Law firms forced to adapt and innovate

Posted By: James

Monday 17th November 2014

The FT’s Business Education supplement considers how law firms have embraced new services, formed fresh partnerships and become more entrepreneurial in the face of evolving markets, changing client demands and technological growth. It says the market has become overcrowded, with far more would-be lawyers than there are jobs available, and as such the pressure to become more commercially aware has increased. Peter Crisp, dean and chief executive of BPP Law School, says: “I don’t think you can overestimate the importance of commercial awareness. It is not enough simply to learn the law… if you are a rotten businessperson, you will fail. That involves learning about finance, but is also about developing a commercial mindset, which includes being able to innovate.” Michele De Stefano, founder of the programme LawWithoutWalls notes that “as the world gets more specialised, (the legal world) also needs more generalised skills.” David Caron, dean of The Dickson Poon School of Law, writes that law teaching today must also reflect the realities of a transnational world. The supplement also examines shifts that have resulted from the industry’s gender balance becoming more equal. Firms are now under more pressure to establish new career structures or adopt flexible working in order to meet the work/life balance needs of employees.

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