal”.  From the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” to WAR’s “You’ve got the POWER!” via two-time Oscar winning actress Sally Fields, a White Paper on legal practice change has never proved so exciting!  And this is partly due to the diverse and varied interests and backgrounds of our collaborators, who include US-based crisis management guru Richard Levick, law firm management veterans Stephen Revell and Paul Smith, law firm tech expert Adam Roney and Patrick Dransfield.

The data presented herein compiled by the In-House Community and Calls9 comprised over 200 senior in-house counsel both immediately prior to and in the teeth of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The conclusions indicate that In-House counsel wish law firms to change in the following areas: Effective Crisis Management; Fees & Billing, Focused Advice, Efficiency & Technology, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Trust & Partnership:

The In-House Community is proud to have collaborated with professional services business consultancy Calls9, crisis communications consultancy LEVICK, and Making Change Happen Pte Ltd.  Despite musical and theatrical allusions, the last word must go to one of the many general counsel who so generously contributed their time, knowledge and expertise to help their private practice peers execute the change management so desperately needed in these liminal times:

“External Counsel need to be at the forefront of developments for their clients.  They should aim for long-term relationships with clients built on trust and supported by added services.” (General Counsel, South Africa).

Posted by Patrick Dransfield

Patrick Dransfield is the Principal at Clearway Communications and was formerly the co-founder of the In-House Community. Patrick has twenty-two years of experience working in the legal industry: as Asia Managing Director of Euromoney Institutional Investor, and then as Marketing and Business Development Director for Asia for Shearman & Sterling and White & Case respectively.

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